WEST virginia legislature
2020 regular session
Introduced
Senate Bill 703
By Senators Prezioso, Azinger, Beach, Clements, Hamilton, Plymale, Rucker, Weld, Cline, Hardesty, Jeffries, Romano, and Roberts
[Introduced February 5,
2020; referred
to the Committee on Education]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18B-1-1d of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to an increase in the earning limit for employees who accept a separation incentive under this article and subsequently return to employment; and amending or removing obsolete, duplicative, or unnecessary language from state code.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 1. GOVERNANCE.
§18B-1-1d. Retirement and separation incentives.
(a) Notwithstanding any
other provisions of this code to the contrary, each state institution of higher
education may include develop in its strategic plan, pursuant
to section one-c of this article, policies plans that offer various
incentives for voluntary, early, or phased retirement of employees or voluntary
separation from employment when necessary to implement programmatic changes
effectively pursuant to the findings, directives, goals, and objectives of this
article: Provided, That such incentives for voluntary, early, or phased
retirement of employees or voluntary separation from employment must be
submitted approved by the institution’s governing board and
presented to the legislative Joint Committee on Pensions and Retirement and
approved before such policies plans are adopted implemented
as part of the by the institution’s strategic plan institution.
(b) Effective July 1,
2001, each state institution of higher education may implement, under its
institutional compact, created pursuant to section two, article one-a of this
chapter, policies that offer various incentives for voluntary, early or phased
retirement of employees, or voluntary separation from employment, when
necessary to implement programmatic changes effectively: Provided, That the
institution shall meet all the requirements, including the requirement for
obtaining legislative approval, set forth in this section
(c)(b) The
policies plans may include the following provisions:
(1) Payment of a lump sum to an employee to resign or retire;
(2) Continuation of full salary to an employee for a predetermined period of time prior to the employee’s resignation or retirement and a reduction in the employee’s hours of employment during the predetermined period of time;
(3) Continuation of insurance coverage pursuant to the provisions of §5-16-1 et seq. of this code for a predetermined period;
(4) Continuation of full employer contributions to an employee’s retirement plan during a phased retirement period; and
(5) That an employee retiring pursuant to an early or phased retirement plan may begin collecting an annuity from the employee’s retirement plan prior to the statutorily designated retirement date without terminating his or her service with the institution.
(d)(c) No
incentive provided for in this section shall be granted except in furtherance
of programmatic changes undertaken pursuant to the findings, directives, goals,
and objectives set forth in this article.
(e)(d) No
incentive plan proposed by an institution pursuant to this section
shall become a part of the institution’s approved strategic plan or
institutional compact or be implemented without approval of the legislative
joint committee on pensions and retirement.
Any costs associated with any incentive adopted or implemented in accordance with this section shall be borne entirely by the institutions and no incentive shall be granted that imposes costs on the retirement systems of the state or the Public Employees Insurance Agency unless those costs are paid entirely by the institutions.
(f)(e) The
Legislature further finds and declares that there is a compelling state interest
in restricting the availability and application of these incentives to
individual employees determined by the institutions to be in furtherance of the
aims of this section and nothing herein shall be interpreted as granting a
right or entitlement of any such incentive to any individual or group of
individuals. Any employee granted incentives shall be ineligible for
reemployment by the institutions during or after the negotiated period of his
or her incentive concludes, including contract employment in excess of $5,000
$25,000 per fiscal year.
(g)(f) The West
Virginia network for educational telecomputing may utilize the incentives
contained in any policy plan approved by the legislative Joint Committee
on Pensions and Retirement pursuant to this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the earning limit for employees who accept a separation incentive and amend or remove obsolete, duplicative and/or unnecessary language from state code.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.