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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5441
AN ACT ADOPTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE TASK
FORCE TO STUDY THE STATE WORKFORCE AND RETIRING
EMPLOYEES.
SUMMARY
This bill makes various changes in the laws concerning state
employees.
For state employees who are not covered by collective bargaining
agreements (i.e., “nonunion employees”), the bill:
1. requires nonunion executive or judicial branch employees to
receive at least the same wages as those granted to employees
covered by collective bargaining agreements (§ 5);
2. broadens the range of state employees who may collectively
bargain by tightening the definition of “managerial employee”
(i.e., those who may not collectively bargain) (§ 6); and
3. repeals a law that allows nonunion state employees to be charged
more for their health insurance premiums than employees
covered by collective bargaining agreements (§ 9).
The bill also requires each state agency to (1) fill all open positions to
levels appropriated in the 2022-2023 biennial budget and (2) adopt
continuous recruitment practices to fill critical shortage positions, as
appropriated in the 2022-2023 biennial budget, with no approval from
the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) or Office of Policy and
Management (OPM) needed to fill them (§ 7). (The bill does not define
“critical shortage position.”)
It creates a chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer position and
an Equity Advisory Committee to monitor certain recruitment goals (§
3). 2022HB-05441-R000418-BA.DOCX
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Lastly, the bill sets various study and analysis requirements related
to, among other things, state employee retirements, retention rates,
diversity, and training programs (§§ 1-4 & 8).
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage, except that provisions on (1) state
managers and nonunion wages are effective July 1, 2022, and (2) health
insurance premiums are effective October 1, 2022.
§§ 5, 6 & 9 — NONUNION STATE EMPLOYEES
Wages (§ 5)
Current law requires the DAS commissioner to issue orders that
grant nonunion executive or judicial branch employees at least the same
rights and benefits as those granted to employees covered under
collective bargaining agreements. The bill requires that the orders also
grant these nonunion employees the same wages (presumably, wage
increases), with movement within salary ranges, as those granted to
employees under the agreements.
Current law similarly allows (but does not require) the board of
trustees of any constituent unit of the state higher education system to
issue orders that grant its nonunion employees the same rights and
benefits as those granted to its employees covered under a prevailing
bargaining unit contract. The bill expands this authority to also allow
granting nonunion employees the same wages as those employees.
The bill also removes a provision that (1) subjects these orders to
approval by the OPM secretary and (2) requires the secretary to forward
a copy of the order to the Labor and Public Employees Committee if it
conflicts with any state statute. Under current law and the bill, if these
orders conflict with a state statute, the order prevails.
State Managers (§ 6)
The bill broadens the range of state employees who may collectively
bargain by tightening the criteria used to determine whether an
employee is a “managerial employee” who, by law, cannot collectively
bargain. To be considered a managerial employee under current law,
the principal functions of an employee’s position must involve at least 2022HB-05441-R000418-BA.DOCX
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two of the following four responsibilities:
1. directing a subunit or facility of a major division of an agency or
assignment to an agency head’s staff;
2. developing, implementing, and evaluating goals and objectives
consistent with agency mission or policy;
3. participating in formulating agency policy; or
4. having a major role in administering collective bargaining
agreements or major personnel decisions, or both, including
staffing, hiring, firing, evaluating, promoting, and training
employees.
To be considered a managerial employee under the bill, an employee
instead must play a major role in administering collective bargaining
agreements or major personnel decisions (number four above), plus
have one of the other three responsibilities. Current law, unchanged by
the bill, uses these same criteria to determine managerial employee
positions in the state’s higher education system.
Health Insurance (§ 9)
The bill repeals a statute that allows the DAS commissioner and OPM
secretary to require nonunion state employees to pay health insurance
premiums of up to 18% of the total premium. Existing law, unchanged
by the bill, otherwise requires that (1) nonunion executive and judicial
branch employees receive benefits that are at least equal to those
provided under unionized employees’ CBAs and (2) legislative
employees and elected state officials receive the same benefits provided
under unionized employees’ CBAs (CGS § 5-200).
§ 3 — DIVERSITY POSITIONS
Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer
The bill establishes the chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer
position to oversee a transformative hiring process in state government.
The officer must be appointed by the governor, with legislative
approval, and report to the governor and the Equity Advisory 2022HB-05441-R000418-BA.DOCX
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Committee established by the bill. (It is unclear how the officer could
report to two separate entities and “transformative” is not defined in the
bill.)
Equity Advisory Committee
The bill establishes the Equity Advisory Committee and charges it
with monitoring whether the bill’s diversity assessment goals (see
below) are being met by state agencies (the bill does not specify where
the committee is administratively housed).
Under the bill, the 11-member committee consists of seven members
appointed by representatives of each constituent union in the State
Employee Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC), and four other
members appointed from the current Task Force to Study the State
Workforce and Retiring Employees. (However, this task force
terminated upon submitting its final report to the legislature on
February 6, 2022.)
Of the four members appointed from the task force, one must be
appointed by each chairperson (presumably, of the task force), and one
must be appointed by each ranking member. (It is unclear who must
make the ranking member appointments, as the task force did not have
ranking members. By law, its members included the four ranking
members of the Labor and Public Employees and G overnment
Administration and Elections committees.)
Under the bill, the chairpersons of the Labor and Public Employees
Committee must appoint the Equity Advisory Committee’s
chairpersons. The committee must meet as required by its chairpersons,
and the Labor and Public Employees Committee’s administrative staff
serve as its administrative staff.
