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Civil Service Reform bill introduced by Rep. Buehrer

nov. 26, 2002 - The General Assembly this week received far-reaching civil service reform legislation (HB 673) that would, among other things, allow state agencies to create their own evaluation systems to assess employee performance and furlough employees when fiscal problems dictate a workforce reduction.

Rep. Stephen Buehrer (R-Delta) introduced the legislation just before the start of state employee contract talks, which begin today. HB 673 contains the recommendations from the Civil Service Review Commission that would:

• Allow employers to institute furloughs for up to ten weeks in situations where short-term financial relief is needed;
  
• Give employers the authority to determine the qualifications for an employee within the broader state classification plan;
  
• Specify that all employees who could be affected by a job displacement be notified at the same time;
  
• Eliminate the status of provisional and certified employees for classified workers;
  
• Allow the state and local governments to designate employees as part-time workers for no more than ten weeks to avoid layoffs, and;
  
• Eliminate the State Personnel Board of Review authority to examine an employee’s dismissal if a “last chance agreement” was in place.
  

OCSEA Government Affairs Director Kim Fellinger said of the bill, "It does not appear that there is any expectation that the bill will move this session, but plan on having the same thing re-introduced in January."

Look for more information in the next two weeks.

OCSEA members will mobilize against this bill through grassroots efforts.