State of Michigan
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL SERVICE
Civil Service Commission Meeting
December 5, 2006

CALL TO ORDER

On motion duly made and supported, the Commission approved the minutes of October 3, 2006.

On motion duly made and supported, the Commission adopted the following retirement resolution.

Whereas, Mary Jane Putman has decided to retire from State Government after more than 38 years of service, of which more than 37 years were with the Michigan Department of Civil Service, and

Whereas, Mary has demonstrated commitment and dedication throughout her career as a public servant, gaining the respect and admiration of her colleagues, and

Whereas, Maryhas demonstrated extensive knowledge of the Department of Civil Service and state government, and imparted that knowledge with enthusiasm and style, and

Whereas, Mary in her capacities as personnel management assistant, supervisor, and personnel management analyst in the Office of Human Resource Services consistently demonstrated integrity and professionalism, and

Whereas, Mary provided many years of excellent human resources liaison services to the Michigan Department of State Police, and continually explored other means by which to improve services to the public, and

Whereas, Mary will always be remembered for her benevolent caring, warm smile, and hardy laughter, and

Whereas, Marywill now be able to spend more time to love, cherish, and further build memories with her children Kevin, Andrea, Brian, and Jason, and her grandchildren, including Andrea’s soon-to-be-born twins, and

Whereas, Marycan further indulge in her love of owls, gardening, traveling, reading, country music, knitting, crocheting, and other crafts.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Michigan Civil Service Commission does hereby extend to Mary Jane Putman its heartfelt appreciation for her dedicated efforts and many accomplishments during her years of service, and offers its warmest wishes for much health and happiness in her retirement.

On motion duly made and supported, the Commission adopted the following retirement resolution.

Whereas, Delphine Morrin has decided to retire from State Government after more than 27 years of service, nearly all of which was with the Department of Civil Service, and

Whereas, Delphinehas demonstrated commitment and dedication throughout her career as a public servant, gaining the respect and admiration of her colleagues, and

Whereas, Delphinehas demonstrated extensive knowledge of the Department of Civil Service and state government, and imparted that knowledge with character and integrity, and

Whereas, Delphine, in her capacity as a Personnel Management Assistant in the Detroit Regional Office was vigilant in scheduling and monitoring civil service examinations, even coming to work during a snow storm to administer a test to examinees who were unaware the office was closed, and

Whereas, Delphine’s dedication to state service included an award-winning suggestion to redesign the construction of examination booklets, and

Whereas, Delphine provided invaluable assistance in processing human resource transactions for multiple agencies, and treated visitors to the Detroit Regional Office with courtesy and respect, and

Whereas, Delphine will always be remembered for her warm personality, commitment to excellence, and strong work ethic, and

Whereas, Delphine will now be able to spend more time with her family and have the opportunity to enjoy life more fully.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Michigan Civil Service Commission does hereby extend to Delphine Morrin its heartfelt appreciation for her dedicated efforts and many accomplishments during her years of service, and offers its warmest wishes for much health and happiness in her retirement.

Chairperson Munsell introduced and acknowledged Employment Relations Board members Susan Zurvalec, Bill Braman, and Richard Warner and thanked them for their service on the Board.

Chairperson Munsell noted for the record that there were no amendments to the agenda.

The Commission received the following report from State Personnel Director James Farrell.

Unclassified Position Report
Civil Service Commission Rules require the State Personnel Director to report on the establishment or abolishment of positions in the state unclassified service. There have been no requests since the last report.

Compensation Rates
As previously authorized in letters of understanding approved by the Civil Service Commission for the AFSCME and UAW agreements, I approved compensation rates for extracurricular program services for four classified positions during the 2006-‘07 school year at the Michigan Schools for the Deaf and Blind.

Regulations
Civil Service Commission Rules require that the State Personnel Director report to the Commission on the promulgation of regulations, which are issued to further implement Commission rules.
5.02, Premium Payment of Overtime, On-Call Compensation, and Callback Compensation (Effective October 1, 2006)

This regulation was revised to reflect the change in the highest eligible employee rate of approved overtime pay for ineligible employees resulting from the general wage increase effective October 1, 2006.

3.14, State Transitional Position Designation and Appointments (Effective November 19, 2006)

This regulation provides the standards and procedures for agencies when it is necessary to request Civil Service approval to designate an existing position classified as a business and administrative technician, professional, or manager as “transitional.”   The transitional designation of a position facilitates the movement of a career state employee to a new classification while maintaining the employee's employment preference rights and current pay rate if the rate of pay is less than or equal to the maximum of the classification level to which the employee will be reclassified upon completion of the transition period.  Regulation 3.14 replaces certain portions of Regulation 4.03, Establishing and Reclassifying Positions in the State Transitional and Departmental Trainee Classifications, specifically, language found under Standards 3.A. (State Transitional Business and Administrative Technician), 3.B. (State Transitional Professional), and 3.C. (State Transitional Professional Manager).

Premium Mileage Rate Reimbursement
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has determined that the reimbursement rate for federal standard mileage will increase from 44.5 cents per mile to 48.5 cents per mile effective January 1, 2007.  In accordance with Civil Service Rule 5-7.1(c) which states, the state premium reimbursement rate shall be the standard mileage rate established by the IRS, the state reimbursement rate for premium mileage will be adjusted on January 1, 2007, as well.

Chairperson Munsell noted there was no unfinished business.

