Chapter 98-A: Temporary, Seasonal and Part-Time State Employees

The following terms shall be construed as follows:

I. "Temporary employee" shall mean any person who is appointed to fill a position on a full-time or part-time basis for a limited duration.

II. "Seasonal employee" shall mean any person who is appointed to fill a seasonal position on a full-time or part-time basis for a limited duration that is anticipated as likely to recur each year for a varying number of months.

III. "Permanent employee" shall mean any person in a full-time position, including full-time temporary and seasonal positions, who completes a 12-month initial probationary period.

IV. "Full-time basis" shall refer to employment calling for not less than 37 1/2 hours work in a normal calendar week or calling for not less than 40 hours work in a normal calendar week with respect to positions for which 40 hours are customarily required unless otherwise collectively bargained.

V. "Part-time basis" shall refer to employment calling for less than 37 1/2 hours work in a normal calendar week or calling for less than 40 hours work in a normal calendar week with respect to positions for which 40 hours are customarily required unless otherwise collectively bargained.

VI. "Temporary position" shall mean a position approved by the director of personnel that is either a full-time or part-time position expected to last for a limited duration.

VII. "Permanent position" shall mean a full-time position lasting more than 12 months that is authorized by the legislature and whose classification title is approved by the director of personnel.

VIII. "Seasonal position" shall mean a full-time or part-time position, the need for which may reasonably be anticipated as likely to recur each year for a varying period of months.

All appointments to temporary positions in state service shall be filled in the first instance from appropriate state layoff lists. If applicants from such lists are not available any individual meeting the minimum qualifications of the position may be certified by the director of personnel. Appointments to seasonal positions shall be filled from the appropriate state layoff lists. If after the director of personnel has made a reasonable effort to certify eligible individuals for seasonal positions from an existing eligible layoff list, and they find it impracticable to make a certification, they may authorize the seasonal position to be filled by an individual designated by the appointing authority.

Any person serving in a temporary position or any person serving in a seasonal position who works the equivalent of 6 months or more, not necessarily consecutively, in any 12-month period shall be deemed to be respectively a permanent temporary employee or a permanent seasonal employee and entitled to all the rights and benefits of a permanent employee in the classified service of the state.

A permanent temporary or permanent seasonal employee shall accumulate seniority from year to year.

An individual working on a part-time basis shall not be eligible to utilize either sick or annual leave but at each anniversary of employment should the total working time during the preceding year amount to the equivalent of an amount of time specified in the applicable collective bargaining agreement and the personnel rules, they shall be paid all accumulated annual leave not in excess of that which may be allowed in rules adopted by the division of personnel.

Any individual employed in state service on a part-time basis whose employment calls for 30 hours or more work in a normal calendar week, and whose position is anticipated to have a duration of 6 months or more, shall be entitled to elect to receive such health and dental benefits as are afforded full-time state employees, except that the state's share of the cost of such benefits shall be decreased by a factor equal to the difference between 37.5 hours and the number of hours such individual works in a normal calendar week, divided by 37.5 hours. The remaining costs of health and dental benefits which any such individual elects to receive pursuant to this section shall be withheld from such individual's salary as a payroll deduction.

Notwithstanding any agreement, law, or rule to the contrary, state employees involved in the care of persons in the state mental health system, the department of health and human services, the department of youth development services, the state prison, the secure psychiatric unit or the veterans' home on a part-time basis who work on New Year's Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Civil Rights Day, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Washington's Birthday, Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving, or Christmas Day, shall be entitled to holiday pay for the hours worked, provided that such employees shall be required to work the scheduled day before and the scheduled day after such holidays.

Full-time seasonal employees shall be considered permanent employees only for the purposes of the death benefit under RSA 21-I:29.

Any individual employed in state service in a temporary or seasonal position, as defined in this chapter, who has not been deemed permanent and whose employment calls for 30 hours or more work in a normal calendar week, but whose position is not anticipated to have a duration of 6 months or more, shall be entitled to elect to participate at their own expense in the group health and dental insurance plans afforded full-time state employees. The costs of health and dental benefits which any such individual elects to receive pursuant to this section shall be withheld from such individual's salary as a payroll deduction. The department of administrative services shall be authorized to invoice the individual for any amounts not paid through a payroll deduction.