This bill makes the following changes to the laws governing recruitment and retention adjustments for state employees in the classified service.
1. It changes one of the criteria for authorizing payment of a recruitment and retention adjustment to add the existence of high turnover or long-term vacancies within a specific department in the relevant occupational classifications or job series. It changes another of the criteria to require that reasonable recruitment and retention efforts have been attempted and have proven ineffective at the current levels of compensation.
2. It provides that payment of a recruitment and retention adjustment may be authorized when an occupational classification is in a job series or job family with an occupational classification entitled to an adjustment and the occupational classification would suffer from either salary compression or salary separation as a result of payment of that adjustment to the other occupational classification.
3. It requires the labor market adjustment to be reviewed at least every 4 years, in alignment with the market pay study conducted by the State. The resulting recruitment and retention adjustment applies to employees hired subsequent to this review.
4. It provides that, if the committee formed to evaluate each request from an agency or bargaining agent for a recruitment and retention adjustment agrees on the appropriate adjustments, the committee must provide a report recommending and documenting those adjustments. If the committee does not agree on the appropriate adjustments, the matter must be submitted to a neutral 3rd party for a final decision and report.
5. It requires the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Human Resources to prescribe the forms to be filed with the bureau to request a recruitment and retention adjustment.
6. It removes language that authorizes payment of a recruitment and retention adjustment when the relevant occupational classification or job series has a clear, geographically definable labor market within which the State must compete.
7. It provides that if the committee that reviews adjustments agrees on the appropriate adjustment, the committee must provide the appropriate persons with a report recommending and documenting the adjustments.

Statutes affected:
Bill Text LD 1744, HP 1162: 5.7065