REPORT TITLE:
Job-sharing


DESCRIPTION:
Authorizes the agencies of the executive, judiciary, and
legislative branches to implement a voluntary job-sharing
program.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.42         
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT
RELATING TO JOB-SHARING FOR PUBLIC EMPLOYEES.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that flexible employment
 
 2 opportunities are needed to meet changing social and economic
 
 3 realities of life in Hawaii.  For nearly fifteen years, the
 
 4 legislature has promoted job-sharing, which allows the sharing of
 
 5 one full-time position by two half-time employees, as an
 
 6 employment option for certain state workers.  Job-sharing pilot
 
 7 projects have been authorized for the executive branch, the
 
 8 judiciary, the office of the legislative reference bureau, the
 
 9 office of the auditor, and the office of the ombudsman.
 
10      According to a report by the auditor on these pilot
 
11 projects, job-sharing was found to be a feasible, desirable, and
 
12 cost-effective work arrangement.  Job-sharers have the
 
13 flexibility to care for children, spend more time with their
 
14 families, pursue additional education and training, and take care
 
15 of other personal needs.  Positive results of job-sharing include
 
16 a decrease in worker turnover and absenteeism, an increase in
 
17 worker productivity, and an improvement in worker morale.  The
 
18 auditor's report concluded with a recommendation that job-sharing
 

 
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 1 be made available to all state agencies to use at their
 
 2 discretion.
 
 3      The purpose of this Act is to authorize the executive
 
 4 departments, the judicial branch, the office of the legislative
 
 5 reference bureau, the office of the auditor, and the office of
 
 6 the ombudsman to establish voluntary job-sharing programs for
 
 7 their permanent, full-time employees; and to encourage agencies
 
 8 to examine appropriate use of job-sharing as a means of improving
 
 9 operations and retaining effective employees.
 
10      SECTION 2.  The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding
 
11 a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as
 
12 follows:
 
13                             "CHAPTER
 
14                            JOB-SHARING
 
15      §   -1 Definitions.  As used in this chapter, unless the
 
16 context requires otherwise:
 
17      "Agency" means the executive departments, the University of
 
18 Hawaii, the judicial branch, the office of the legislative
 
19 reference bureau, the office of the auditor, and the office of
 
20 the ombudsman; provided that it shall not apply to executive
 
21 agencies that have a specific statutory authorization for job-
 
22 sharing.
 
23      "Director" means the director of a state department, the
 

 
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 1 comptroller, the chairperson of the board of agriculture, the
 
 2 attorney general, the adjutant general, the superintendent of
 
 3 education, the chairperson of the Hawaiian homes commission, the
 
 4 chairperson of the board of land and natural resources, the
 
 5 president of the University of Hawaii, the administrator of the
 
 6 courts, the director of the legislative reference bureau, the
 
 7 state auditor, and the state ombudsman.
 
 8      "Job-sharing"  means the voluntary sharing of a full-time,
 
 9 permanent employee's position with another employee, with each
 
10 working one-half of the total number of hours of work required
 
11 per month, and each receiving one-half of the salary and at least
 
12 one-half of each employee benefit afforded to full-time
 
13 employees.
 
14      §   -2  Authorization to establish job-sharing programs.
 
15 Any agency may establish and administer voluntary job-sharing
 
16 programs for their permanent, full-time employees; provided that
 
17 sections 302A-610 and 312-7 shall apply to employees of the
 
18 department of education and the public library system
 
19 respectively.
 
20      §   -3  Establishment of job-sharing program.(a)  To
 
21 establish a job-sharing program, each director, in consultation
 
22 and agreement with the representatives of the appropriate
 

 
 
 
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 1 bargaining units, shall formulate and adopt guidelines for the
 
 2 implementation of this chapter.
 
 3      (b)  The director of each agency that has established a job-
 
 4 sharing program shall announce the job-sharing program to all
 
 5 full-time, regular employees and shall solicit voluntary requests
 
 6 of personnel interested in participating in the program.
 
 7      §   -4  Application to participate; selection; conversion.
 
