Minnesota Statutes § 352.907 - PLAN COVERAGE CHANGES

§ Subdivision 1.Correctional plan membership committee. (a) A correctional plan membership committee is established to make determinations regarding changes to employment positions and to coverage of employees. (b) The members of the correctional plan membership committee are: (1) the commissioner or the commissioner's designee; (2) the chief executive officer or the chief executive officer's designee; (3) the executive director or the executive director's designee; (4) the commissioner of management and budget or the commissioner's designee; (5) one representative from each employee organization that represents one or more employees of the Department of Corrections or Direct Care and Treatment and who are covered by the correctional employees retirement plan; (6) the human resources director or the director's designee from the Department of Corrections; and (7) the human resources director or the director's designee from Direct Care and Treatment. (c) A member of the correctional plan membership committee under paragraph (b), clause (5), need not attend a meeting of the committee if none of the employees represented by the employee organization will be impacted by any action to be taken by the committee at the meeting. (d) If the executive director has received one or more requests for changes to the title of an employment position, the addition or removal of an employment position from the lists in section 352.905, or the commencement or cessation of coverage of an employee by the correctional employees retirement plan, the executive director must convene the correctional plan membership committee at least as frequently as once every calendar quarter. If the executive director has not received any requests during a calendar quarter, the executive director is not required to convene a meeting. (e) The human resources directors of the Department of Corrections and Direct Care and Treatment must retain each request to the correctional plan membership committee and the related documentation and final determination for an employee or employment position in their respective department or agency. § Subd. 2.Change in the title of an employment position. (a) No later than 60 days before the effective date of a change in the title of an employment position listed in section 352.905, the Department of Corrections or Direct Care and Treatment, as applicable, must submit a request to the commissioner of management and budget to review the title change and determine whether the responsibilities of the employment position have changed. The commissioner of management and budget must provide a response to the Department of Corrections or Direct Care and Treatment, as applicable, by the effective date of the change. (b) If the commissioner of management and budget determines that the responsibilities of the employment position have not changed or the responsibilities of the employment position have changed but the changes do not affect the eligibility of the employment position for coverage by the correctional employees retirement plan, the department or agency, as applicable, must: (1) submit the title change to the executive director of the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement before the start of the next legislative session and request legislation to replace the title in section 352.905 with the new title; and (2) notify each employee in the employment position no later than 30 days after the effective date of the title change that the title change will not affect the continued coverage of the employee by the correctional employees retirement plan and that the department or agency, as applicable, has submitted a request to the legislature to change the title in section 352.905. (c) If the commissioner of management and budget determines that the responsibilities of the employment position have changed and the changes result in the employment position no longer being qualified for coverage by the correctional employees retirement plan, the employer must: (1) submit a request to the correctional plan membership committee for confirmation that the employment position must be removed from the lists of employment positions in section 352.905; and (2) notify each employee in the employment position no later than 30 days after the effective date of the title change that a determination was made by the commissioner of management and budget that, because the responsibilities of the employment position have changed, the employment position and all employees in the employment position are no longer eligible for coverage by the correctional employees retirement plan subject to confirmation by the correctional plan membership committee. § Subd. 3.Transfers to new eligible facility or eligible program. (a) If the Department of Corrections or Direct Care and Treatment adds a facility to the list of eligible facilities under section 352.901, subdivision 8, or a program to the list of eligible programs under section 352.901, subdivision 9, and the department or agency, as applicable, responsible for the new facility or program transfers a state employee who was rendering covered correctional service under section 352.905 to the new facility or program, the state employee must continue to be covered by the correctional employees retirement plan if the employee is employed in the same employment position at the new facility or in the new program. (b) The employee continues to be covered by the correctional employees retirement plan unless the department or agency, as applicable, completes the process under subdivision 5 and the correctional plan membership committee has determined that the employee no longer qualifies for coverage. § Subd. 4.Procedures for making employment position changes. (a) The correctional plan membership committee must consider requests to add or remove an employment position listed in section 352.905, subdivisions 3 to 6, or to confirm a determination under subdivision 