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WEST virginia
legislature
2017 SECOND
EXTRAORDInaRY session
By
[
A
BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a
new section, designated §11B-1-8; and to amend said code by adding thereto a
new section, designated §17-2A-24, all relating generally to employment
procedures of the Division of Highways and the Tax Division of the Department
of Revenue; authorizing the Tax Commissioner and the Commissioner of Highways
to implement special employment procedures for personnel positions in their
respective divisions; making legislative findings; defining terms; establishing
requirements for the special employment procedures; exempting Tax Division of
the Department of Revenue and Division of Highways from certain other
employment procedures; permitting recommendations for new schedules of
compensation; exempting Division of Personnel from involvement in certain
grievance claims or settlements; directing Division of Personnel to facilitate
special employment procedures; requiring Division of Personnel to perform any
lawful action necessary to initiate or complete employment transactions of the
Division of Highways or the Tax Division under newly established employment
procedures; providing for continued application of due process; maintaining
efficacy of code provisions prohibiting nepotism, favoritism and discrimination
under the special employment procedures; authorizing the Commissioner of
Highways and the Tax Commissioner to promulgate emergency rules; and requiring
the Commissioner of Highways and the Tax Commissioner to propose legislative
rules for the implementation of the special employment procedures authorized
for their respective agencies.
Be it enacted by the
Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated
§11B-1-8; and that said code be amended by adding thereto a new section,
designated §17-2A-24, all to read as follows:
Chapter 11. Department of Revenue.
Article 1. Department of
Revenue.
§11B-1-8. Special employment
procedures for Tax Division Personnel.
(a) Legislative findings and intent. —
(1) The Tax Division
of the Department of Revenue has approximately one hundred vacancies. The
Legislature finds that the division has long had difficulty filling positions
which are essential to efficiently and effectively administering, collecting
and enforcing the tax laws of this state. The Legislature finds that, to
address this problem, the hiring and retention processes of the division must
be streamlined to effectively and efficiently meet personnel needs while still
affording applicants and employees the due process protections of classified
service.
(2) The ratification
of the Roads to Prosperity Amendment of 2017 to the Constitution of West
Virginia will result in substantially increased funding for roads and highways
in the state and the opportunity for in-state and out-of-state contractors to
bid on road projects. The need to ensure that all businesses are in compliance
with the tax laws of this state will exacerbate the division’s staffing
shortage.
(3) The purpose of
this section is to allow the division to employ qualified applicants in vacant
and new personnel positions within the division in a timely manner and to
ensure that the division maintains an adequate workforce to effectively and
fairly administer, collect and enforce the tax laws of this state.
(b) Definitions. — As used in this section:
(1) “Commissioner”
means the Commissioner of the Tax Division of the Department of Revenue or his
or her designee; and
(2) “Division” means
the Tax Division of the Department of Revenue.
(c) Special employment procedure; requirements.