§§ 1-4 & 8 — STUDY & ANALYSIS REQUIREMENTS
Retirements (§ 1)
The bill requires the state comptroller (or her designee) and the
representatives of each SEBAC constituent union to estimate how many
state employees are expected to retire in each position at each state 2022HB-05441-R000418-BA.DOCX
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agency, including all three branches of government and the higher
education system. (The bill does not specify a deadline for them to do
so, a timeframe that the estimate must cover, or what must be done with
the results.)
Retention Rates (§ 1)
The bill requires each state agency commissioner to analyze the
agency’s employee retention rates and compare it to the state’s year-to-
year data and findings in the “The State of Connecticut Workforce: An
Analysis of Representation and Compensation Equity Across Gender
and Race-Ethnicity” report (see BACKGROUND). The agencies must
then jointly report their findings to the governor, the Labor and Public
Employees Committee, and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer,
which the bill creates. (The bill does not specify a deadline for them to
do so, or the frequency with which it must be done.)
Exit Survey (§ 1)
The bill also requires the human resources (HR) departments across
all branches of state government, encompassing all state agencies, to
develop a universal exit survey with specific data points to help inform
an overall view of the state’s workplace conditions. The HR
departments must (1) develop, distribute, and collect the surveys; (2)
analyze the survey results; and (3) report to the chief diversity, equity,
and inclusion officer. (The bill does not specify an entity to grant final
approval for the survey or what specific data points must be included
in it. It also does not specify a deadline for these actions or the frequency
with which they must be done.)
Position Replacement (§ 2)
The bill requires the commissioner of each state agency to formally
engage in a strategic plan to examine the (1) positions and position types
that they recommend be refilled; (2) positions they recommend be
replaced with a different type of position because the function has
changed; and (3) positions they recommend by replaced with a different
position because the need has changed, based on the agency’s current
needs, workforce capacity, and ability. (The bill does not specify what
the plan must consist of or a deadline for this to occur.) 2022HB-05441-R000418-BA.DOCX
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Under the bill, the above process must involve representative of each
SEBAC constituent union under the SEBAC agreement’s savings and
transformation provisions.
Diversity Review & Assessment (§ 3)
The bill requires the commissioner of each state agency to address its
diversity needs by reviewing “The State of Connecticut Workforce: An
Analysis of Representation and Compensation Equity Across Gender
and Race-Ethnicity” and assessing the agency. They must use the
assessment to determine where action plans may be needed to address
any racial or gender disparities, including a review of recruitment
strategies.
The assessment must at least include the agency’s (1) success over the
past five years in recruiting and retaining women and people of color
into various positions and (2) plan for achieving an appropriate and fair
balance in replacing vacancies left by retiring employees. The
assessments must be submitted to the governor, legislature, and the
chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer within three months after
the assessments start. (The bill does not specify a deadline by which the
assessments must start or how often they must be done.)
Training Programs (§ 4)
The bill requires each state agency commissioner to provide (1) a list
of the agency’s current training and professional development
programs; (2) the extent of employee engagement in those programs
over the previous three years, including the number of employees who
enrolled and completed the programs; and (3) a description of the
agency’s plans to create or increase engagement in the programs in the
near future.
The bill also requires the Department of Labor (DOL) to provide a list
of existing career pathway programs modeled after other federal and
state programs that encourage the training-to-workforce or college-to-
workforce transition for a range of state employee classes and positions.
These must include high school-to-career programs, vocational-
technical school pathways, internships, and post-graduate fellowships. 2022HB-05441-R000418-BA.DOCX
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The list must also include the participating agencies and number of
people involved in the programs.
In addition, the bill requires the DAS commissioner to study the
feasibility of developing a paid internship program for high school and
college students. In conducting the study, she may consult with
community advocates and leaders of nonprofit agencies.
(In all three cases, the bill does not specify to whom the applicable
commissioner must give the specified information, a deadline by which
it must be done, or how often it must be done.)
Retirement Deadline (§ 8)
Under the current agreement between the state and SEBAC, state
employees who retire after July 1, 2022, will no longer have a minimum
annual cost of living adjustment to their pension benefit, and those who
are not covered by Medicare will have to pay a higher health insurance
premium share.
The bill requires the OPM secretary to consult with SEBAC to:
1. allow all employees to continue working beyond July 1, 2022,
without the applicable cost of living adjustment or retiree health
care changes, until one month after their replacement has been
hired, to train and transition the new employee in the position,
and
2. reduce the retirement incentive caused by the 2022 changes in a
way that would not materially decrease the savings attributable
to those changes.
BACKGROUND
The State of Connecticut Workforce: An Analysis of
Representation and Compensation Equity Across Gender and
Race-Ethnicity
The Governor’s Council on Women and Girls issued “The State of —
Connecticut Workforce: An Analysis of Representation and
Compensation Equity Across Gender and Race-Ethnicity” in July 2019. 2022HB-05441-R000418-BA.DOCX
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The report reviewed data on approximately 32,693 executive branch
employees to identify any disparities in representation and
compensation across gender and racial-ethnic identities.
Related Bills
sSB 419, reported favorably by the Labor and Public Employees
Committee, establishes the “state employee training account” to
provide funds for state employee career development programs and
initiatives.
SB 420, reported favorably by the Labor and Public Employees
Committee, establishes an Office of the Racial Justice Ombudsperson
and charges it with, among other things, (1) implementing an initiative
that requires that certain minorities be prioritized for interviews for
state employee positions and (2) submitting a plan for eliminating
systemic racism in state government.
HB 5445, reported favorably by the Labor and Public Employees
Committee, requires the commissioners of each state agency and
superintendent of the technical high school system to automatically
refill all vacant positions.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Labor and Public Employees Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 9 Nay 4 (03/24/2022)