An Act to Extend the Jurisdiction of the Maine Labor Relations Board to Employees of Public Higher Education Institutions Who Have Been Employed Less than Six Months
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 26 MRSA §1022, sub-§11, as amended by PL 1989, c. 443, §63, is further amended to read:
11. University, academy or technical college employee. "University, academy or technical college employee" means any regular employee of the University of Maine System, the Maine Maritime Academy or the Maine Technical College System performing services within a campus or unit, except any person:
A. Appointed to office pursuant to law;
B. Appointed by the Board of Trustees as a vice-president, dean, director or member of the chancellor's, superintendent's or Maine Technical College System executive director's immediate staff; or
C. Whose duties necessarily imply a confidential relationship with respect to matters subject to collective bargaining as between such person and the university, the academy or the Maine Technical College System; or.
D. Employed in the initial 6 months of employment.
Sec. 2. 26 MRSA §1026, sub-§1-A, as repealed and replaced by PL 2001, c. 559, Pt. JJ, §1, is amended to read:
1-A. Additional bargaining; technical college employees. Cost items in any collective bargaining agreement of technical college employees must be submitted for inclusion in the Governor's next operating budget within 10 days after the date on which the agreement is ratified by the parties. If the Legislature rejects any of the cost items submitted to it, all cost items submitted must be returned to the parties for further bargaining. "Cost items" includes salaries, pensions and insurance.
Cost items related to a collective bargaining agreement reached under this chapter and submitted to the Legislature for its approval under this subsection may not be submitted in the same legislation that contains cost items for employees exempted from the definition of "technical college employee" under section 1022, subsection 11, except that cost items for those employees exempted under section 1022, subsection 11, paragraph D need not be excluded.
Sec. 3. 26 MRSA §1027, sub-§3-A is enacted to read:
3-A. Negotiation of initial probationary period. The length and terms of an employee's probationary period upon initial employment is a negotiable item in accordance with the procedures set forth in section 1026, except that, at a minimum, the probationary period must include the first 6 months of the employee's active employment. During the initial 6 months of active employment, an employee may be terminated without just cause.
Sec. 4. Application. This Act applies to all collective bargaining contracts executed or renewed on or after September 1, 2003 by parties subject to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 26, chapter 12.
Effective September 13, 2003, unless otherwise indicated.
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