[1] NOTE:  As provided in LFC policy, this report is intended only for use by the standing finance committees of the legislature.  The Legislative Finance Committee does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information in this report when used in any other situation.

 

Only the most recent FIR version (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) is available on the Legislative Website.  The Adobe PDF version includes all attachments, whereas the HTML version does not.  Previously issued FIRs and attachments may be obtained from the LFC’s office in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.

 

 

F I S C A L   I M P A C T   R E P O R T

 

 

 

SPONSOR:

Lundstrom

 

DATE TYPED:

02/06/02

 

HB

HM 22

 

SHORT TITLE:

Misclassification of State Employees

 

SB

 

 

 

ANALYST:

Gonzales

 

APPROPRIATION

 

Appropriation Contained

Estimated Additional Impact

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY02

FY03

FY02

FY03

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

 

Duplicates/Conflicts with/Companion to/Relates to                                                                          

 

                                                                                                                                                           

 

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

 

LFC Files

Department of Public Safety (DPS)

State Personnel Office (SPO)

 

SUMMARY

 

     Synopsis of Bill

 

House Memorial 22 requests the State Personnel Office and state agencies to work together to improve the recruitment and retention of state employees and to remedy the problem of misclassification of state employees.  This memorial also states that a copy of this memorial be sent to the State Personnel Office and the secretaries of all executive agencies.

 

     Significant Issues

 

State agencies experience high vacancy rates, for various reasons, thus creating problems in providing services to the general public.  It is expected that by improving the recruitment and retention of state employees, state government will become a more experienced and capable work force.

 

In the past, many state employees were misclassified, meaning the person in a particular position may have been falsely classified with a difference in salary.  Many times, this may have been done in order to change an employee’s title in order to receive a salary increase based on the reclassification.

 

There have been some concerns expressed by agencies that applicants qualifications are reviewed and rated by State Personnel Office staff that in some cases have limited knowledge of the recruiting agency’s mission and qualifications specified for a position by the recruiting agency.  However, the State Personnel Office has expressed concerns at times agencies do not identify the correct qualifications necessary for the vacancy or have a change in necessary qualifications after applicants have been ranked.

 

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

 

The requirements of this memorial would continue to need the efforts of SPO and all agencies.  A successful and collaborative effort of the Executive and Legislative branch was used to implement the current classification and compensation in place for executive classified employees.

 

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

 

Effective July 1, 2001, the SPO and state agencies completed a massive restructuring of all the job classes and reevaluation of how each position in state government should be classified and where it should be properly positioned with respect to salary.  At the same time, additional flexibility was built into the system to allow agencies to more easily address recruitment issues as well as internal alignment within their workforces.  The results of this massive effort were reported to the LFC and the House and Senate in January 2002.  The results showed that New Mexico is paying its executive classified employees slightly below our target of 95% of the midpoint of its comparator states.

 

The State Personnel Office has an audit program in place to audit state agencies’ application of the compensation and classification rules and procedures.  If SPO discovers employees are misclassified, corrective action is taken.

 

This memorial was introduced in part due to the significant complaints by agencies during FY03 legislative budget hearings as well as the significant turnover rates in agencies leading to high vacancy rates.

 

JMG/prr

 [1]Begin typing on the * in replace mode.  Do not add or delete spaces.