Clarifies scope of negotiations and consultation relating to policies, procedures, practices, and the collective bargaining agreement. Implements and maintains the classification system covering civil service positions. Implements a non-judicial process for addressing management complaints against the exclusive representative.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to enact statewide legislation to clarify the scope of negotiations and consultation relative to policies, procedures, practices and the collective bargaining agreement; implementing and maintaining the classification systems covering civil service positions; and implementing a non-judicial process for addressing management complaints against the exclusive representative.

SECTION 2. Act 253, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000, is amended as follows:

1. By amending section 3 to read:

"SECTION 3. Chapter 76, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"[[]§76-13.5[]] Classification. (a) Each director shall establish, implement, and maintain one or more classification systems covering all civil service positions, not otherwise exempted by rules. The classification systems shall be constructed with the objective of achieving equal pay for equal work as provided in section 76-1. The director shall adopt rules that allow for the administrative review of classification and initial pricing actions. The director shall further ensure establishment of procedures to periodically review, at least once in five years, the repricing of classes within the jurisdiction. The repricing of classes based on the results of the periodic review shall be at the discretion of the employer.

(b) Wherever reference is made in statutes that positions are either subject to or exempt from "chapter 77" prior to July 1, 2002, the positions shall be subject or exempt from the appropriate classification systems established under this section.""

2. By amending section 5 to read:

"SECTION 5. Section 76-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§76-1 Purposes; merit principle. It is the purpose of this chapter to require each jurisdiction to establish and maintain a separately administered civil service system based on the merit principle. The merit principle is the selection of persons based on their fitness and ability for public employment and the retention of employees based on their demonstrated appropriate conduct and productive performance. It is also the purpose of this chapter to build a career service in government, free from coercive political influences, to render impartial service to the public at all times, according to the dictates of ethics and morality and in compliance with all laws.

In order to achieve these purposes, it is the declared policy of the State that the human resource program within each jurisdiction be administered in accordance with the following:

3. By amending section 98 to read:

"SECTION 98. Section 89-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§89-9 Scope of negotiations; consultation. (a) The employer and the exclusive representative shall meet at reasonable times, including meetings sufficiently in advance of the April 16 impasse date under section 89-11, and shall negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, the amounts of contributions by the State and respective counties to the Hawaii public employees health fund to the extent allowed in subsection (e), and other terms and conditions of employment which are subject to collective bargaining and which are to be embodied in a written agreement as specified in section 89-10, but such obligation does not compel either party to agree to a proposal or make a concession; provided that the parties may not negotiate with respect to cost items as defined by section 89-2 for the biennium 1999 to 2001, and the cost items of employees in bargaining units under section 89-6 in effect on June 30, 1999, shall remain in effect until July 1, 2001.

(b) The employer or the exclusive representative desiring to initiate negotiations shall notify the other party in writing, setting forth the time and place of the meeting desired and the nature of the business to be discussed, sufficiently in advance of the meeting.

(c) [Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, all matters] Matters affecting employee relations, including those that are, or may be, the subject of a rule adopted by the employer or any director, shall be subject to consultation with the exclusive representatives of the employees concerned. Matters affecting employee relations which are subject to consultation include, but are not limited to, the following:

Any doubt as to whether a matter affecting employee relations is subject to consultation or negotiation shall be resolved in favor of consultation. The employer shall make every reasonable effort to consult with exclusive representatives and consider their input, along with the input of other affected parties, prior to effecting changes in any major policy affecting employee relations. The employer shall provide the exclusive representative thirty calendar days notice prior to implementation of a major policy, rule, practice, or other condition of work. For purposes of consultation, the consultation period shall end no later than thirty calendar days after the notice is received, unless the employer and exclusive representative mutually agree to extend the consultation process. After the completion of the consultation period, the employer may implement the policy, procedure, practice or other condition of work.

(d) Excluded from the subjects of negotiations are matters of classification, reclassification, benefits of but not contributions to the Hawaii public employees health fund, recruitment, examination, initial pricing, [and] retirement benefits except as provided in section 88-8(h)[.], and matters affecting employee relations that are only subject to consultation in accordance with subsection (c). The employer and the exclusive representative shall not agree to any proposal which would be inconsistent with the merit principle or the principle of equal pay for equal work pursuant to section 76-1 or which would interfere with the rights and obligations of a public employer to:

The employer and the exclusive representative may negotiate procedures governing the promotion and transfer of employees to positions within a bargaining unit; the suspension, demotion, discharge, or other disciplinary actions taken against employees within the bargaining unit; and the layoff of employees within the bargaining unit. Violations of the procedures so negotiated may be subject to the grievance procedure in the collective bargaining agreement.

