After nearly 30 years working for the state, Dawn Knight plans to retire this September.
She said spending more time with her grandsons played a role in the decision. So did ongoing workplace disputes that are leading her to consider filing a grievance against her supervisors at the Office of Inspector General.
But Knight may be among the last generation of state workers to have access to those protections.
When West Virginia state workers believe they’ve been unfairly disciplined, denied a promotion or improperly fired, they can file a grievance and ask an independent agency to review the decision. The system is designed to give employees due process and a formal avenue to challenge management actions.
And for thousands of workers, that safeguard is vanishing.
Over the past two legislative sessions, lawmakers, at Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s request, have eliminated civil service and grievance protections for more than 9,000 state employees across multiple agencies.
Morrisey has made removing civil service protections a priority since taking office, arguing the changes will make state government more efficient and accountable.
“These bills will help us do just that,” he said in a statement.
But labor advocates say the changes weaken employee safeguards, opening the door to unjust firings and making it harder for state agencies to recruit and retain workers.
The overhaul began last year when lawmakers approved bills removing civil service protections for workers in the departments of Commerce, Administration and Tourism.
And this year, lawmakers expanded the changes to employees in agencies that once made up the Department of Health and Human Resources, including the Department of Human Services.
Workers hired before the changes took effect can keep their protections if they remain in their current jobs. But employees who transfer to new positions or accept promotions lose those protections, while new hires will not receive them at all.
The protections were created to help state workers
The protections being rolled back were created to prevent government jobs from being awarded based on political loyalty rather than qualifications, said Gordon Simmons, vice president of United Mine Workers of America Local 154 and author of a book on the history of the state’s civil service system.
“The whole point of civil service being gradually introduced to West Virginia state government was to establish safeguards for the integrity of public services,” he said.
Simmons and labor leaders worry the changes could discourage workers from pursuing promotions or transferring to new positions because doing so can trigger the loss of workplace protections.
“If I’m treated unfairly at work, then what do I do? I go to court,” Simmons said. “That’s my only option. How is that more efficient?”
Josh Sword, president of the West Virginia AFL-CIO, said the changes move many state workers closer to at-will employment and could make government jobs less attractive at a time when agencies already struggle to fill vacancies.
“It’s one more reason for qualified individuals not to want to work for the state,” Sword said. “It’s only reasonable for a worker to feel like they have some rights and protections in the workplace.”
Some state agencies, including the Office of the Governor and some county and municipal agencies, already don’t have civil service protections.
Although lawmakers approved another round of civil service changes this year, not all agreed that eliminating employee protections was necessary to improve state government.
Among them was Del. Andy Shamblin, R-Kanawha, a high school civics teacher. Shamblin said removing the protections could leave public employees vulnerable to political pressure and retaliation.
“I think we went backwards in terms of protecting our public employees,” he said.
While Shamblin said the grievance process could be improved and streamlined, he opposed eliminating protections outright.
“I don’t think that I could ever support throwing the baby out with the bath water and abolishing the entire system,” he said.
A system built to resolve workplace disputes
The Public Employees Grievance Board handled more than 600 cases in 2022, according to its most recent annual report.
Many involved disputes over employee classifications and compensation, though workers also used the process to challenge disciplinary actions and other workplace decisions.
For Chris Wolford, a Department of Human Services employee nearing retirement after 43 years with the state, the grievance process has helped resolve disputes that stretched beyond individual employees.
Wolford said he once helped represent a coworker who returned from Army Reserve duty only to find the state was counting weekends against his military leave allotment.
After the grievance was upheld and the agency lost its appeal in circuit court, the state clarified the policy.
“They had to change the code,” he said.
Without the process, workers would likely have to pursue such matters through the court system, Wolford said.
Morrisey says fewer protections will make state government more efficient
The Morrisey administration described the legislation as part of a broader effort to streamline government and address challenges facing the state. His office did not respond to additional questions about the administration’s plans for other agencies.
During a House Government and Organization Committee meeting, administration officials argued the changes would help agencies compete for workers and manage employees more effectively.
Sean Whelan, counsel to Morrisey, told lawmakers the civil service and grievance systems can slow hiring, limit managers’ ability to reward high-performing employees and make it difficult to discipline poor performers.
Whelan argued that state agencies can take months to hire employees under the current system, while private sector employers can often fill positions in a matter of days.
But for workers like Dawn Knight, the debate is about more than government efficiency.
Part of the reason she chose public service three decades ago was the stability it offered. As she prepares to retire, her concern is no longer for herself but for the employees who remain.
“I’m just trying to make a difference for my coworkers,” she said. “I’ll take the beating for them if it’ll help them have a better workplace.”