— The commissioner shall implement the special merit based application and appointment
procedure authorized by the provisions of this section for all the employees of
the division to ensure and provide for the selection and retention of competent
and qualified personnel. The special application and employment procedure established
pursuant to this section shall be effective on and after December 1, 2017, and
shall be subject to the following requirements:
(1) The Division of
Personnel shall provide competitive registers of eligible applicants when
requested by the division to do so within five business days of receipt of the
request;
(2) Any position to
be filled internally shall be posted for seven calendar days before the
division may select an applicant. For positions to be filled with applicants
from outside of the division, the public service announcement shall be posted
for not less than fourteen calendar days;
(3) Postings shall
be active for up to one year;
(4) Notwithstanding
any provision of law or rule promulgated under the provisions of this code, the
division may employ any person listed on the register for employment as a Tax
and Revenue Auditor 1, Tax and Revenue Auditor 2, Tax and Revenue Auditor 3,
Revenue Agent 1, Revenue Agent 2, Investigator 2 or Investigator 3 without
regard to the person’s position on the applicable register;
(5) The division shall have full authority to evaluate applicants
for employment or promotion within the division to positions within the
classified service and classified-exempt service. The division shall have sole
authority to determine whether applicants for positions with the division meet
minimum position requirements;
(6) The division shall have full authority to make classification
determinations for positions within the division by using the classification
system approved by the State Personnel Board. The division may independently
submit to the State Personnel Board recommendations for the approval of new division
classifications or the amendment of current division classifications;
(7) The division
shall have full authority to exercise its discretion regarding the application
of the Division of Personnel’s system of compensation for positions within the
classified and classified-exempt service: Provided,
That application of this subdivision shall be uniform. The division may
independently submit to the State Personnel Board recommendations for the
approval of a special pay scale for the division’s personnel;
(8) Notwithstanding
any provision of the code or of any rule to the contrary, the Division of
Personnel shall not be a mandatory party to any public employee grievance filed
against the division. The Division of Personnel shall not be a signatory to,
and may not override or otherwise challenge, the division’s decisions regarding
settlement terms and conditions in employee grievances or other legal
proceedings;
(9) The Division of
Personnel shall facilitate or perform any lawful action necessary to initiate or
complete the division’s employment transactions, including, but not limited to,
posting positions on applicable systems, initiating public service
announcements when requested by the division, and processing necessary forms;
(10) The division
shall comply with all applicable record retention requirements provided by law;
(11) The division is
authorized to declare any positions effectively vacant due to employee
separations, which were not processed prior to the division being placed under
the wvOASIS system, vacant and subject to being filled pursuant to the
provisions of this section;
(12) The division shall have the flexibility
to utilize all vacant position numbers when posting to fill a vacancy and to
post vacant positions utilizing multiple classifications with corresponding job
descriptions when the commissioner determines it to be necessary and in the
best interest of the division; and
(13) For purposes of this section, a vacancy created when an
employee of the division separates or goes on terminal leave may be posted upon
receipt of the notice that the employee separated or commenced such leave.
(d) Exemption from regular
application and appointment requirements. — When seeking applications or
making appointments pursuant to the special procedure authorized by subsection
(c) of this section, the division is not required to comply with Division of
Personnel procedures for seeking applications and making appointments to
classified service positions as provided by the provisions of articles six and
six-a, chapter twenty-nine of this code or in any other provision of this code,
including those procedures promulgated in procedural or legislative rules
promulgated by the commissioner pursuant to article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code, except that this section does not exempt the
division from provisions of this code, prohibiting nepotism, favoritism,
discrimination or unethical practices related to appointment, or the public
employee grievance system.
(e) The commissioner
may promulgate emergency rules and shall propose legislative rules pursuant to
the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code as may be
necessary to implement and comply with the provisions of this section.
(f) The provisions
of this section shall apply notwithstanding the provisions of article six or
article six-a, chapter twenty-nine of this code to the contrary.
(g) Classified employees
of the division shall continue to be covered by the civil service system and
may utilize any applicable public employee grievance process.
Chapter 17. Roads and Highways.
ARTICLE 2A. The West Virginia Commissioner of
Highways.
§17-2A-24. Special
employment procedures for Division of Highways Personnel.
(a) Legislative findings and intent. —
(1) The Legislature previously
commissioned a performance audit to assess and improve the effectiveness and
efficiency of the core operations of the Division of Highways. The Division of
Highways has long had difficulty filling positions which are essential to constructing
and maintaining the state’s highways and bridges. The Legislature finds that
the hiring and retention processes of the division must be streamlined to
effectively and efficiently meet personnel needs while still affording
applicants and employees the due process protections of classified service.
(2) The Legislature has
recently approved increased funding for the division which will exacerbate its
staffing shortage of hundreds of positions.
(3) The purpose of this
section is to allow the Division of Highways to employ qualified applicants to
vacant and new personnel positions in the division in a timely manner and to
ensure that the Division of Highways has an adequate workforce sufficient to
maintain safe roadways for the citizens of West Virginia.
(b) Definitions. — As used in this section:
(1) “Commissioner” means
the Commissioner of the Division of Highways or his or her designee; and
(2) “Division” means the
Division of Highways.
