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AN ACT concerning public officers and employees; relating to public
  employee and employer relations; amending K.S.A. 75-4322 and 75-
  4326 and repealing the existing sections.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
  Section 1.  K.S.A. 75-4322 is hereby amended to read as follows: 75-
4322. As used in this act:
  (a)  ``Public employee'' means any person employed by any public
agency, except those persons classed as supervisory employees, profes-
sional employees of school districts, as defined by subsection (c) of K.S.A.
72-5413, and amendments thereto, elected and management officials, and
confidential employees.
  (b)  ``Supervisory employee'' means any individual who normally per-
forms different work from his subordinates of such employee, having au-
thority, in the interest of the employer, to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off,
recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees,
or responsibly to direct them, or to adjust their grievances, or effectively
to recommend a preponderance of such actions, if in connection with the
foregoing the exercise of such authority is not of a merely routine or
clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment. A mem-
orandum of agreement may provide for a definition of ``supervisory em-
ployees'' as an alternative to the definition herein.
  (c)  ``Confidential employee'' means any employee whose unrestricted
access to confidential personnel files or other information concerning the
administrative operations of a public agency, or whose functional respon-
sibilities or knowledge in connection with the issues involved in the meet
and confer process would make his such employee's membership in the
same employee organization as other employees incompatible with his
such employee's official duties.
  (d)  ``Professional employee'' includes any employee: (1) Whose work
is predominantly intellectual and varied in character as opposed to routine
mental, manual, mechanical, or physical work; involves the consistent ex-
ercise of discretion and judgment; requires knowledge of an advanced
type in a field of science or learning customarily acquired by prolonged
study in an institution of higher learning; or (2) who has completed
courses of prolonged study as described in paragraph (1) of this subsec-
tion, and is performing related work under the supervision of a profes-
sional person in order to qualify as a professional employee as defined in
paragraph (1) of this subsection; or (3) attorneys-at-law or any other per-
son who is registered as a qualified professional by a board of registration
or other public body established for such purposes under the laws of this
state.
  (e)  ``Elected and management officials'' means any elective official
and any appointed officer charged by law with major administrative and
management responsibilities.
  (f)  ``Public agency'' or ``public employer'' means every governmental
subdivision, including any county, township, city, school district, special
district, board, commission, or instrumentality or other similar unit whose
governing body exercises similar governmental powers, and the state of
Kansas and its state agencies.
  (g)  ``Governing body'' means the legislative body, policy board or
other authority of the public employer possessing legislative or policy-
making responsibilities pursuant to the constitution or laws of this state.
  (h)  ``Representative of the public agency'' means the chief executive
officer of the public employer or his or her such officer's designee, except
when the governing body provides otherwise, and except in the case of
the state of Kansas and its state agencies. Such chief executive shall be
for counties, the chairman chairperson of the board of county commis-
sioners; for cities, the mayor, city manager or city superintendent; for
school districts, the president of the board of education; and for other
local units, such similar elected or appointed officer. In the case of the
state of Kansas and its state agencies, ``representative of the public em-
ployer'' means a team of persons, the head of which shall be a person
designated by the secretary of administration and the heads of the state
agency or state agencies involved or one person designated by each such
state agency head.
  (i)  ``Employee organization'' means any organization which includes
employees of a public agency and which has as one of its primary purposes
representing such employees in dealings with that public agency over
conditions of employment and grievances.
  (j)  ``Recognized employee organization'' means an employee organi-
zation which has been formally acknowledged by the public agency or
certified as representing a majority of the employees of an appropriate
unit.
  (k)  ``Business agent'' means any authorized person who is a full-time
official of an employee organization and whose principal duties are to act
or to attempt to act for an employee organization: (1) In proceedings to
meet and confer and other proceedings involving a memorandum of
agreement,; (2) in servicing existing memorandums of agreement,; or (3)
in organizing employees into employee organizations.
  (l)  ``Board'' means the public employee relations board established
pursuant to this act.
