HB 113 — An Act relating to private sector and state employment preferences for active service members, veterans, and spouses and dependent children of active service members and veterans; relating to employment preferences for surviving spouses of deceased service members and veterans; and relating to employment preferences for disabled veterans and former prisoners of war.

or 3116 (2)(ii) under23 (A)years 19of yearsage and registered at and attending 17 on a full-time basis an accredited educational or technical 18 institution recognized by the Department of age;Education and Early 19 Development;

or20 02(3) (B)[(1)] 23"member years of agethe andnational registeredguard" atmeans and attending on a full-person 03presently time21 basisserving anas accrediteda educationalmember orin technicalgood institutionstanding recognizedin by the 04national Departmentguard; of Education and Early Development.

0522 *(4) Sec."spouse" means an individual who 23 (A) is married to a member of the national guard or a 24 veteran;

or 25 (B) was married to a deceased service member at the time 26 of the deceased service member's death;

27 (5) [(2)] "veteran" means a person who was discharged under 28 honorable conditions from service in 29 (A) the armed forces of the United States;

30 (B) a reserve unit of the armed forces of the United States;

31 (C) the Alaska Territorial Guard;

(D) the Alaska Army National Guard;

02 (E) the Alaska Air National Guard;

or 03 (F) the Alaska Naval Militia.

04 * Sec.

AS 39.25.150 is amended to read:

06 Sec.

39.25.150.

Scope of the rules.

The personnel rules must provide for 07 (1) the preparation, maintenance, and revision, by the director of 08 personnel, subject to approval of the commissioner of administration and the 09 personnel board, of a position classification plan for all positions in the classified and 10 partially exempt services;

the position classification plan must include 11 (A) a grouping together of all positions into classes on the basis 12 of duties and responsibilities;

13 (B) an appropriate title, a description of the duties and 14 responsibilities, training and experience qualifications, and other necessary 15 specifications for each class of positions;

16 (2) the preparation, maintenance, revision, and administration by the 17 director of personnel of a pay plan for all positions in the classified and partially 18 exempt services;

the pay plan (A) shall be based upon the position classification plan;

19 (B) must provide for fair and reasonable compensation for services rendered, and 20 reflect the principle of like pay for like work;

(C) may be amended, approved, or 21 disapproved by the legislature in regular or special session;

after the pay plan is in 22 effect, a salary or wage payment may not be made to a state employee covered by the 23 plan unless the payment is in accordance with this chapter and the rules adopted under 24 this chapter or unless the payment is in accordance with a valid agreement entered into 25 in accordance with AS 23.40;

26 (3) the use of employee selection methods, including open competitive 27 assessment devices, when appropriate, that will fairly evaluate the capacity and fitness 28 of the person assessed to discharge the duties of the position in which employment is 29 sought;

30 (4) the formulation of a list for appointment and promotion to a 31 position;

(5) the procedure for filling positions;

the rule adopted under this 02 paragraph may include procedures providing a preference for local residents when 03 appropriate;

04 (6) promotions from within the state service when there are qualified 05 candidates in the state service;

vacancies shall be filled by promotion whenever 06 practicable and in the best interest of the state service, and promotion shall be by 07 competitive assessment whenever possible;

in considering promotions, the applicants' 08 qualifications, performance records, seniority, and conduct shall be evaluated;

09 (7) a period of probation not to exceed one year before an appointment 10 to a position becomes permanent, unless the period of probation is extended as set out 11 in a collective bargaining agreement under AS 23.40;

however, a permanent employee 12 receiving a promotional appointment retains permanent status in the service and job 13 class from which appointed for the duration of the probationary period and may be 14 demoted to a former class without right of appeal, notwithstanding AS 39.25.170, but, 15 if the employee is dismissed from the service, the appeal rights under AS 39.25.170 16 apply;

17 (8) nonpermanent and emergency appointments to positions in the 18 state service in accordance with AS 39.25.195 - 39.25.200;

19 (9) provisional appointment without competitive assessment when the 20 recruitment and assessment procedures have not identified qualified candidates in 21 sufficient number;

22 (10) transfers from one department to another and from another merit 23 system jurisdiction to the state service;

24 (11) transfers from one area of the state to another;

25 (12) the reinstatement of a person who resigns in good standing;

26 (13) layoffs for reason of lack of money or work, abolition of 27 positions, or material changes in duties or organization;

both performance and 28 seniority records shall be considered in the development of layoff orders;

