Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 404 (2025GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Gricius, Stephanie

Final action

Governor Signed 3/26/2025

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Spencer J. Cox

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• allows an independent entity to opt into participating in the pay for performance management system;
• amends which employees of eligible agencies may participate in the pay for performance management system;
• repeals Section 63A-17-111; and
• makes technical and conforming changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

9
63A-17-106
63A-17-111
63A-17-112
63A-17-301
0
Government Employment Amendments
2025 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Stephanie Gricius
Senate Sponsor: Ronald M. Winterton
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill amends provisions related to government employment.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
allows an independent entity to opt into participating in the pay for performance 
management system;
amends which employees of eligible agencies may participate in the pay for performance 
management system;
repeals Section 63A-17-111; and
makes technical and conforming changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
63A-17-106
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2024, Chapter 397
63A-17-112
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2024, Chapter 397
63A-17-301
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2024, Chapter 397
REPEALS:
63A-17-111
, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2021, Chapter 192
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1, Section 
63A-17-106
 is amended to read:
63A-17-106
. Responsibilities of the director.
(1)
As used in this section, "miscarriage" means the spontaneous or accidental loss of a 
fetus, regardless of gestational age or the duration of the pregnancy.
(2)
The director shall have full responsibility and accountability for the administration of 
the statewide human resource management system.
(3)
Except as provided in Section 
63A-17-201
, an agency may not perform human resource 
functions without the consent of the director.
(4)
Statewide human resource management rules made by the division in accordance with 
Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, shall take precedence if 
there is a conflict with agency rules, policies, or practices.
(5)
The division may operate as an internal service fund agency in accordance with Section 
63J-1-410
 for the human resource functions the division provides.
(6)
The director shall:
(a)
develop, implement, and administer a statewide program of human resource 
management that will:
(i)
aid in the efficient execution of public policy;
(ii)
foster careers in public service for qualified employees; and
(iii)
render assistance to state agencies in performing their missions;
(b)
design and administer the state pay plan;
(c)
design and administer the state classification system and procedures for determining 
schedule assignments;
(d)
design and administer the state recruitment and selection system;
(e)
administer agency human resource practices and ensure compliance with federal law, 
state law, and state human resource rules, including equal employment opportunity;
(f)
consult with agencies on decisions concerning employee corrective action and 
discipline;
(g)
maintain central personnel records;
(h)
perform those functions necessary to implement this chapter unless otherwise 
assigned or prohibited;
(i)
perform duties assigned by the governor, executive director, or statute;
(j)
make rules for human resource management, in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 
3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act;
(k)
establish and maintain a management information system that will furnish the 
governor, the Legislature, and agencies with current information on authorized 
positions, payroll, and related matters concerning state human resources;
(l)
conduct research and planning activities to:
(i)
determine and prepare for future state human resource needs;
(ii)
develop methods for improving public human resource management; and
(iii)
propose needed policy changes to the governor;
(m)
study the character, causes, and extent of discrimination in state employment and 
develop plans for its elimination through programs consistent with federal and state 
laws governing equal employment opportunity in employment;
(n)
establish compensation policies and procedures for early voluntary retirement;
(o)
confer with the heads of other agencies about human resource policies and 
procedures;
(p)
submit an annual report to the executive director, the governor, and the Legislature; 
and
(q)
assist with the development of a vacant position report required under Subsection 
63J-1-201
(2)(b)(vi).
(7)
(a)
After consultation with the executive director, the governor, and the heads of 
other agencies, the director shall establish and coordinate statewide training 
programs, including training described in Subsection (7)(e).
(b)
The programs developed under this Subsection (7) shall have application to more 
than one agency.
(c)
The division may not establish training programs that train employees to perform 
highly specialized or technical jobs and tasks.
(d)
The division shall ensure that any training program described in this Subsection (7) 
complies with Title 63G, Chapter 22, State Training and Certification Requirements.
(e)
(i)
As used in this Subsection (7)(e):
(A)
"Employee" 
means 
the same as that term is defined in Section 
63A-17-112
an employee included in an agency's pay for performance policy adopted in 
accordance with Section 
63A-17-112
.
(B)
"Supervisor" means an individual in a position at an agency, as defined in 
Section 
63A-17-112
, that requires the regular supervision and performance 
evaluation of an employee.
(ii)
A supervisor shall attend the training:
(A)
within six months of being promoted or hired to the position of supervisor; and
(B)
at least annually.