(e) Negotiations relating to contributions to the Hawaii public employees health fund shall be for the purpose of agreeing upon the amounts which the State and counties shall contribute under section 87-4, toward the payment of the costs for a health benefits plan, as defined in section 87-1(8), and group life insurance benefits, and the parties shall not be bound by the amounts contributed under prior agreements; provided that section 89-11 for the resolution of disputes by way of fact-finding or arbitration shall not be available to resolve impasses or disputes relating to the amounts the State and counties shall contribute to the Hawaii public employees health fund.

[(f) The repricing of classes within an appropriate bargaining unit may be negotiated as follows:

4. By amending section 99 to read:

"SECTION 99. Section 89-10, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§89-10 Written agreements; enforceability; cost items. (a) Any collective bargaining agreement reached between the employer and the exclusive representative shall be subject to ratification by the employees concerned, except for an agreement reached pursuant to an arbitration decision. Ratification is not required for other agreements effective during the term of the collective bargaining agreement, whether a supplemental agreement, an agreement on reopened items, or a memorandum of agreement, and any agreement to extend the term of the collective bargaining agreement. The agreement shall be reduced to writing and executed by both parties. Except for cost items, all provisions in the agreement that are in conformance with this chapter, including a grievance procedure and an impasse procedure culminating in an arbitration decision, shall be valid and enforceable and shall be effective as specified in the agreement, regardless of the requirements to submit cost items under this section and section 89-11.

(b) All cost items shall be subject to appropriations by the appropriate legislative bodies. The employer shall submit within ten days of the date on which the agreement is ratified by the employees concerned all cost items contained therein to the appropriate legislative bodies, except that if any cost items require appropriation by the state legislature and it is not in session at the time, the cost items shall be submitted for inclusion in the governor's next operating budget within ten days after the date on which the agreement is ratified. The state legislature or the legislative bodies of the counties acting in concert, as the case may be, may approve or reject the cost items submitted to them, as a whole. If the state legislature or the legislative body of any county rejects any of the cost items submitted to them, all cost items submitted shall be returned to the parties for further bargaining.

(c) Because effective and orderly operations of government are essential to the public, it is declared to be in the public interest that in the course of collective bargaining, the public employer and the exclusive representative for each bargaining unit shall by mutual agreement include provisions in the collective bargaining agreement for that bargaining unit for an expiration date which will be on June 30th of an odd-numbered year.

The parties may include provisions for reopening during the term of a collective bargaining agreement; provided that cost items as defined in section 89-2 shall be subject to the requirements of this section.

(d) [Whenever] All existing rules adopted by the employer, including civil service or other personnel rules, which are not contrary to this chapter, shall remain applicable. If there is a conflict between the collective bargaining agreement and any of the rules adopted by the employer, including civil service or other personnel policies, standards, and procedures, the terms of the agreement shall prevail; provided that the terms are not inconsistent with section 89-9(d).

[Whenever there are provisions in a collective bargaining agreement concerning a matter under chapter 76 or 78 that is negotiable under chapter 89, the terms of the agreement shall prevail; provided that the terms are not inconsistent with section 89-9(d).]

(e) If an exclusive representative violates, misinterprets, or misapplies a contract provision, including the filing of frivolous grievances, the employer may submit the alleged violation for binding arbitration. Upon such request by the employer, the parties shall select a neutral arbitrator from a list of five names provided by the Hawaii labor relations board, with ten calendar days of receipt of the request by the exclusive representative. The arbitrator shall render a decision within thirty calendar days after conclusion of the hearing and may impose monetary penalties and costs on the exclusive representative. The decision by the arbitrator shall be final and binding on the parties. The fees of the arbitrator, the costs of transcription and other necessary general costs shall be shared equally by the employer and the exclusive representative. Each party will pay the cost of presenting its own case and the cost of any transcript that it requests.""

SECTION 3. Until all collective bargaining agreements in affect when the governor approves this measure expire by their own terms, state and county agency determination made pursuant to the chapter added to the Hawaii Revised Statutes by section 2(3) and (4) of this Act may be made only if they are consistent with the provisions of all applicable collective bargaining agreements.

SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.