29 (14) the development, maintenance, and use of employee performance 30 records;

31 (15) the establishment of disciplinary measures, which may include disciplinary suspension without pay;

02 (16) the procedures for review of disputed personnel actions, for 03 resolving employee and interagency grievances, and for resolving grievances of the 04 general public concerning the operation of the state personnel system;

05 (17) hours of work for all employees in the state service;

06 (18) methods and procedures covering overtime work and pay;

07 (19) the granting of employment preference rights, not within the area 08 of promotion, [TO A VETERAN, FORMER PRISONER OF WAR, OR MEMBER 09 OF THE NATIONAL GUARD] under AS 39.25.159;

10 (20) the employment of persons in permanent positions on a part-time 11 basis of 15 hours or more a week, including the employment of two persons to fill one 12 permanent full-time position;

these employees shall be designated as permanent part- 13 time employees;

14 (21) the granting of employment preference to individuals with severe 15 disabilities;

this includes the right to provisional appointment without competitive 16 assessment for periods of up to four months and the granting of eligibility to an 17 individual with a severe disability provisionally appointed under the rules who 18 demonstrates ability to perform the job for permanent appointment without 19 competitive assessment;

provisional employment under this paragraph may not exceed 20 four months during a 12-month period;

"individual with a severe disability," as used in 21 this paragraph, means an individual certified by the director of the division of 22 vocational rehabilitation to be severely disabled;

23 (22) the establishment of programs facilitating the employment of 24 disadvantaged persons;

25 (23) the delegation, when feasible, of personnel responsibilities and 26 duties to the principal departments of the executive branch;

27 (24) the establishment of a transition period of up to 12 months for an 28 employee to be reappointed to a classified position if the employee's position is 29 withdrawn from the partially exempt or exempt service and placed in the classified 30 service;

31 (25) other rules and administrative regulations, not inconsistent with this chapter, that are necessary for its enforcement.

02 * Sec.

4.

0305 (a) A person [VETERANwho ORis FORMERa PRISONERveteran, OF[OR] WAR]former whoprisoner 04of war, or a spouse or 06 dependent child of a veteran, former prisoner of war, or deceased service 07 member and who possesses the necessary qualifications for a position or job 08 classification applied for 05 under this chapter is entitled to an employment preference as 09 follows:

0610 (1) in an assessment using numerical ratings, 07 (A) points equal to five 11 percent of the points available from the 08 assessment device or devices shall be added to 12 the person's passing score or, if the personveteran 09or isformer 10prisoner (i)of inwar activeis service,disabled, on13 furlough[OF fromA activeVETERAN, service,AND] 11points orequal dischargedto under10 honorablepercent conditions from service in the 12 armed forces of the Unitedpoints States,available afrom reserve unit of the armed14 13assessment forcesdevice ofor thedevices Unitedshall States,be theadded Alaskato Territorial Guard, the 14person's Alaskapassing Armyscore National[OF Guard,A the15 AlaskaDISABLED AirVETERAN NationalOR Guard,FORMER orPRISONER 15OF theWAR]; Alaska Naval Militia;

16 (ii)(2) thein spousean orassessment dependentnot childusing ofnumerical aratings, personconsideration 17shall describedbe in17 (i)afforded ofto thisthe subparagraph;person;

orif 18 (iii) the survivingveteran spouse or aformer dependentprisoner child of awar 19is persondisabled who,[A at18 theVETERAN; time of death, was a person in active service or 20 on furlough from active service as described in (i) of this 21 subparagraph;

22ADDITIONALLY], (B)an pointsopportunity equal to 10interview percentfor of the pointsposition available from 23 the assessment device or devices shall be added19 afforded to the passingperson score[A ifDISABLED theVETERAN 24OR personA isFORMER 25PRISONER (i)OF a20 disabledWAR]. veteran;

2621 (ii)* aSec. former prisoner of war;

274. (2) in an assessment not using numerical ratings, 28 (A) consideration shall be afforded to a person under 29 (1)(A)(i) of this subsection;

30AS (B)39.25.159(c) [OFis Aamended VETERAN,to ANDread: POINTS EQUAL TO 10 31 PERCENT OF THE POINTS AVAILABLE FROM THE ASSESSMENT DEVICE OR DEVICES SHALL BE ADDED TO THE PASSING SCORE OF 02 A DISABLED VETERAN OR FORMER PRISONER OF WAR;