(iii)
A supervisor's completion of training and effective use of training information 
and principles shall be considered in an evaluation of the supervisor's job 
performance.
(iv)
The training shall include:
(A)
effective employee management and evaluation methods based on the pay for 
performance management system described in Section 
63A-17-112
;
(B)
instruction to improve supervisor and employee communications;
(C)
best practices for recognizing and retaining high-performing employees;
(D)
best practices for addressing poor-performing employees; and
(E)
any other information and principles identified by the division to improve 
management or organizational effectiveness.
(8)
(a)
(i)
The division may collect fees for training as authorized by this Subsection (8).
(ii)
Training funded from General Fund appropriations shall be treated as a separate 
program within the department budget.
(iii)
All money received from fees under this section will be accounted for by the 
department as a separate user driven training program.
(iv)
The user training program includes the costs of developing, procuring, and 
presenting training and development programs, and other associated costs for 
these programs.
(b)
(i)
Funds remaining at the end of the fiscal year in the user training program are 
nonlapsing.
(ii)
Each year, as part of the appropriations process, the Legislature shall review the 
amount of nonlapsing funds remaining at the end of the fiscal year and may, by 
statute, require the department to lapse a portion of the funds.
(9)
Rules described in Subsection (6)(j) shall provide for at least three work days of paid 
bereavement leave for an employee:
(a)
following the end of the employee's pregnancy by way of miscarriage or stillbirth; or
(b)
following the end of another individual's pregnancy by way of a miscarriage or 
stillbirth, if:
(i)
the employee is the individual's spouse or partner;
(ii)
(A)
the employee is the individual's former spouse or partner; and
(B)
the employee would have been a biological parent of a child born as a result of 
the pregnancy;
(iii)
the employee provides documentation to show that the individual intended for 
the employee to be an adoptive parent, as that term is defined in Section 
78B-6-103
, of a child born as a result of the pregnancy; or
(iv)
under a valid gestational agreement in accordance with Title 78B, Chapter 15, 
Part 8, Gestational Agreement, the employee would have been a parent of a child 
born as a result of the pregnancy.
Section 2, Section 
63A-17-112
 is amended to read:
63A-17-112
. Pay for performance management system -- Employees paid for 
performance.
(1)
As used in this section:
(a)
(i)
"Agency" means, except as provided in Subsection 
(1)(a)(ii)
(1)(a)(iii)
, the 
same as that term is defined in Section 
63A-17-102
.
(ii)
"Agency" includes an independent entity that has decided to participate in the pay 
for performance management system in accordance with Subsection (6)(a).
(ii)
(iii)
"Agency" does not include
:
(A)
the State Board of Education
,
;
(B)
the Office of the State Treasurer
,
;
(C)
Office of the State Auditor
,
;
(D)
Office of the State Attorney General
,
;
(E)
Utah System of Higher Education
,
;
(F)
the Legislature
, 
;
(G)
the judiciary
,
;
 or
,
(H)
 as defined in Section 
63E-1-102
, 
an independent entity
 that chooses not to 
participate in the pay for performance management system under this section
.
(b)
(i)
"Employee" means an employee of an agency.
(ii)
"Employee" 
does not include 
includes the following individuals only if the 
agency employing the individuals determines that the individuals may participate 
in the agency's pay for performance policy
:
(A)
an individual in a schedule AB position, as described in Section 
63A-17-301
;
(B)
(A)
an individual in a position that is not eligible to receive a retirement 
benefit under Title 49, Utah State Retirement and Insurance Benefit Act; or
(C)
(B)
an individual that an agency hires for a time-limited position that will last 
fewer than 12 consecutive months.
(c)
"Independent entity" means the same as that term is defined in Section 
63E-1-102
.
(c)
(d)
"Pay for performance" means a plan for incentivizing an employee to meet or 
exceed production or performance goals, in which the plan is well-defined before 
work begins, specific goals and targets for the employee are determined, and 
measurement procedures are in place.
(d)
(e)
"Pay for performance management system" means the system described in 
Subsection (2).
(2)
The division shall 
establish and
make rules
, in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, 
Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, 
make rules 
for the administration of a pay for 
performance management system.
(3)
The pay for performance management system shall include:
(a)
guidelines and criteria for an agency to adopt pay for performance policies and 
administer pay based on an employee's performance in furtherance of the agency's 
mission;
(b)
employee performance ratings;
(c)
requirements for written employee performance standards and expectations;
(d)
supervisor verbal and written feedback based on the standards of performance and 
behavior outlined in an employee's performance plan; and
(e)
quarterly written evaluation of an employee's performance.