(c) Special employment procedure; requirements. — The commissioner shall
implement the special merit-based application and appointment procedure
authorized by the provisions of this section for all the employees of the
division to ensure and provide for the selection and retention of competent and
qualified personnel. The special application and employment procedure established
pursuant to this section shall be effective on and after December 1, 2017, and
shall be subject to the following requirements:
(1) The Division of
Personnel shall provide competitive registers of eligible applicants when
requested by the division to do so within five business days of receipt of the request;
(2) Any position to be
filled internally shall be posted for seven calendar days before the division
may select an applicant. For positions to be filled with an applicant from
outside of the division, the public service announcement shall be posted for
not less than fourteen calendar days;
(3) Postings shall be
active for up to one year;
(4) Notwithstanding any
provision of law or of any rule promulgated under the provisions of this code,
the division may employ any person listed on the Transportation Worker I
register for employment as a Transportation Worker I without regard to the
person’s position on said register;
(5) The division shall
have full authority to evaluate applicants for employment or promotion within
the division to positions within the classified service and classified-exempt
service. The division shall have sole authority to determine whether applicants
for positions with the division meet minimum position requirements;
(6) The division shall
have full authority to make classification determinations for positions within
the division by using the classification system approved by the State Personnel
Board. The division may independently submit to the State Personnel Board
recommendations for the approval of new division classifications or the
amendment of current division classifications;
(7) The division shall
have full authority to exercise its discretion regarding the application of the
Division of Personnel’s system of compensation for positions in the division within
the classified and classified-exempt service: Provided, That application of the provisions of this subdivision
shall be uniform. The division may independently submit to the State Personnel
Board recommendations for the approval of a special pay scale for the
division’s personnel;
(8) Notwithstanding any
provision of the code or of any rule to the contrary, the Division of Personnel
shall not be a mandatory party to any public employee grievance filed against
the division. The Division of Personnel shall not be a signatory to, and may
not override or otherwise challenge, the division’s decisions regarding
settlement terms and conditions in employee grievances or other legal
proceedings;
(9) The Division of
Personnel shall facilitate or perform any lawful action necessary to initiate
or complete the division’s employment transactions, including, but not limited
to, posting positions on applicable systems, initiating public service
announcements when requested by the division, and processing necessary forms;
(10) The division shall
comply with all applicable record retention requirements provided by law;
(11) The division is
authorized to declare any positions effectively vacant due to employee
separations, which were not processed prior to the division being placed under
the wvOASIS system, vacant and subject to being filled pursuant to the provisions
of this section;
(12) The division shall
have the flexibility to utilize all vacant position numbers when posting to
fill a vacancy and to post vacant positions utilizing multiple classifications with
corresponding job descriptions when the commissioner determines it to be
necessary and in the best interest of the agency; and
(13) For purposes of
this section, a vacancy created when an employee of the division separates or
goes on terminal leave may be posted upon receipt of the notice that the
employee has separated or commenced such leave.
(d) Exemption from regular application and appointment requirements. —
When seeking applications or making appointments pursuant to the special
procedure authorized by subsection (c) of this section, the division is not
required to comply with Division of Personnel procedures for seeking
applications and making appointments to classified service positions as
provided by the provisions of articles six and six-a, chapter twenty-nine of
this code or any other provision of this code, including those procedures
promulgated by legislative rules, subject however to the following exceptions:
(1) This section does
not exempt the division from provisions of this code, prohibiting nepotism,
favoritism, discrimination or unethical practices related to employment and
promotion, or the public employee grievance system; and
(2) The provisions of
this section may not be applied to hiring procedures applicable to any division
classified service position or employee in any manner that disqualifies the
division for eligibility for any federal highway funds or assistance.
(e) Rules. — The commissioner may promulgate emergency rules and shall
propose legislative rules pursuant to the provisions of article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code as may be necessary to implement and comply with the
provisions of this section.
(f) The provisions of
this section shall apply notwithstanding any provisions of article six or
six-a, chapter twenty-nine of this code to the contrary.
(g) Classified employees
of the division shall continue to be covered by the civil service system and
may utilize any applicable public employee grievance process.
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