 8 (a)  Employees who respond to the announcement and others who
 
 9 request information shall receive a full written description of
 
10 the terms of the program when the guidelines are finalized and
 
11 those desiring to participate may apply to participate in the
 
12 program.  Employees who apply for participation shall obtain the
 
13 concurrence of their director, immediate supervisor, and other
 
14 appropriate personnel officers.
 
15      (b)  Applicants who qualify shall be interviewed by the
 
16 agency's personnel officer or other appropriate individual.
 
17      (c)  Upon the selection of a permanent, full-time employee
 
18 for job-sharing under this chapter, the director of each agency,
 
19 for the purposes of this chapter, shall convert the position of
 
20 the employee into two job-sharing positions, one of which shall
 
21 be filled by the employee, and the other of which shall be filled
 
22 by either another permanent employee or a person hired under this
 

 
 
 
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 1 chapter.
 
 2      §   -5  Participation.  It is recommended that not more than
 
 3 fifty per cent of the eligible personnel at any work site be
 
 4 accepted to participate in the program.  It is further
 
 5 recommended that when sufficient eligible applicants are
 
 6 available, not less than twenty-five per cent of the personnel at
 
 7 any work site be accepted to participate in the program.
 
 8      §   -6  Recruitment for job-sharing positions; requirements.
 
 9 Persons hired to fill job-sharing positions shall be recruited in
 
10 accordance with this chapter; provided that any person hired for
 
11 a job-sharing position shall possess the minimum requirements of
 
12 the full-time position that was converted to job-sharing
 
13 positions under this chapter.
 
14      §   -7  Job-sharing program participants; employee rights
 
15 and benefits.  (a)  No full-time, permanent employee shall lose
 
16 membership in an employee bargaining unit because of
 
17 participation in a job-sharing program authorized under this
 
18 chapter, any law to the contrary notwithstanding.  Union
 
19 membership or service fees paid by job-sharers under this chapter
 
20 shall be at a level consistent with normal union membership dues
 
21 or service fees.
 
22      (b)  The State's contribution to a job-sharer's prepaid
 

 
 
 
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 1 health, prepaid dental, and any group life insurance plans shall
 
 2 be the same as for full-time employees, any other provision of
 
 3 the law to the contrary notwithstanding.  Job-sharers shall be
 
 4 covered under chapters 383 and 386.
 
 5      (c)  Service credit for permanent employees participating in
 
 6 the program under this chapter shall be given on the same basis
 
 7 as that for full-time employees.
 
 8      (d)  Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to vest any
 
 9 person with any rights to permanent employment status, whether
 
10 under civil service or otherwise, that did not exist prior to the
 
11 participation of the person in the job-sharing program.
 
12      (e)  No full-time position shall be abolished or reduced to
 
13 a half-time position as a result of this chapter, except for the
 
14 purpose of job-sharing, and only for the time that the job-
 
15 sharing position has been established.
 
16      (f)  In a reduction-in-force procedure, consideration of a
 
17 job-sharer's retention points shall be on the same basis as that
 
18 of a full-time employee.
 
19      (g)  Nothing in this chapter shall impair the employment or
 
20 employment rights or benefits of any employee.
 
21      §   -8  Contractual agreement; position vacancy.  (a)
 
22 Participation in the job-sharing program shall require the
 

 
 
 
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 1 commitment on the part of all parties to a contractual agreement;
 
 2 provided that the employee shall be given the option to contract
 
 3 for one or more years.
 
 4      (b)  No job-sharing position created under this chapter and
 
 5 committed to for a specific period of time under the terms of the
 
 6 contractual agreement shall be converted to full-time status
 
 7 before the termination of the contractual agreement.  A job-
 
 8 sharing vacancy created by the resignation, retirement, or other
 
 9 permanent or temporary severance of employment with an agency on
 
10 the part of any person shall not be converted to full-time status
 
11 until termination of the contractual agreement and shall be
 
12 filled immediately through recruitment of another person pursuant
 
13 to this chapter.
 
14      (c)  Upon the termination of job-sharing contractual
 
15 agreements, all job-sharing positions shall be converted to full-
 
16 time positions, and the employees who held the full-time
 
17 positions prior to their participation in the program shall be
 
18 entitled to resume their positions without loss of any employee
 
19 rights."
 
20      SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
21 
 
22                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________