Carol Vargovich, Budget & Financial Services Division, summarized the financial activity for the Department of Civil Service which included a summary of FY ’06, certification of the FY ’06 payroll of classified state service, appropriation adjustments to FY ’07, and the proposed budget for FY ’08.  Ms. Vargovich requested Commission approval of the following three resolutions.

Resolution 5a. requests that the Civil Service Commission, in fulfillment of the Constitutional requirement to certify the aggregate payroll of the classified service for the preceding fiscal year, certify a payroll of $4,412,132,500, as recorded in the state’s Michigan Administrative Information Network as of November 20, 2006, for the fiscal period October 1, 2005, to September 30, 2006.

Consistent with the Civil Service Commission’s constitutional authority, and recognizing the funding requirements for the MI-HR Service Center, employee economics, CSS&M reductions, and worker’s compensation/building economics, Resolution 5b. requests that the Commission decrease the previously approved FY ‘06-‘07 budget for the Department of Civil Service by $594,500.

Resolution 5c. requests Civil Service Commission approval of the Fiscal Year ‘08 budget proposal for the Department of Civil Service totaling $37,537,400.

Matt Fedorchuk, Compensation Division, presented the recommendations contained in the proposed Coordinated Compensation Proposal (CCP) for FY ’08 that was developed by the members of the Employment Relations Board, serving as the CCP Panel under Civil Service Rule 5-1.3.

• A 2 percent across-the-board pay increase effective October 1, 2007, and a 2 percent across-the-board pay increase effective April 6, 2008.

• A special 40 cent per hour wage increase for Assistant Resident Unit Supervisors 11 and Resident Unit Managers 13 effective October 1, 2007.
  
  
• A special 30 cent per hour wage increase for Corrections Shift Supervisor 11, 12, and 13, and Corrections Security Inspector 13 effective October 1, 2007.

• Increase the maximum annual award from $2,500 to $3,600 for the Lottery Sales Incentive Program effective October 1, 2007.
  
  
• Renewal of the Professional Development Fund for MSC employees at $150,000 and renewal of the Professional Development Fund for B&A unit employees at $50,000.
  
  

The Panel recommended Commission denial of the following:

• Creation of 10-, 15-, and 20-year pay steps for all State Police Command Officer pay ranges, as recommended by MSPCOA.
  
  
• A $755 lifetime lasik/laser surgery benefit to NEREs, as recommended by ASEM.
  
  

• Take no action on the issue of awarding a lump sum payment of up to $500 for employees in the performance-pay program who are at the base pay maximum and receive a satisfactory rating for FY ‘06/’07 as proposed by ASEM.
  
  
• Support the recommendation made by ASEM to increase awareness of the state’s existing smoking cessation programs, by directing the Department of Civil Service to better publicize the programs and encourage employees to utilize existing services.
  
  

Mr. Fedorchuk also presented a table summarizing the known costs and savings contained in the proposals being recommended for approval by the Commission.  He noted the Panel weighed a number of factors in deciding to support the proposals presented to the Commission.  While keeping in mind the State’s financial condition, the Panel considered the compensation received by exclusively represented employees through the collective bargaining process, and recognized the need for equity for non-exclusively represented employees.

The Panel also noted and continues to respect, the good faith consensus agreement reached between OSE and labor relations organizations.

On motion duly made and supported, the Commission approved Agenda Item 5d.

Dan McLellan, General Counsel for the Commission, presented information and staff recommendations on the following LOUs.

Mr. McLellan mentioned that at the October 3, 2006, meeting the Commission approved paid and unpaid disaster relief leaves of absence for state classified employees, consistent with Public Act 267 of 2006. The LOUs are amendments to the primary collective bargaining agreements for all unions (except AFSCME), which would provide similar paid and unpaid disaster relief leave for exclusively-represented employees.

On motion duly made and supported, the Commission confirmed the interim approval granted and approved Agenda Item 5f.

Larry Horvath, a manager from the Department of Community Health, addressed the Commission about his concern that under Civil Service Regulation 5.01, employees are not eligible for step or pay increases for two years when entering a position at the department trainee level.  He asked the Commission to consider reviewing this regulation, as he felt that a trainee should not have to wait two years to be eligible for a pay increase. Commissioner Pitz commended Mr. Horvath for taking the time to bring this issue to the Commission on behalf of his staff.  Chairperson Munsell noted the Commission would pursue this issue further with staff.

Andre Friedlis, representing the Association of State Employees in Management (ASEM) commented about the Commission’s support for the denial of the $755 lifetime lasik/laser surgery benefit to NERE’s as proposed by ASEM. Mr. Friedlis indicated that ASEM views this request as a no-cost proposition to the state because presumably people who have the surgery would not need glasses in the future.  He acknowledged that this benefit was approved for only one union, but requested that the Commission direct Civil Service staff and OSE to perform a study over a definite time period to quantify how many people are using the benefit and what the cost savings to the state has been.

The Chair expressed continued interest regarding the coverage of lasik/laser surgery for NEREs, similar to the benefit given to employees represented by MSEA via collective bargaining with the OSE.  Ms. Munsell opined that she expects this issue will be raised in collective bargaining in 2007 for other bargaining units, and will therefore, in all likelihood, be reviewed again by CCP in the near future.

There being no further items for Commission approval or public comments to be heard, Chairperson Munsell adjourned the meeting at 11:10 a.m.