The South Dakota Legislature is considering workplace bills that address topics ranging from raises to injury compensation to COVID-19 vaccinations.
Gov. Kristi Noem asked the Legislature to fund 6% increases in state worker pay and reimbursement rates for healthcare providers. She also wants 6% more in education funding that she hopes school boards will use for teacher raises.
"This 6% increase is unprecedented, but also necessary," Noem said during her budget address. "Many of these positions in these three areas are not keeping pace with their counterparts in the private sector or other states."
But Sen. Reynold Nesiba, D-Sioux Falls, said that's not enough.
"In a world where inflation has been 7% and your employer gives you a 6% cost of living adjustment, that means you've gone backwards in terms of purchasing power by one percentage point," he told SDPB.
Nesiba said he will try to increase the raise to 8%.
He also introduced a bill to make sure state workers are paid overtime and holiday pay for the full amount of hours they work — not just the first eight hours.
Noem supports correcting this issue, which came to light after a complaint from a prison worker led to an investigation and shakeup at the Department of Corrections.
Nesiba introduced a workers' compensation bill that was already rejected.
South Dakota law says public and private-sector workers have three days to provide their employer with a written report of their workplace injury. Nesiba said that's one of the shortest deadlines in the country and wants to extend it to 30 days.
Workers' compensation claims can be rejected if the written report isn't filed on time. Hiring an attorney can help but not everyone has the financial resources for that, Nesiba said.
Nesiba said he plans to bring this issue to the Workers' Compensation Advisory Board.
Other bills relate to private sector workers with employers who require vaccinations.
Gov. Noem said she plans to bring a bill that allows workers subject to COVID-19 vaccines to apply for exemptions based on their religion, medical condition or prior infection. The first two exemptions are already protected under federal law.
Noem has already banned such mandates for state workers.
Rep. Fred Deutsch, R-Florence, introduced a bill that allows workers subject to vaccine mandates to sue their employer for "injuries or illness caused by a vaccination."
It's unclear if the bill would apply to short-term effects such as injection site pain, fatigue and fever or only to rare, long-term conditions.