  (m)  ``Meet and confer in good faith'' is the process whereby the rep-
resentative of a public agency and representatives of recognized employee
organizations have the mutual obligation personally to meet and confer
in order to exchange freely information, opinions and proposals to en-
deavor to reach agreement on conditions of employment.
  (n)  ``Memorandum of agreement'' means a written memorandum of
understanding arrived at by the representatives of the public agency and
a recognized employee organization which may be presented to the gov-
erning body of a public employer or its statutory representative and to
the membership of such organization for appropriate action.
  (o)  ``Mediation'' means effort by an impartial third party to assist in
reconciling a dispute regarding conditions of employment between rep-
resentatives of the public agency and recognized employee organizations
through interpretation and advice.
  (p)  ``Fact-finding'' means investigation of such a dispute by an indi-
vidual, panel, or board with the fact-finder submitting a report to the
parties describing the issues involved;. The report shall contain recom-
mendations for settlement and may be made public.
  (q)  ``Arbitration'' means interpretation of the terms of an existing or
a new memorandum of agreement or investigation of disputes by an im-
partial third party whose decision may or may not be final and binding.
Arbitration is advisory when the results are not binding upon the parties;
it is final and binding when both parties, of their own volition, agree to
submit a dispute to, and to abide by the decision of, the impartial third
party.
  (r)  ``Strike'' means an action taken for the purpose of coercing a
change in the conditions, rights, privileges or obligations of employment
through the failure by concerted action with others to report for duty or
to work at usual capability in the performance of the normal duties of
employment.
  (s)  ``Lockout'' means action taken by the public employer to provoke
interruptions of or prevent the continuity of work normally and usually
performed by the employees for the purpose of coercing the employees
into relinquishing rights guaranteed by this act.
  (t)  ``Conditions of employment'' means salaries, wages, hours of work,
vacation allowances, sick and injury leave, number of holidays, retirement
benefits, insurance benefits, prepaid legal service benefits, wearing ap-
parel, premium pay for overtime, shift differential pay, jury duty and
grievance procedures, but Nothing in this act shall authorize the adjust-
ment or change of such matters which have been fixed by rule, regulation,
statute or by the constitution of this state. In the case of the state and its
agencies, wages and other matters subject to legislative appropriations
shall not be deemed mandatory subjects for meet and confer purposes.
  (u)  ``Grievance'' means a statement of dissatisfaction by a public em-
ployee, supervisory employee, employee organization or public employer
concerning interpretation of a memorandum of agreement or traditional
work practice.
  (v)  ``Budget submission date'' means (1) for any public employers
subject to the budget law in K.S.A. 79-2925 et seq., and amendments
thereto, the date of July 1,; and (2) for any other public employer the date
fixed by law. ``Budget submission date'' means, in the case of the state
and its state agencies, the date of September 15.
  (w)  ``Legislature'' means the legislature of the state of Kansas.
  (x)  ``State agency'' means the same as is ascribed thereto in K.S.A.
75-3701, and amendments thereto.
  Sec. 2.  K.S.A. 75-4326 is hereby amended to read as follows: 75-
4326. Nothing in this act is intended to circumscribe or modify the ex-
isting right of a public employer to:
  (a)  Direct the work of its employees;
  (b)  hire, promote, demote, transfer, assign and retain employees in
positions within the public agency;
  (c)  suspend or discharge employees for proper cause;
  (d)  maintain the efficiency of governmental operation;
  (e)  relieve employees from duties because of lack of work or for other
legitimate reasons;
  (f)  take actions as may be necessary to carry out the mission of the
agency in emergencies; and
  (g)  determine the methods, means and personnel by which opera-
tions are to be carried on.; and
  (h)  adopt, revoke or amend personnel regulations pursuant to K.S.A.
77-416, and amendments thereto. Such regulations shall not be deemed
to be mandatory subjects for meet and confer purposes.
  Sec. 3.  K.S.A. 75-4322 and 75-4326 are hereby repealed.
  Sec. 4.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
publication in the statute book.