An Act to Modify Provisions of the State Civil Service System Governing Employee Recruitment and Retention

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STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SIX
_____
H.P. 1162 - L.D. 1744
An Act to Modify Provisions of the State Civil Service System Governing
Employee Recruitment and Retention
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §7065, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1993, c. 705, §1, is further
amended to read:
2. Salary limits. No A position may not be assigned a salary greater than the
maximum or less than the minimum rates fixed in the compensation plan except as provided
by subsection 2‑D 2-E.
Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §7065, sub-§2-D, as corrected by RR 2023, c. 1, Pt. B, §38 and
affected by §50, is repealed.
Sec. 3. 5 MRSA §7065, sub-§2-E is enacted to read:
2-E. Recruitment and retention adjustments. The following provisions govern the
process of requesting a recruitment and retention adjustment.
A. An agency or bargaining agent shall file a request for a recruitment and retention
adjustment with the Bureau of Human Resources on forms prescribed by the bureau.
B. When a request for a recruitment and retention adjustment is filed by an agency or
bargaining agent with the Bureau of Human Resources under paragraph A, the officer
shall conduct a preliminary review to determine the extent to which vacancy rates,
turnover rates or other workforce indicators identified in the request are attributable to
any of the following conditions:
(1) Statewide or departmental hiring freezes, position holds, delays in hiring
authorizations or funding lapses;
(2) Management-directed attrition, including for the purposes of anticipated
reorganizations, or programmatic changes affecting staffing levels;
(3) Temporary operational decisions or policy directives that limit recruitment or
filling of vacancies; or
APPROVED
APRIL 3, 2026
BY GOVERNOR
CHAPTER
623
PUBLIC LAW
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(4) Any other reasonable material, operational, fiscal or administrative
circumstances that reasonably explain vacancy or turnover levels independent of
compensation or labor market competitiveness.
If any of the conditions in subparagraphs (1) to (4) are determined to be present, the
officer may choose not to form a committee pursuant to paragraph D, subject to an
appeal filed pursuant to paragraph F. If none of the conditions in subparagraphs (1) to
(4) are determined to be present, the committee must be formed.
The officer shall complete the preliminary review outlined in this paragraph as soon as
possible but no later than 30 days following the receipt of the request.
C. A recruitment and retention adjustment may be authorized by the officer only when
justified by the following conditions:
(1) High turnover exists or long-term vacancies exist either within a specific
department or across State Government in the relevant occupational classifications
or job series;
(2) Reasonable and appropriate recruitment and retention efforts have been
attempted and have proven ineffective at the current levels of compensation; and
(3) Comprehensive, verifiable documentation of labor market compensation levels
for the relevant occupation has been compiled to determine competitive pay levels
within the defined labor market. This documentation must demonstrate that a labor
market disparity exists and that the disparity represents a long-term problem and
not a transitory or seasonal problem.
D. Except as provided in paragraph B, to assist the officer in making a determination
under paragraph C, a committee must be formed to evaluate the request from an agency
or bargaining agent for a recruitment and retention adjustment. The following
provisions apply to the committee formed under this paragraph.
(1) The committee must be composed of a representative of the Bureau of Human
Resources, a representative of the agency and a representative of the bargaining
agent if applicable.
(2) The committee shall evaluate the request against the conditions specified in
paragraph C and shall conduct studies as the committee considers necessary to
evaluate the request.
(3) The committee shall, by majority vote, provide the officer, the agency and the
bargaining agent, if applicable, with a report recommending and documenting
adjustments authorized under this subsection. The officer, the agency and the
bargaining agent, if applicable, shall act on the report. If resources within the
department or agency budget do not exist to fund an approved adjustment, the
officer shall submit the cost items for inclusion in the Governor's next operating
budget. If the Legislature does not appropriate the requested funds, the department
or agency is not obligated to pay any requested recruitment and retention
adjustment.
(4) Salary compression within the affected position’s supervisory organizational
structure must be given consideration by the committee. The committee may
recommend pay adjustments within the supervisory organizational structure in
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order to reduce any potential compression that exceeds 4 steps in a salary grade. If
resources within the department or agency budget do not exist for the pay
adjustment to reduce this compression, the original request must move forward
without addressing the compression and the officer shall submit the cost items
regarding potential additional compressed positions for inclusion in the Governor's
next operating budget. If the Legislature does not appropriate the requested funds,
the department or agency is not obligated to make the requested pay adjustments.
For the purposes of this subparagraph, "salary compression" means a relatively
narrow range of salaries within an occupational classification.
The officer shall provide to the requesting agency or bargaining agent a written
decision including the proposed course of action within 30 days of receiving the
committee’s final recommendation.
E. A recruitment and retention adjustment must be reviewed at least every 4 years in
alignment with section 7061, subsection 4, paragraph B and adjusted to changes in the
labor market or the overall relation of the standard pay policy to the specialized labor
market. If the subsequent review provided in this paragraph results in the adjustment
being decreased or discontinued, an employee receiving the recruitment and retention
adjustment may not be subject to a reduction in pay. The resulting recruitment and
retention adjustment applies to employees hired subsequent to the review provided in
this paragraph.
F. A decision by the officer may be appealed by an interested party consistent with the
following.
(1) A party appealing the officer’s decision must file a written request for appeal
with the officer. All appeals must be submitted within 10 business days following
receipt of the officer’s written decision.
(2) An employee whose classification is not represented by a bargaining agent
may appeal a decision of the officer to the appeals board pursuant to subchapter 3.
The officer’s decision satisfies the requirement of section 7083, subsection 4.
(3) An employee whose classification is represented by a bargaining agent may
submit to a neutral 3rd party for a final decision and report. The neutral 3rd party
may be jointly agreed upon by the officer, the agency and the bargaining agent, but
if an agreement is not reached, the parties must petition the Maine Labor Relations
Board to appoint a neutral 3rd party. The Maine Labor Relations Board must
submit to the parties a list from which the parties can alternately strike a name until
a single name is left, and that person must be appointed by the Maine Labor
Relations Board as the arbitrator.
(4) All decisions requiring funding by the neutral 3rd party are subject to the
legislative budgeting process. If resources within the department or agency do not
exist to fund the neutral 3rd party’s decision, the officer shall submit the cost items
for inclusion in the Governor's next operating budget. If the Legislature does not
appropriate the requested funds, the department or agency is not obligated to pay
any requested recruitment and retention adjustment.
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(5) A decision by the officer under paragraph B to not form a committee may be
appealed. The arbitrator’s authority on such an appeal is limited to ordering the
formation of a committee.