Minnesota Session Laws - 2000, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 345-H.F.No. 2803 
                  An act relating to courts; authorizing court reporters 
                  in certain judicial districts to organize under the 
                  Public Employment Labor Relations Act; amending 
                  Minnesota Statutes 1999 Supplement, sections 179A.03, 
                  subdivision 14; and 179A.101, subdivisions 1 and 2. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1999 Supplement, section 
        179A.03, subdivision 14, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 14.  [PUBLIC EMPLOYEE OR EMPLOYEE.] "Public employee" 
        or "employee" means any person appointed or employed by a public 
        employer except:  
           (a) elected public officials; 
           (b) election officers; 
           (c) commissioned or enlisted personnel of the Minnesota 
        national guard; 
           (d) emergency employees who are employed for emergency work 
        caused by natural disaster; 
           (e) part-time employees whose service does not exceed the 
        lesser of 14 hours per week or 35 percent of the normal work 
        week in the employee's appropriate unit; 
           (f) employees whose positions are basically temporary or 
        seasonal in character and:  (1) are not for more than 67 working 
        days in any calendar year; or (2) are not for more than 100 
        working days in any calendar year and the employees are under 
        the age of 22, are full-time students enrolled in a nonprofit or 
        public educational institution prior to being hired by the 
        employer, and have indicated, either in an application for 
        employment or by being enrolled at an educational institution 
        for the next academic year or term, an intention to continue as 
        students during or after their temporary employment; 
           (g) employees providing services for not more than two 
        consecutive quarters to the board of trustees of the Minnesota 
        state colleges and universities under the terms of a 
        professional or technical services contract as defined in 
        section 16C.08, subdivision 1; 
           (h) employees of charitable hospitals as defined by section 
        179.35, subdivision 3; 
           (i) full-time undergraduate students employed by the school 
        which they attend under a work-study program or in connection 
        with the receipt of financial aid, irrespective of number of 
        hours of service per week; 
           (j) an individual who is employed for less than 300 hours 
        in a fiscal year as an instructor in an adult vocational 
        education program; 
           (k) an individual hired by the board of trustees of the 
        Minnesota state colleges and universities to teach one course 
        for three or fewer credits for one semester in a year; 
           (l) with respect to court employees: 
           (1) personal secretaries to judges; 
           (2) court reporters; 
           (3) law clerks; 
           (4) (3) managerial employees; 
           (5) (4) confidential employees; and 
           (6) (5) supervisory employees. 
           The following individuals are public employees regardless 
        of the exclusions of clauses (e) and (f):  
           (i) An employee hired by a school district or the board of 
        trustees of the Minnesota state colleges and universities except 
        at the university established in section 136F.13 or for 
        community services or community education instruction offered on 
        a noncredit basis:  (A) to replace an absent teacher or faculty 
        member who is a public employee, where the replacement employee 
        is employed more than 30 working days as a replacement for that 
        teacher or faculty member; or (B) to take a teaching position 
        created due to increased enrollment, curriculum expansion, 
        courses which are a part of the curriculum whether offered 
        annually or not, or other appropriate reasons; and 
           (ii) An employee hired for a position under clause (f)(1) 
        if that same position has already been filled under clause 
        (f)(1) in the same calendar year and the cumulative number of 
        days worked in that same position by all employees exceeds 67 
        calendar days in that year.  For the purpose of this paragraph, 
        "same position" includes a substantially equivalent position if 
        it is not the same position solely due to a change in the 
        classification or title of the position. 
           Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1999 Supplement, section 
        179A.101, subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
           Subdivision 1.  [COURT EMPLOYEE UNITS.] (a) The state court 
        administrator shall meet and negotiate with the exclusive 
        representative of each of the units specified in this section.  
        The units provided in this section are the only appropriate 
        units for court employees.  Court employees, unless otherwise 
        excluded, are included within the units which include the 
        classifications to which they are assigned for purposes of 
        compensation.  Initial assignment of classifications to 
        bargaining units shall be made by the state court administrator 
        by August 15, 1999.  An exclusive representative may appeal the 
        initial assignment decision of the state court administrator by 
        filing a petition with the commissioner within 45 days of being 
        certified as the exclusive representative for a judicial 
        district.  The units in this subdivision are the appropriate 
        units of court employees. 
           (b) The judicial district unit consists of clerical, 
        administrative, and technical employees of a judicial district 
        under section 480.181, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), or of two 
        or more of these districts that are represented by the same 
        employee organization or one or more subordinate bodies of the 
        same employee organization.  The judicial district unit includes 
        individuals, not otherwise excluded, whose work is typically 
        clerical or secretarial in nature, including nontechnical data 
        recording and retrieval and general office work, and 
        individuals, not otherwise excluded, whose work is not typically 
        manual and which requires specialized knowledge or skills 
        acquired through two-year academic programs or equivalent 
        experience or on-the-job training. 
           (c) The appellate courts unit consists of clerical, 
        administrative, and technical employees of the court of appeals 
        and clerical, administrative, and technical employees of the 
        supreme court.  The appellate courts unit includes individuals, 
        not otherwise excluded, whose work is typically clerical or 
        secretarial in nature, including nontechnical data recording and 
        retrieval and general office work, and individuals, not 
        otherwise excluded, whose work is not typically manual and which 
        requires specialized knowledge or skills acquired through 
        two-year academic programs or equivalent experience or 
        on-the-job training. 
           (d) The court employees professional employee unit consists 
        of professional employees, not otherwise excluded, that are 
        employed by the supreme court, the court of appeals, or a 
        judicial district under section 480.181, subdivision 1, 
        paragraph (b). 
           (e) The court employees court reporter unit consists of 
        court reporters not otherwise excluded who are employed by a 
        judicial district under section 480.181, subdivision 1, 
        paragraph (a). 
           (f) Notwithstanding any provision of chapter 179A or any 
        other law to the contrary, judges may appoint and remove court 
        reporters at their pleasure. 
           (g) Copies of collective bargaining agreements entered into 
        under this section must be submitted to the legislative 
        coordinating commission for the commission's information. 
           Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1999 Supplement, section 
        179A.101, subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 2.  [EXCLUSIONS.] The following employees are 
        excluded from the appropriate units under subdivision 1: 
           (1) personal secretaries to judges; 
           (2) court reporters; 
           (3) law clerks; 
           (4) (3) managerial employees; 
           (5) (4) confidential employees; and 
           (6) (5) supervisory employees. 
           Presented to the governor April 6, 2000 
           Signed by the governor April 10, 2000, 2:54 p.m.