2 by the commissioner of management and budget that, because the responsibilities of the employment position have changed, the employment position and all employees in the employment position are no longer eligible for coverage by the correctional employees retirement plan. (b) An employee, employee organization, or employer may submit a request to the correctional plan membership committee to add an employment position to section 352.905, subdivisions 3 to 6. The correctional plan membership committee may determine that an employment position must be added if the committee determines that at least one employee in the employment position satisfies the direct contact requirement. (c) The correctional plan membership committee may, at the request of an employer, determine under this subdivision or confirm a determination under subdivision 2, clause (2), that an employment position must be removed from the lists in section 352.905, subdivisions 3 to 6, if the committee determines that no employee in the employment classification satisfies the direct contact requirement. (d) The correctional plan membership committee must include an effective date in any determination to add or remove an employment position from the lists in section 352.905, subdivisions 3 to 6. The effective date may be retroactive for a determination to add an employment position. (e) If the correctional plan membership committee determines that an employment position must be added to or removed from the lists of employment positions in section 352.905, subdivisions 3 to 6, the department or agency affected by the determination must submit the employment position change to the executive director of the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement before the start of the next legislative session and request legislation to make the change. (f) After making a determination that an employment position must be added to or removed from the lists of employment positions in section 352.905, subdivisions 3 to 6, the correctional plan membership committee must designate a member of the committee to communicate the committee's determination to all affected employees no later than ten days after the date of the meeting at which the determination was made and inform the employees of the right to appeal the determination under subdivision 6. § Subd. 5.Procedures for adding or ceasing coverage. (a) The correctional plan membership committee must consider requests to provide coverage by the correctional employees retirement plan to an employee in an employment position listed in section 352.905, subdivisions 3 to 6, or to cease coverage of an employee. (b) An employee, an employee's employee organization, or an employee's manager may submit a request to the correctional plan membership committee to provide coverage to an employee in an employment position listed in section 352.905, subdivisions 3 to 6. The request may include a description of the extent of the physical hazard that the employee is routinely subjected to in the course of employment, the extent of intervention routinely expected of the employee in the event of a facility incident, and the extent the employee is routinely involved in the rehabilitation, treatment, custody, or supervision of patients, clients, or incarcerated persons. The request must include: (1) a signed and dated position description for the employee's position; and (2) a statement signed by the employer's human resources director or the director's designee and the commissioner or the chief executive officer, as applicable, that the employee satisfies the direct contact requirement. (c) An employer may submit a request to the correctional plan membership committee to cease coverage of an employee. The request must include: (1) a signed and dated position description for the employee's position; and (2) a statement signed by the employee's employer that the employee no longer satisfies the direct contact requirement. (d) The correctional plan membership committee must include an effective date in any determination that an employee must begin to receive coverage by the correctional employees retirement plan or that coverage must cease. The effective date may be retroactive to the date as of which the coverage requirements were first satisfied or were no longer met. (e) After making a determination of coverage or no coverage for an employee, the correctional plan membership committee must designate a member of the committee to communicate the committee's determination to the affected employee no later than ten days after the date of the meeting at which the determination was made and inform the employee of the right to appeal the determination under subdivision 6. § Subd. 6.Right to appeal. (a) No later than 30 days after receiving a determination under subdivision 4 or 5, the affected employee may appeal a determination of the correctional plan membership committee by filing an appeal with the human resources manager of the department or agency, as applicable, in which the employee is employed. The appeal must include: (1) the reasons for the appeal and rationale for a determination that the employee be covered by the correctional employees retirement plan; and (2) new or additional information, if any, not previously submitted or considered by the correctional plan membership committee, including a new or revised position description and samples of work product. (b) The appeal must be decided by the commissioner of corrections if the employee is an employee of the Department of Corrections or by the chief executive officer of Direct Care and Treatment if the employee is an employee of Direct Care and Treatment. The decision of the commissioner or chief executive officer, as applicable, is final. (c) A determination not timely appealed under paragraph (a) is not entitled to further administrative or judicial review. A determination under subdivision 4 or 5 or an appeal decided under paragraph (b) may not be appealed under section 356.96.