§76-14  Merit appeals board; duties, andjurisdiction.  (a)  The merit appeals board of each jurisdiction shalldecide appeals from any action under this chapter taken by the chief executive,the director, an appointing authority, or a designee acting on behalf of one ofthese individuals, relating to:

(1)  Recruitment and examination;

(2)  Classification and reclassification of aparticular position, including denial or loss of promotional opportunity ordemotion due to reclassification of positions in a reorganization;

(3)  Initial pricing of classes; and

(4)  Other employment actions under this chapter,including disciplinary actions and adverse actions for failure to meetperformance requirements, taken against civil service employees who areexcluded from collective bargaining coverage under section 89-6.

(b)  Any person suffering legal wrong by anaction under subsection (a)(1) or aggrieved by such action shall be entitled toappeal to the merit appeals board.  Any employee covered by chapter 76 sufferinglegal wrong by an action under subsection (a)(2) or (3) shall be entitled toappeal to the merit appeals board.  Only employees covered by chapter 76, whoare excluded from collective bargaining, suffering legal wrong by an actionunder subsection (a)(4) shall be entitled to appeal to the merit appealsboard.  Appeals under this section shall be filed within time limits and in themanner provided by rules of the merit appeals board.

(c)  The rules adopted by the merit appealsboard shall provide for the following:

(1)  The merit appeals board shall not act on anappeal, but shall defer to other authority, if the action complained ofconstitutes a prohibited act that is subject to the jurisdiction of anotherappellate body or administrative agency or the grievance procedure under acollective bargaining agreement;

(2)  The merit appeals board shall not proceed on anappeal or shall hold proceedings in abeyance if there is any controversyregarding its authority to hear the appeal until the controversy is resolved bythe Hawaii labor relations board;

(3)  The merit appeals board shall prescribe timelimits for filing an appeal that require exhaustion of all internal complaintprocedures, including administrative review and departmental complaintprocedures, before an appeal is filed; and

(4)  The merit appeals board shall use the conditionslisted in section 76-41(b) in reaching a decision on whether actions taken bythe appointing authority based on a failure by the employee to meet theperformance requirements of the employee's position is with or without merit.

(d)  Notwithstanding the provisions of thissection, the merit appeals board shall have the authority to hear and decideappeals pending before the state civil service commission as of June 30, 2002,in accordance with the jurisdictional requirements and procedures applicable tothe state civil service commission as of June 30, 2002.

(e)  This section shall be construed liberallyto determine whether the appeal falls within the jurisdiction of the meritappeals board. [L 1955, c 274, pt of §1; RL 1955, pt of §3-17; am L Sp 1959 2d,c 1, §11; HRS §76-14; am L 1994, c 56, §21; am L 2000, c 253, §12; am L 2001, c123, §10; am L 2005, c 34, §1]

 

Cross References

 

  Authority ofcommission, generally, see §26-5.

 

Hawaii Legal Reporter Citations

 

  Hear and decideappeals.  79 HLR 79-0307.