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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
234 |
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TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to the employees' retirement system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Section 89E-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:
1. By amending subsection (a) to read:
"(a) Notwithstanding section 88-99 or any
other law to the contrary, the employees' retirement system may provide,
regardless of whether the actuarial value of the system's assets is one hundred
per cent of the system's actuarial accrued liability, the benefits authorized
under this section. Any employee who receives official notification that the
employee's position is being abolished or who is directly affected by a reduction-in-force
or workforce restructuring plan, including privatization, proposed by an agency
may elect, if the employee is eligible to receive benefits from the employees'
retirement system and meets any of the criteria specified in subsection (c), the
special retirement benefit provided by this section in lieu of exercising any
reduction-in-force rights under chapter 89 [and in lieu of receiving any
severance benefits under section 89E‑2]. To receive the special
retirement benefit offered under this section, the employee shall comply with
the application and time frame requirements specified in subsection (b)."
2. By amending subsection (e) to read:
"(e) The head of the agency shall
transmit a list of employees who elected and received the special retirement
benefit to the board of trustees of the employees' retirement system not less
than thirty days but not more than one hundred fifty days prior to the
employee's retirement date. The head of the agency shall certify that the
employees on the list have in fact selected the special retirement benefit in
lieu of [receiving the severance benefit under section 89E-2 and]
exercising any reduction-in-force rights under chapter 89."
SECTION 2. Section 89E-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"[[]§89E-4[]]
Restrictions. No [severance benefit or] special retirement benefit
under this chapter shall be payable to an employee discharged for lawful
disciplinary reasons or for reasons other than a reduction-in-force or
workforce restructuring plan."
SECTION 3. Section 89E-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"[[]§89E-5[]]
Reemployment. Any employee who has received [either a severance benefit
or] a special retirement benefit under this chapter and returns to public
service within two years as an employee or contractor shall repay [the
severance benefit or] the special retirement benefit to [the State or]
the employees' retirement system[, as the case may be,] within thirty
days of reemployment with a public employer."
SECTION 4. Section 89E-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"[[]§89E-6[]] Payments;
lapse of unexpended funds. After payments of all costs associated with the
[severance benefits and] special retirement benefits, the public
employer's remaining payroll balances shall not be expended for any purpose and
shall be lapsed into the appropriate fund."
SECTION 5. Section 89E-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"[[]§89E-7[]] Reporting
requirements; reduction in personnel counts. The head of the agency that
provided benefits under this chapter shall:
(1) Transmit a report of every position identified for abolishment and vacated under this chapter to the directors of finance and human resources development, who shall abolish these positions from the appropriate budget and personnel files. The governor shall report this information to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session beginning with the regular session of 2017;
(2) Reduce its personnel count by every position
identified for abolishment and vacated under this chapter, whether the former
incumbent vacated the position as a result of accepting a [severance benefit
or] special retirement benefit authorized under this chapter or of
exercising reduction-in-force rights; and
(3) Transmit a list that includes each employee who received benefits under this chapter and the benefit received by the employee to the directors of finance and human resources development."
SECTION 6. Section 89E-8, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"[[](a)[]] The departments
of human resources development and budget and finance shall develop and
administer guidelines and time frames with the exclusive representatives of
affected public employees to implement the [voluntary severance benefits and]
special retirement benefits under this chapter. The department of human
resources development, the department of labor and industrial relations, the
employees' retirement system, and the Hawaii employer-union health benefits
trust fund shall work cooperatively to ensure that briefings are provided prior
to the implementation of any workforce restructuring plan to educate the
employees whose positions are being abolished or who are directly affected by a
reduction-in-force or workforce restructuring plan."
SECTION 7. Section 89E-10, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"[[]§89E-10[]] Review by
employee. Employees offered a [severance benefit or a] special
retirement benefit shall be given sufficient time to make an informed decision
from the date of receiving accurate and complete information about the offer."
SECTION 8. Section 89E-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["[§89E-2] Voluntary severance
benefit. (a) Any employee entitled to reduction-in-force rights
under chapter 89 and who receives official notification that the employee's
position is being abolished or who is directly affected by a reduction-in-force
or workforce restructuring plan, including privatization, may elect to receive
a voluntary severance benefit provided under this section in lieu of exercising
any reduction-in-force rights under chapter 89 and in lieu of receiving any
special retirement benefit under section 89E-3.
(b) A one-time lump sum cash bonus
severance benefit shall be calculated at five per cent of the employee's base
salary for every year of service worked, not to exceed ten years, and shall not
exceed fifty per cent of the employee's annual base salary.
For the purposes of this section,
"annual base salary" means an employee's annual salary for the
position from which the employee is to be separated, excluding all other forms
of compensation paid or accrued, whether a bonus, allowance, differential, or
value of leave or compensatory time off credits. Compensation excluded from
base salary includes shortage category differential, night shift differential,
overtime, compensatory time off credits, vacation or sick leave credits, and
workers' compensation benefits.
(c) A severance benefit shall be in
addition to any payment owing to the employee upon separation from service,
including accumulated unused vacation allowances or compensatory time credits.
(d) All severance benefits paid under this
section shall be subject to applicable state income tax laws and rules.
(e) A severance benefit provided under this
section shall not be considered as a part of a discharged employee's salary,
service credit, or a cost item as defined in section 89-2 when calculating
retirement benefits or sick and vacation leave."]
SECTION 9. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.
SECTION 10. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 11. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2017.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Separation Benefits; Voluntary Severance Benefit
Description:
Repeals the voluntary severance benefits from Act 1, SSLH 2016, as codified.
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.