0322 (2)(c) INA ANperson ASSESSMENTwho NOTis USINGa NUMERICALmember RATINGS,of 04the CONSIDERATIONnational SHALLguard BEor AFFORDEDa TOspouse Aor VETERAN;23 dependent child of a member of the national guard or deceased member of the 24 national guard who died or is formally and legally presumed to have died while 25 in active service or on furlough from active service in the national guard and who 26 possesses the necessary qualifications for a position or job classification applied for 27 under this chapter is entitled to an employment preference as follows:

ADDITIONALLY,]28 05(1) in an opportunityassessment using numerical ratings, points equal to interviewfive for29 percent of the positionpoints available from the assessment device or devices shall be affordedadded to a30 disabledthe veteranperson's orpassing ascore 06[OF formerA prisonerMEMBER ofOF war.THE NATIONAL GUARD];

0731 *(2) Sec.in an assessment not using numerical ratings, consideration shall be afforded to the person [A MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL GUARD].

02 * Sec.

0803 (d) A person may receive an employment preference under only one of the 0904 categories described in (a) [ORor (c)](c) of this section.

A person may use the preference 1005 without limitation when being considered for a position for which persons who are not 1106 currently state employees are being considered.

If the recruitment for a position is 1207 limited to state employees, preference under (a) or (c) of this section may not be 1308 counted.

If a position in the classified service is eliminated, employees shall be 1409 released in accordance with rules adopted under AS 39.25.150(13).

In the case of a 1510 comparison of employees with equal qualifications based on the factors adopted under 1611 AS 39.25.150(13), ana employeeperson who is eligiblea forveteran, anformer employmentprisoner preferenceof 17war, under[OR] (a)member 12 of thisthe sectionnational [Aguard, VETERAN,or FORMERa PRISONERspouse OFor WAR,dependent ORchild 18of MEMBERa OFveteran, THEformer NATIONALprisoner GUARD]13 of war, member of the national guard, or deceased service member shall be given 14 preference over ana 19person employee who is not eligible for a preferenceveteran, underformer (a)prisoner of thiswar, section[OR] andmember [A15 20of PERSONthe WHOnational ISguard, NOTor Aa VETERAN,spouse FORMERor PRISONERdependent OFchild WAR,of ORa 21[AND MEMBERTHE] OFveteran, THE16 NATIONALformer GUARD,prisoner ANDof THEwar, VETERAN,[OR] FORMERmember 22of PRISONERthe OFnational WAR,guard, ORor MEMBERdeceased OFservice THE17 NATIONALmember GUARD]and shall be kept 23 on the job.

2418 * Sec.

AS 39.25.159(e)39.25.159(f) is amended by adding new paragraphs to read:

2519 (e)(6) Subsections"deceased (a)service [(a),member" (c),]means anda (d)person ofwho thisdied sectionor mayis notformally be20 interpretedand legally presumed to 26have amenddied while in active service or on furlough from active 21 service in 22 (A) the termsarmed forces of athe collectiveUnited bargainingStates; agreement.

2723 *(B) Sec.a reserve unit of the armed forces of the United States;

7.24 (C) the Alaska Territorial Guard;

AS25 39.25.159(f)(D) isthe amendedAlaska byArmy addingNational aGuard; new paragraph to read:

2826 (6)(E) "dependentthe child"Alaska meansAir aNational naturalGuard; child, stepchild, or adopted child 29 who is 30 (A) permanently disabled;

or 3127 (B)(F) underthe (i)Alaska 19Naval yearsMilitia; of age;

or28 02(7) (ii)"dependent 23child" yearsmeans of age and registered at and attending on a 03natural full-time basis an accredited educational or technicaladopted institutionchild 04who recognizedis by29 the(A) Departmentpermanently ofdisabled; Education and Early Development.

05or *30 Sec.(B) under 31 (i) 19 years of age;

8.or (ii) 23 years of age and registered at and attending on a 02 full-time basis an accredited educational or technical institution 03 recognized by the Department of Education and Early Development;

AS04 39.25.159(c)(8) is"member repealed.of the national guard" means a person presently serving 05 as a member in good standing in the national guard;

06 (9) "spouse" means an individual who 07 (A) is married to a member of the national guard or a veteran;

08 or 09 (B) was married to a deceased service member at the time of 10 the deceased service member's death.