CHAPTER 136
SENATE BILL No. 429
An Act relating to state employees; establishing an employee
award and recognition pro-
gram; state employee suggestion program; prohibiting certain
reimbursement; amending
K.S.A. 75-37,115 and repealing the existing section; also repealing
K.S.A. 75-37,106
through 75-37,110, inclusive.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
New Section 1. (a) Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, no
state officer or employee shall be reimbursed for actual and
necessary
expenses incurred in the performance of such officer's or
employee's
duties from a governmental entity if such officer or employee is
receiving
a per diem subsistence allowance or any other type of
reimbursement
from another governmental entity for the reimbursement of
expenses
incurred in the performance of such officer's or employee's
duties.
(b) As used in this section,
``governmental entity'' means an executive,
legislative or judicial agency, department, board, commission,
authority,
institution or instrumentality of the federal government or of a
state or
of a county, municipality or other political subdivision of a
state.
New Sec. 2. (a) (1) There is
established an employee award and rec-
ognition program for state employees. Under this program monetary
or
non-monetary awards may be made to state employees. An
appointing
authority may implement a program of award and recognition for
classi-
fied and unclassified employees or teams of employees for
distinguished
accomplishment, meritorious service, innovations, Kansas quality
man-
agement, volunteerism or length of service.
(2) All awards and recognition provided
under this section shall meet
the conditions for a discretionary bonus set out in 29 C.F.R.
778.211.
(b) The total gross value of awards to
any employee of the state during
a single fiscal year shall not exceed $3,500 except as provided in
subsec-
tions (f) and (g). No award paid pursuant to this section during
the fiscal
year shall be compensation, within the meaning of K.S.A. 74-4901
et seq.,
and amendments thereto, for any purpose under the Kansas public
em-
ployees retirement system and shall not be subject to deductions
for em-
ployee contributions thereunder. Each taxable award paid under this
sec-
tion shall be a discretionary bonus, as defined by 29 C.F.R. 778,
and shall
be in addition to the regular earnings to which that employee may
be
entitled or for which the employee may become eligible.
Monetary
awards are subject to taxes in accordance with federal internal
revenue
code regulations. The value of non-monetary awards shall be
reported by
state agencies in accordance with sections 74 and 132 of the
federal in-
ternal revenue code and procedures prescribed by the director of
ac-
counts and reports.
(c) The award and recognition program
shall be paid from moneys
appropriated and available for operating expenditures of the state
agency
or from other funding sources as appropriated. In the case of
employee
suggestions, the award or recognition for each employee shall be
paid or
provided by the state agency that benefited from and implemented
the
suggestion.
(d) The regulations of the employee award
board adopted pursuant
to K.S.A. 75-37,108 are hereby revoked.
(e) The secretary of administration shall
adopt rules and regulations
that provide oversight and administrative review of agency award
and
recognition programs. The secretary of administration shall adopt
rules
and regulations to provide safeguards to preclude opportunities for
abuse
within the employee award and recognition program in each state
agency
and to ensure objective decision-making procedures in award and
rec-
ognition determinations for all participating employees.
(f) (1) (A) Each state agency
shall establish a state employee sug-
gestion program through which state employees may submit
suggestions
for cost reductions in that agency through increased efficiencies
or other
economies or savings in the operations of the state agency.
(B) The employee making the suggestion
shall be paid a one time
employee suggestion bonus of 10% of the documented cost
reduction,
up to a maximum of $37,500. The bonus shall be paid solely upon
doc-
umented cost reductions in the first 12 months following the
implemen-
tation of the suggestion as documented to the division of the
budget.
(C) The agency shall retain 10% of the
documented cost reduction.
Savings achieved through this cost reduction shall be placed in the
Kansas
savings incentive account or fund for that agency. The remaining
balance
of the savings achieved through this cost reduction shall revert to
the state
general fund.
(2) Each state agency shall submit each
suggestion it receives, to-
gether with the state agency's estimated cost reduction, if any,
and dis-
pensation of the suggestion to the division of the budget. The
director of
the budget shall file copies with the director of the legislative
research
department, who shall report annually on the information to members
of
the legislative budget committee.
(g) (1) Salary bonus payments under
the Kansas savings incentive
program shall be made only for the following conditions:
(A) Suggestions made under subsection (f)
for which a 10% sugges-
tion bonus had not been awarded, or
(B) for awards and recognition provided
pursuant to subsection (a).
(2) The director of personnel services
shall establish guidelines and
limitations for bonus payments under the Kansas savings incentive
pro-
gram.
(h) Awards and incentives and other
recognition pursuant to this sec-
tion shall not be deemed in violation of K.S.A. 46-237a, and any
amend-
ments thereto.
