WVa Committee mulls bill on college layoff policy Jake Jarvis, Gazette Mail

The House Education Committee considered on Wednesday a bill that would give public colleges in the state greater flexibility when deciding who to lay off if a staff reduction is needed. The committee’s substitute for HB 2542, which the committee members approved sending to the House floor by a voice vote, would allow colleges to consider not only an employee’s seniority when considering layoffs, but also their job performance, skill set and other parameters set by each college’s board of governors. “If there’s a layoff, seniority is important, but job performance — the institutions ought to have the flexibility to count job performance when their making the layoff,” Rob Alsop, West Virginia University’s vice president for legal, government and entrepreneurial engagement, told the committee. “That’s the fundamental thing of what we’re trying to accomplish here.” http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news-education/20170222/committee-mulls-bill-on-college-layoff-policy