WV House sets up stripping civil service, grievance access from many state employees

In another Wednesday vote, the House by a 58-32 tally passed HB 5441, which would take civil service status and grievance procedure access from future employees of — and employees that move out of their current position within — the Department of Transportation and eliminate the state’s merit-based personnel system for the State Tax Division and Bureau for Social Services.

HB 5441 also now goes before the Senate. The changes would take effect July 1, 2026, per the legislation.

Opposed by Kanawha County delegates who raised concerns the changes would lead to political and other unjust firings, the House’s moves come after the Legislature, also at Morrisey’s request, last year stripped civil service status and grievance access from future employees of and employees that leave their current positions within the Department (now Division) of Economic Development, Department of Tourism, Bureau of Senior Services, Department of Administration, Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Revenue and Department of Veterans Assistance.

“We all know there’s the constant threat of political hirings and firings,� Delegate Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party, said in a House floor address Wednesday prior to the votes. “These people are just trying to make a living.�

“I wasn’t sent down here to take away employee rights,� Assistant Majority Whip Dave Foggin, R-Wood, said in his own House floor address Wednesday. “Employee rights and employee grievance procedures are around because employers have treated employees poorly in the past.�

The legislation advanced from the House Government Organization Committee and was defended by the panel’s chair, Chris Phillips, R-Barbour, on the House floor Wednesday.

Echoing arguments Governor’s Office General Counsel Sean Whelan made in a Feb. 5 meeting of his committee, Phillips said HB 4025 was “aimed at improving the quality of state workers and the efficiency of state government,� saying the aim was to “modernize West Virginia employee practices.�

But Phillips acknowledged that in cases of political firings, terminated employees would be newly left with “the same rights as every other worker in the state� rather than their current recourse to grievance procedure protections.

Whelan estimated departments that would be subject to the proposed civil service status and grievance procedure removals amount to a size similar to the 5,077 employees in departments covered by last year’s removals.

Nearly 50 grievances in two health agencies since 2025 

Including the Office of Inspector General and the Human Rights Commission, the West Virginia Department of Health has 916 filled positions, agency spokesperson Gailyn Markham said last week. In 2025, the Department of Health’s vacancy rates reduced to 20.65% from 23.41% in 2024, Markham said, adding that the department’s turnover rate decreased to 13.13% in 2025 from 14.59% in 2024.

The Department of Health Facilities has 792 filled positions, agency spokesperson Markham said in an email, adding that it recently has been difficult to attract and retain clinical staffing due to “reasons such as facility location, opportunity for growth, and the difficult nature of the service line.�

Markham, commenting on behalf of Morrisey’s Departments of Health and Health Facilities, predicted HB 4025 would yield “greater flexibility to reward hard working employees with more competitive pay,� and “a stronger, more accountable workforce.�

But if current trends hold under the Morrisey administration, the state’s procedural path toward dozens of grievances annually could be at risk of being closed off.

Since Jan. 1, 2025, 12 days before Morrisey took office as governor, 18 total grievances have been filed with the Department of Health, Markham said Thursday. Of those 18, nine have been resolved. Four were dismissed, four were withdrawn and one was resolved with a decision, Markham said.

In the same span, 31 total grievances were filed with the Department of Health Facilities, per Markham. Of those 31, 16 have been resolved. Six were dismissed, five were withdrawn, four were resolved with a decision, and one was settled.

In a civil service system, government jobs are awarded based on merit rather than political affiliation. Chapter 29, Article 6, Section 1 of West Virginia code states the purpose of the state’s civil service system is to “attract … to the service of this state personnel of the highest ability and integrity by the establishment of a system of personnel administration based on merit principles.�

State grievance procedures, outlined in West Virginia code, allow claims by employees alleging a violation of state statutes and rules regarding compensation, hours, employment terms and conditions, employment status and discrimination. The procedures cover incidents of harassment and favoritism.

'You're assuming the worst of hard-working employees'

At the House Government Organization Committee’s Feb. 5 meeting, Whelan was challenged by delegates who questioned HB 4025’s fairness.

“You’re assuming the worst of hard-working employees that come to work, at least my constituents that come here and bust their butts off every day for not much money,� Delegate Dana Ferrell, R-Kanawha, told Whelan. “This bill seems to say, ‘OK, we don't trust you, and we want the ability to be able to fire your hind end if you're not doing what we think you should be doing.�

Whelan argued HB 4025 would give departments the flexibility to identify hard-working employees, contending the state’s civil service system “slows down the ability [of] the state to reprimand employees� and “creates a hiring delay on the front end.�

Whelan claimed the state’s current setup “creates an adversarial dynamic� between employees and their supervisors, encouraging grievance filings rather than “conversations.�

But Delegate Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, observed that even if employees file lawsuits in lieu of the current grievance process, the state would have to pay for legal defense anyway.

Departments covered by HB 4025 and HB 5441 would be allowed to preserve designation of certain employees' status under the classified civil service system and grievance procedures as needed to meet requirements for federal funding, which Delegate Hollis Lewis, D-Kanawha, observed to argue the Morrisey administration is pushing a “two-tiered system.�

“There’s federal funding tied to certain positions, so some people have the protections, some don’t,� Lewis said to Whelan. “That sounds complicated. That doesn’t sound simple.�

Whelan maintained the legislation would achieve flexibility.

Morrisey has criticized the state’s civil service system, suggesting the legislation would make state government more meritocratic and dismissing concern it would result in state agencies hiring based on politics. He has asserted that, as West Virginia’s governor, it’s his job to choose who serves in state government.

HB 5441 would terminate the State Personnel Board, transferring its authority to the Division of Personnel. The board has consisted of the Department of Administration secretary or their designee and five governor-appointed, Senate-approved members.

State Tax Division and Bureau for Social Services personnel duties deemed duplicative under HB 5441 would be transferred to the Division of Personnel.