Sec. 3. K.S.A. 75-37,115 is hereby
amended to read as follows: 75-
37,115. (a) There is hereby established the Kansas quality
program
within the department of administration for the purposes of
providing
procedures and incentives for the enhancement of quality in the
business
of state government. The secretary of administration shall
administer the
program and shall promote and assist the creation and development
of
Kansas quality teams in each state agency. The secretary of
administration
shall develop and coordinate appropriate training programs for
state of-
ficers and employees in total quality management principles, which
may
include presentations by existing total quality management programs
in
firms and other organizations operating in Kansas.
(b) (1) The Kansas quality program
shall be based on the principles
of total quality management. The program shall provide
opportunities for
involvement of as many officers and employees of each state agency
in
Kansas quality teams as practicable to examine and improve the
opera-
tions and activities of the state agency, except that no Kansas
quality team
shall be composed of more than 40 members unless specifically
author-
ized by the secretary of administration. The Kansas quality program
shall
provide opportunities for individual quality improvement activities
and
recognition where such activities are determined to be more
efficient and
effective than establishing a Kansas quality team.
(2) In accordance with this section and
with policies, procedures and
guidelines prescribed by rules and regulations adopted by the
secretary
of administration, each state agency shall prepare a quality
improvement
plan containing proposed activities and quality goals for the state
agency
during a specified fiscal year or a portion thereof. Each quality
improve-
ment plan shall include comprehensive goals and specific goals for
indi-
vidual achievement or team achievement, shall be based on
performance
standards and other objective measures and shall be submitted for
review
and approval by the secretary of administration. All performance
stan-
dards and other objective measures shall be stated in terms of
quantitative
measures in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the
sec-
retary of administration under this section.
(c) To encourage participation
and reward successful results under
the Kansas quality program, the members of each Kansas
quality team
and each individual participating in activities under an
approved quality
improvement plan shall be eligible to receive a quality
award in the form
of a single bonus payment or other approved non-cash award
or benefit
in accordance with this section and the rules and
regulations adopted by
the secretary of administration. The activities of each
Kansas quality team
under an approved quality plan and the objective measures
of the success
of such activities in terms of enhanced quality of the
state agency, or part
thereof, to which the approved plan applies, shall be the
basis for deter-
mining eligibility for a quality award and the amount or
type of any such
award. The secretary of administration shall develop
criteria and guide-
lines for evaluating the results of activities under
approved quality im-
provement plans, which shall include consideration of
changes in the de-
mand for services, the amount and kind of duties and
responsibilities
delegated to the state agency, the mission of the state
agency and any
other appropriate matters. A quality award may be based on
actual re-
duced costs for the operations of a state agency for the
specified fiscal
year and may also be based on producing a higher level of
services or
improved services for the public with no increase in
operating costs of
the state agency, or on a combination of any such
circumstances which
constitute enhanced quality. In the case of a quality award
based on pro-
ducing the same amount of services or more for the public
with no re-
duction in such cost, the aggregate amount or value of the
awards for a
team pursuant to a plan shall not be more than the amount
equal to 1.5%
of the amount determined by the secretary of administration
to be the
amount of budgeted operating expenditures of the state
agency, over the
appropriate period, for the employees of the state agency
constituting the
team. In any case, a quality award for an individual shall
not be an amount
or have a value which is more than the amount equal to 10%
of the annual
compensation of the member from employment with the state
agency.
(d) The quality award for each
person for whom a quality award has
been approved pursuant to this section shall be paid or
provided by the
state agency which benefited from the activities of the
team or individual
under the quality improvement plan from any moneys
appropriated and
available for operating expenditures of the state agency.
All quality awards
shall be paid during the fiscal year following the fiscal
year for which the
award was approved under this section from any
appropriations for such
following fiscal year that are available therefor and prior
to December 31
of that fiscal year.
(e) No quality payment to any
person pursuant to this section shall
be compensation, within the meaning of K.S.A. 74-4901 et
seq., and
amendments thereto, for any purpose under the Kansas public
employees
retirement system and shall not be subject to deductions
for employee
contributions thereunder. Each quality award which is a
bonus payment
shall be a bonus, as defined by 29 C.F.R. 778, and shall be
in addition to
the regular earnings to which an officer or employee may be
entitled or
for which such officer or employee may become
eligible.
(f) The secretary of
administration shall adopt rules and regulations
for the administration and implementation of the Kansas quality
program.
(g) (d) As used
in this section, ``state agency'' has the meaning as-
cribed thereto by K.S.A. 75-3701, and amendments thereto.
Sec. 4. K.S.A. 75-37,106 through 75-37,110, inclusive,
and 75-37,115
are hereby repealed.
Sec. 5. This act shall take effect and be in force
from and after its
publication in the statute book.
Approved May 17, 2002.
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