Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

AGO 2010 NO. 3 >

1.         RCW 9.46.0209 authorizes state employees to conduct charitable raffles, but such raffles may benefit a person or family in need through a qualified charitable or benevolent entity.  However, state employees may not conduct a raffle for the purpose of raising funds that will be transmitted directly to an individual person or family in need.  2.         A charitable raffle conducted by a group of state employees may benefit a family, family member, or friend of a state employee conducting the raffle, only if that recipient has been designated as a person or family in need by a qualified charitable or benevolent entity.

AGO 1955 NO. 3 >

(1) A qualified state employee, upon his resumption of employment, after a tour of military service is entitled as a matter of right to be returned to the same step of the State Salary Plan as he formerly occupied and (2) In the discretion of the appointing officer, such persons may be advanced to a higher salary level.

AGO 1980 NO. 8 >

(1) A person who has properly established membership in the Washington Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) through employment as a public school teacher in accordance with RCW 41.32.240 or RCW 41.32.780 may thereafter continue to participate in TRS and receive TRS service credit in connection with later periods of employment with the same or another school district or a state agency even though that person is not still employed as a teacher. (2) Such continuing active participation in the Washington Teachers' Retirement System, however, is only permitted and not required under the specified circumstances; accordingly, the person in question (by not returning to or continuing in active TRS membership upon his or her change in employment status) may, if employed in an eligible position under the Washington Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS), thereafter be covered as a member of that retirement system unless he or she is personally ineligible, under RCW 41.40.120, for some other reason.

AGO 1998 NO. 12 >

Under the language of the 1997-99 operating budget, a university may grant individual salary increases larger or smaller than the average 3.0 percent increase funded by legislative appropriation. A university may use its 1997-99 budget appropriation in part to remedy salary disparities discovered by the university through studies or other means. Under the 1997-99 budget act, a university may honor increases previously agreed to in collective bargaining agreements, using “local” or non-appropriated funds for any portion of the increase which the Legislature has declined to fund with its biennial appropriation. If the Legislature fails to appropriate funds for a salary increase for university employees, the extent to which the university may fund such increases with non-appropriated funds depends on the language of the budget act covering the period in question.

AGO 2006 NO. 14 >

1. State employees may exercise their right of nonassociation with a labor union under RCW 41.80.100(2) based upon strongly held private religious objections to union membership, even if the objections are not based on the teachings of an established church or religious body. If there is a dispute between an employee and a union concerning the exercise of the right of nonassociation under RCW 41.80.100(2), the matter is resolved by the Public Employment Relations Commission. 3.State employees are not required to use a payroll deduction system to pay the union fees and dues set forth in RCW 41.80.100, but they may pay separately by personal check or other method so long as they make timely payments in the correct amount.

AGLO 1979 NO. 31 >

(1) Chapter 150, Laws of 1979, 1st Ex. Sess., permits an employee during January of 1980 to cash out unused sick leave earned during all of 1979 even though eight of the twelve days were earned prior to the effective date of the Act.

(2) An employee who dies or retires and is in pay status after chapter 150, supra, becomes effective may receive remuneration for unused sick leave earned prior to the effective date of the Act.

AGO 1953 NO. 35 >

Receipt of both salary from public employment and retirement benefits under the State Employees Retirement Act is not legally permissible. either in the case of elective officials or appointive officials.

AGLO 1973 NO. 61 >

(1) RCW 41.05.020 (3) does not require the state employees' insurance board to approve a panel medicine plan for the coverage of state employees residing within the service area covered by such a plan whenever one or more such plans are there available.
 
(2) After the state employees' insurance board has, in fact, granted approval to such a panel medicine plan it may thereafter withdraw approval from this plan.

AGO 1955 NO. 126 >

Vacation provisions of chapter 140, Laws of 1955, are applicable to ferry system personnel covered by collective bargaining agreement.

AGO 1953 NO. 136 >

Where employees of a political subdivision have, by agreement, placed themselves under OASI, they may not become members in State Employees' Retirement System.