Government Employment Amendments
HB 404 makes several changes to Utah’s state government human resources laws, primarily around the pay-for-performance system. It allows an independent entity to opt into that system by giving written notice and agreeing to follow division rules and policies. The bill also broadens the definition of “employee” for pay-for-performance purposes to include certain time-limited workers and workers not eligible for retirement benefits if the agency chooses to include them, while removing a prior exclusion for schedule AB positions.
The bill also updates the Division of Human Resource Management’s responsibilities and training requirements. It clarifies that supervisors in agencies using pay-for-performance must complete training within six months of appointment and annually thereafter, and that the training should cover performance management, communication, retention of high performers, and handling poor performance. In addition, the bill requires state rules to provide at least three work days of paid bereavement leave after a miscarriage or stillbirth, including for certain spouses, partners, former spouses, intended adoptive parents, and gestational agreement parents. It also repeals the teleworking progress report section and makes technical and conforming changes.
HB 404 affects Utah Code provisions in Title 63A governing human resource management, career service classifications, and the pay-for-performance framework. It gives the division rulemaking authority to administer the system, allows wages to exceed a position’s salary range when performance warrants it, and updates which positions and workers may be covered. The bill takes effect May 7, 2025, and does not appropriate new money.
The available voting record suggests the bill was broadly supported and moved with little opposition. It received unanimous favorable action in the House committee, passed the House 68-0, and passed the Senate 22-4. No committee transcript is provided, so the record does not show detailed debate, but the vote margins indicate general agreement on the bill’s overall direction.
The main points of potential contention are the expansion of pay-for-performance coverage and the discretion given to agencies and independent entities to include additional categories of workers. Some concern could also arise from the bill’s changes to wage-setting authority and the repeal of the teleworking progress report, though the recorded votes show these issues did not generate major resistance in the Legislature.
HB 404 amends Utah’s state personnel statutes in Title 63A, especially the provisions governing the Division of Human Resource Management, the pay-for-performance management system, and career service classifications. It expands optional participation in pay-for-performance to independent entities, changes which workers may be included in agency pay-for-performance policies, authorizes rulemaking for performance-based wages above salary range in some cases, and repeals the teleworking progress report statute. It also requires statewide rules to provide paid bereavement leave after miscarriage or stillbirth for covered employees.
The bill appears to have been received positively overall. It advanced unanimously out of House committee, passed the House without any no votes, and cleared the Senate with a strong majority despite four dissenting votes. With no committee transcript available, the record suggests broad legislative support and limited public disagreement on the bill’s general policy goals.
The most likely areas of contention are policy rather than procedural: whether independent entities should be allowed to opt into the state pay-for-performance system, whether more temporary or non-retirement-eligible workers should be covered, and how much discretion agencies should have in performance-based pay decisions. The repeal of the teleworking progress report may also have drawn some concern from members interested in remote-work oversight, but the vote history indicates these issues did not prevent passage.