(4)
In consultation with the division, 
no later than July 1, 2023, 
each agency shall:
(a)
adopt 
and maintain 
pay for performance policies based on the performance 
management system; and
(b)
subject to available funds and as necessary, adjust an employee's wage to reflect:
(i)
subject to Subsection (5), 
for a classified service employee, 
the salary range 
of 
the position classified plan 
for the employee's position; and
(ii)
an increase, decrease, or no change in the employee's wage:
(A)
commensurate to an employee's performance as reflected by the employee's 
evaluation conducted in accordance with the pay for performance management 
system; and
(B)
in an amount that is in accordance with the guidelines and criteria established 
for a wage change in the pay for performance management system.
(5)
In
The division shall make rules in
 accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah 
Administrative Rulemaking Act, 
the division shall make rules 
authorizing 
a classified 
service
an
 employee to receive a wage that exceeds the salary range of the 
classified 
service 
employee's position 
classified plan 
if warranted based on the 
classified 
employee's performance rating.
(6)
(a)
An independent entity may participate in the pay for performance management 
system by providing written notice to the division that:
(i)
states the intent of the independent entity to participate in the system; and
(ii)
indicates that the independent entity agrees to comply with Subsection (6)(b).
(b)
An independent entity participating in the pay for performance management system 
shall comply with:
(i)
the provisions of this section; and
(ii)
the rules and policies of the division relating to participation in the pay for 
performance management system.
Section 3, Section 
63A-17-301
 is amended to read:
63A-17-301
. Career service -- Exempt positions -- Schedules for civil service 
positions -- Coverage of career service provisions.
(1)
Except as provided in Subsection (3)(d), the following positions are exempt from the 
career service provisions of this chapter and are designated under the following 
schedules:
(a)
schedule AA includes the governor, members of the Legislature, and all other elected 
state officers;
(b)
schedule AB includes appointed executives and board or commission executives 
enumerated in Section 
67-22-2
;
(c)
schedule AC includes all employees and officers in:
(i)
the office and at the residence of the governor;
(ii)
the Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office;
(iii)
the Office of the State Auditor; and
(iv)
the Office of the State Treasurer;
(d)
schedule AD includes employees who:
(i)
are in a confidential relationship to an agency head or commissioner; and
(ii)
report directly to, and are supervised by, a department head, commissioner, or 
deputy director of an agency or its equivalent;
(e)
schedule AE includes each employee of the State Board of Education that the State 
Board of Education designates as exempt from the career service provisions of this 
chapter;
(f)
schedule AG includes employees in the Office of the Attorney General who are under 
their own career service pay plan under Sections 
67-5-7
 through 
67-5-13
;
(g)
schedule AH includes:
(i)
teaching staff of all state institutions; and
(ii)
employees of the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind who are:
(A)
educational interpreters as classified by the division; or
(B)
educators as defined by Section 
53E-8-102
;
(h)
schedule AN includes employees of the Legislature;
(i)
schedule AO includes employees of the judiciary;
(j)
schedule AP includes all judges in the judiciary;
(k)
schedule AQ includes:
(i)
members of state and local boards and councils appointed by the governor and 
governing bodies of agencies;
(ii)
a water commissioner appointed under Section 
73-5-1
;
(iii)
other local officials serving in an ex officio capacity; and
(iv)
officers, faculty, and other employees of state universities and other state 
institutions of higher education;
(l)
schedule AR includes employees in positions that involve responsibility:
(i)
for determining policy;
(ii)
for determining the way in which a policy is carried out; or
(iii)
of a type not appropriate for career service, as determined by the agency head 
with the concurrence of the director;
(m)
schedule AS includes any other employee:
(i)
whose appointment is required by statute to be career service exempt;
(ii)
whose agency is not subject to this chapter; or
(iii)
whose agency has authority to make rules regarding the performance, 
compensation, and bonuses for its employees;
(n)
schedule AT includes employees of the Division of Technology Services, designated 
as executive/professional positions by the director of the Division of Technology 
Services with the concurrence of the director of the division;
(o)
schedule AU includes patients and inmates employed in state institutions;
(p)
employees of the Department of Workforce Services, designated as schedule AW:
(i)
who are temporary employees that are federally funded and are required to work 
under federally qualified merit principles as certified by the director; or
(ii)
for whom substantially all of their work is repetitive, measurable, or transaction 
based, and who voluntarily apply for and are accepted by the Department of 
Workforce Services to work in a pay for performance program designed by the 
Department of Workforce Services with the concurrence of the director of the 
division;
(q)
subject to Subsection (6), schedule AX includes employees in positions that:
(i)
require the regular supervision and performance evaluation of one or more other 
employees; and
(ii)
are not designated exempt from career service under any other schedule described 
in this Subsection (1); and
(r)
for employees in positions that are temporary, seasonal, time limited, funding limited, 
or variable hour in nature, under schedule codes and parameters established by the 
division by administrative rule.
