Minnesota Session Laws - 2001, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 70-H.F.No. 1681 
                  An act relating to state employment; making technical 
                  and housekeeping changes; classifying employee 
                  identification numbers as public data; extending a 
                  pilot project; placing department of human services 
                  chief executive officers in the unclassified service; 
                  repealing provisions governing appointment of human 
                  services chief executive officers; amending Minnesota 
                  Statutes 2000, sections 13.43, subdivision 2; 43A.04, 
                  subdivision 8; and 43A.08, subdivision 1; repealing 
                  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 246.02. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 13.43, 
        subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 2.  [PUBLIC DATA.] (a) Except for employees described 
        in subdivision 5, the following personnel data on current and 
        former employees, volunteers, and independent contractors of a 
        state agency, statewide system, or political subdivision and 
        members of advisory boards or commissions is public: 
           (1) name; employee identification number, which must not be 
        the employee's social security number; actual gross salary; 
        salary range; contract fees; actual gross pension; the value and 
        nature of employer paid fringe benefits; and the basis for and 
        the amount of any added remuneration, including expense 
        reimbursement, in addition to salary; 
           (2) job title and bargaining unit; job description; 
        education and training background; and previous work experience; 
           (3) date of first and last employment; 
           (4) the existence and status of any complaints or charges 
        against the employee, regardless of whether the complaint or 
        charge resulted in a disciplinary action; 
           (5) the final disposition of any disciplinary action 
        together with the specific reasons for the action and data 
        documenting the basis of the action, excluding data that would 
        identify confidential sources who are employees of the public 
        body; 
           (6) the terms of any agreement settling any dispute arising 
        out of an employment relationship, including a buyout agreement 
        as defined in section 123B.143, subdivision 2, paragraph (a); 
        except that the agreement must include specific reasons for the 
        agreement if it involves the payment of more than $10,000 of 
        public money; 
           (7) work location; a work telephone number; badge number; 
        and honors and awards received; and 
           (8) payroll time sheets or other comparable data that are 
        only used to account for employee's work time for payroll 
        purposes, except to the extent that release of time sheet data 
        would reveal the employee's reasons for the use of sick or other 
        medical leave or other not public data; and city and county of 
        residence. 
           (b) For purposes of this subdivision, a final disposition 
        occurs when the state agency, statewide system, or political 
        subdivision makes its final decision about the disciplinary 
        action, regardless of the possibility of any later proceedings 
        or court proceedings.  In the case of arbitration proceedings 
        arising under collective bargaining agreements, a final 
        disposition occurs at the conclusion of the arbitration 
        proceedings, or upon the failure of the employee to elect 
        arbitration within the time provided by the collective 
        bargaining agreement.  Final disposition includes a resignation 
        by an individual when the resignation occurs after the final 
        decision of the state agency, statewide system, political 
        subdivision, or arbitrator. 
           (c) The state agency, statewide system, or political 
        subdivision may display a photograph of a current or former 
        employee to a prospective witness as part of the state agency's, 
        statewide system's, or political subdivision's investigation of 
        any complaint or charge against the employee. 
           (d) A complainant has access to a statement provided by the 
        complainant to a state agency, statewide system, or political 
        subdivision in connection with a complaint or charge against an 
        employee. 
           (e) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), clause (5), upon 
        completion of an investigation of a complaint or charge against 
        a public official, or if a public official resigns or is 
        terminated from employment while the complaint or charge is 
        pending, all data relating to the complaint or charge are 
        public, unless access to the data would jeopardize an active 
        investigation or reveal confidential sources.  For purposes of 
        this paragraph, "public official" means: 
           (1) the head of a state agency and deputy and assistant 
        state agency heads; 
           (2) members of boards or commissions required by law to be 
        appointed by the governor or other elective officers; and 
           (3) executive or administrative heads of departments, 
        bureaus, divisions, or institutions. 
           Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 43A.04, 
        subdivision 8, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 8.  [DONATION OF TIME.] Notwithstanding any law to 
        the contrary, the commissioner shall authorize the appointing 
        authority to permit the donation of up to three eight hours of 
        accumulated vacation time in each year by each employee who is a 
        member of law enforcement unit number 1 to their union 
        representative for the purpose of carrying out the duties of 
        office. 
           Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 43A.08, 
        subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
           Subdivision 1.  [UNCLASSIFIED POSITIONS.] Unclassified 
        positions are held by employees who are: 
           (1) chosen by election or appointed to fill an elective 
        office; 
           (2) heads of agencies required by law to be appointed by 
        the governor or other elective officers, and the executive or 
        administrative heads of departments, bureaus, divisions, and 
        institutions specifically established by law in the unclassified 
        service; 
           (3) deputy and assistant agency heads and one confidential 
        secretary in the agencies listed in subdivision 1a and in the 
        office of strategic and long-range planning; 
           (4) the confidential secretary to each of the elective 
        officers of this state and, for the secretary of state, state 
        auditor, and state treasurer, an additional deputy, clerk, or 
        employee; 
           (5) intermittent help employed by the commissioner of 
        public safety to assist in the issuance of vehicle licenses; 
           (6) employees in the offices of the governor and of the 
        lieutenant governor and one confidential employee for the 
        governor in the office of the adjutant general; 
           (7) employees of the Washington, D.C., office of the state 
        of Minnesota; 
           (8) employees of the legislature and of legislative 
        committees or commissions; provided that employees of the 
        legislative audit commission, except for the legislative 
        auditor, the deputy legislative auditors, and their confidential 
        secretaries, shall be employees in the classified service; 
           (9) presidents, vice-presidents, deans, other managers and 
        professionals in academic and academic support programs, 
        administrative or service faculty, teachers, research 
        assistants, and student employees eligible under terms of the 
        federal Economic Opportunity Act work study program in the 
        Perpich center for arts education and the Minnesota state 
        colleges and universities, but not the custodial, clerical, or 
        maintenance employees, or any professional or managerial 
        employee performing duties in connection with the business 
        administration of these institutions; 
           (10) officers and enlisted persons in the national guard; 
           (11) attorneys, legal assistants, and three confidential 
        employees appointed by the attorney general or employed with the 
        attorney general's authorization; 
           (12) judges and all employees of the judicial branch, 
        referees, receivers, jurors, and notaries public, except 
        referees and adjusters employed by the department of labor and 
        industry; 
           (13) members of the state patrol; provided that selection 
        and appointment of state patrol troopers must be made in 
        accordance with applicable laws governing the classified 
        service; 
           (14) chaplains employed by the state; 
           (15) examination monitors and intermittent training 
        instructors employed by the departments of employee relations 
        and commerce and by professional examining boards and 
        intermittent staff employed by the technical colleges for the 
        administration of practical skills tests and for the staging of 
        instructional demonstrations; 
           (16) student workers; 
           (17) executive directors or executive secretaries appointed 
        by and reporting to any policy-making board or commission 
        established by statute; 
           (18) employees unclassified pursuant to other statutory 
        authority; 
           (19) intermittent help employed by the commissioner of 
        agriculture to perform duties relating to pesticides, 
        fertilizer, and seed regulation; and 
           (20) the administrators and the deputy administrators at 
        the state academies for the deaf and the blind; and 
           (21) chief executive officers in the department of human 
        services. 
           Sec. 4.  [STATE HIRING PROCESS; PILOT PROJECT EXTENSION.] 
           The pilot project established in Laws 1995, chapter 248, 
        article 13, section 2, subdivisions 5 and 6, is extended until 
        the full implementation of the reengineered selection process or 
        until July 1, 2005, whichever occurs first. 
           Sec. 5.  [REPEALER.] 
           Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 246.02, is repealed. 
           Sec. 6.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
           Section 4 is effective the day following final enactment. 
           Presented to the governor April 30, 2001 
           Signed by the governor May 2, 2001, 2:49 p.m.