GOVERNOR'S VETO EXPLANATION

Pursuant to Article V, Section 6 of the Constitution of Virginia, I am vetoing House Bill 807.

House Bill 807 would allow state employees with more seniority to displace, or "bump," employees with less seniority in the event of layoffs. Because of the enactment of the Workforce Transition Act during the 1995 Session of the General Assembly, the perceived need for this legislation has been dramatically reduced. The Workforce Transition Act provides substantial voluntary and involuntary severance benefits to state employees.

"Bumping" is a vestige of outmoded labor policies that have been abandoned in the private sector throughout the country as severance benefit packages similar to those now provided to state employees under Virginia law have been used as a preferred means of assisting the transition of employees in the event of layoffs.

The provision of severance benefits as a means of protecting the interests of incumbent state employees is far superior to the "bumping" policy that would be reinstituted under the enrolled bill. "Bumping" inevitably causes uncertainty and disruption in the workplace, as employees with less seniority worry that they will fall victim to the domino effect of successive displacements of more senior employees. The unsettling effects of a single layoff are multiplied as successive employees exercise their "bumping" rights.

With the provision of severance benefits, first through my administrative action and later under the Workforce Transition Act, the adverse impact of layoffs can be reduced without the detrimental consequences of "bumping." Accordingly, I am disapproving this bill.