(2)
The civil service shall consist of two schedules as follows:
(a)
(i)
Schedule A is the schedule consisting of positions under Subsection (1).
(ii)
Removal from any appointive position under schedule A, unless otherwise 
regulated by statute, is at the pleasure of the appointing officers without regard to 
tenure.
(b)
Schedule B is the competitive career service schedule, consisting of:
(i)
all positions filled through competitive selection procedures as defined by the 
director; or
(ii)
positions filled through a division approved on-the-job examination intended to 
appoint a qualified person with a disability, or a veteran in accordance with Title 
71A, Chapter 2, Veterans Preference.
(3)
(a)
The director, after consultation with the heads of concerned executive branch 
departments and agencies and with the approval of the governor, shall allocate 
positions to the appropriate schedules under this section.
(b)
Agency heads shall make requests and obtain approval from the director before 
changing the schedule assignment and tenure rights of any position.
(c)
Unless the director's decision is reversed by the governor, when the director denies 
an agency's request, the director's decision is final.
(d)
(i)
An agency may file a request with the division
.
:
(A)
to keep a position scheduled as a schedule B position as a schedule B position; 
or
(B)
to reschedule a position that is scheduled as a schedule A position as a 
schedule B position.
(ii)
The division shall review a request filed under Subsection (3)(d)(i) and approve 
the request only if the exception is necessary to conform to a requirement imposed 
as a condition precedent to receipt of federal funds or grant of a tax benefit under 
federal law.
(4)
(a)
Compensation for employees of the Legislature shall be established by the 
directors of the legislative offices in accordance with Section 
36-12-7
.
(b)
Compensation for employees of the judiciary shall be established by the state court 
administrator in accordance with Section 
78A-2-107
.
(c)
Compensation for officers, faculty, and other employees of state universities and 
institutions of higher education shall be established as provided in Title 53B, Chapter 
1, Governance, Powers, Rights, and Responsibilities, and Title 53B, Chapter 2, 
Institutions of Higher Education.
(d)
Unless otherwise provided by law, compensation for all other schedule A employees 
shall be established by their appointing authorities, within ranges approved by, and 
after consultation with the director.
(5)
An employee who is in a position designated schedule AC and who holds career service 
status on June 30, 2010, shall retain the career service status if the employee:
(a)
remains in the position that the employee is in on June 30, 2010; and
(b)
does not elect to convert to career service exempt status in accordance with a rule 
made by the division.
(6)
(a)
An employee who is hired for a schedule AX position on or after July 1, 2022, is 
exempt from career service status.
(b)
An employee who before July 1, 2022, is a career service employee employed in a 
schedule B position that is rescheduled to a schedule AX position on July 1, 2022, 
shall maintain the employee's career service status for the duration of the employee's 
employment in the same position unless the employee voluntarily converts to career 
service exempt status before July 1, 2023.
(c)
(i)
Subject to Subsection (6)(c)(ii), an employee is exempt from career service 
status if:
(A)
before July 1, 2022, the employee was a probationary employee in a schedule 
B position and had not completed the probationary period; and
(B)
on July 1, 2022, the schedule B position in which the probationary employee 
is employed is rescheduled as a scheduled AX position.
(ii)
An employee described in Subsection (6)(c)(i):
(A)
is not a probationary employee on or after July 1, 2022; and
(B)
is exempt from career service status on and after July 1, 2022, unless the 
employee changes employment to a schedule B position.
(d)
The division shall disseminate to each employee described in Subsection (6)(b) 
information on financial and other incentives for voluntary conversion to 
career-service exempt status.
(e)
An agency
, as defined in Section 
63A-17-112
,
 may adopt a policy, created in 
consultation with the division, for agency review of recommendations that schedule 
AX employees be suspended, demoted, or dismissed from employment.
Section 4, 
Repealer.
Teleworking progress report.
Section 5. 
Effective Date.
This bill takes effect on 
May 7, 2025
.
3-14-25 1:17 PM