NY State Senate Bill 2011-S5708

Senate Bill S5708

2011-2012 Legislative Session

Grants employees in labor class positions rights with regards to the suspension or demotion upon abolition or reduction of certain positions

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - Stricken

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jun 13, 2011	recommit, enacting clause stricken
Jun 11, 2011	referred to rules

2011-S5708 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A8112
Law Section:: Civil Service Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§80-a & 75, Civ Serv L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2009-2010: S5548, A8330
2013-2014: S7493, A6581
2015-2016: S5796, A7940

2011-S5708 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Grants employees in labor class positions rights with regards to the suspension or demotion upon abolition or reduction of certain positions.

2011-S5708 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S5708

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the civil service law, in relation to layoff and recall rights
and disciplinary hearings for certain employees in the non-competitive
and labor class

PURPOSE:
This bill would provide disciplinary hearings for
non-competitive class employees and labor class employees after one
year of service. By doing so, it would afford section seventy-five
rights (due process protections) to such employees. This bill would
also provide layoff and recall protections for noncompetitive class
employees and labor class employees after one year of service.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
This bill would:

* Revise the current law which provides disciplinary due process
rights for non-competitive class employees other than those who hold
a position designated as confidential or perform functions
influencing policy, after five years of service, to afford such
hearing rights after one year of service.

* Revise the current law to provide disciplinary due process rights

for labor class employees after one year of service.

* Revise the current law which provides layoff protections for
non-competitive class employees other than those who hold a position
designated as confidential or perform functions influencing policy,
who work in the state service only, after five years of service, to
all jurisdictions and after one year of service.

* Revise the current law to provide layoff protections for labor class
employees after one year of service.

EXISTING LAW:
Section 1c of the current law provides hearing rights to
non-competitive class employees other than those non-competitive
employees who hold a position designated as confidential or requiring
the performance of functions influencing policy, once they have
completed five years of continuous service. There is no comparable
right for labor class employees. Section 80a of the current law
provides layoff protections to non-competitive class employees other
than those non-competitive employees who hold a position designated
as confidential or requiring the performance of functions influencing
policy, once they have completed five years of continuous service.
There is no comparable protection for labor class employees.

JUSTIFICATION:
Section 65, Paragraph 5 was added to the civil service
law in order to provide a plan to reduce the number of provisional
employees in the City of New York. The Plan included scheduling of
civil service examinations as well as "any other lawful and
appropriate means of implementation." One method of implementation


that the City is using
to reduce provisional employees is to simply reclassify competitive
class titles into non-competitive class or labor class titles. The
consequence of these reclassifications, if they meet the approval of
the New York state Civil Service Commission, is that employees, who
continue to do the same work they had done before as, competitive
class employees, will lose the rights and benefits they would accrue
as competitive civil servants. The purpose of this legislation is to
give non-competitive class and labor class employees, the same
disciplinary hearing rights as well as the same layoff and recall
rights that competitive civil servants receive.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.

2011-S5708 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  5708

                       2011-2012 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                              June 11, 2011
                               ___________

Introduced  by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- read twice and ordered printed, and
  when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules

AN ACT to amend the civil service law, in relation to layoff and  recall
  rights and disciplinary hearings for certain employees in the non-com-
  petitive and labor class

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Section 80-a of the civil service law, as added by  chapter
283  of the laws of 1972, subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 376 of the
laws of 1977, and subdivision 3 as added and subdivisions  4  and  5  as
renumbered  by  chapter  360  of the laws of 1985, is amended to read as
follows:
  S 80-a. Suspension or demotion upon  the  abolition  or  reduction  of
non-competitive  class  positions [in the state service] AND LABOR CLASS
POSITIONS. 1.   Suspension  or  demotion.  Where,  because  of  economy,
consolidation  or  abolition  of functions, curtailment of activities or
otherwise, positions in the non-competitive class [of the state service]
OR LABOR CLASS are abolished or reduced in rank or salary grade, suspen-
sion or demotion, as the case may be,  among  incumbents  having  tenure
protection pursuant to [paragraph] PARAGRAPHS (c) AND (F) of subdivision
one  of  section  seventy-five of this [chapter] ARTICLE and holding the
same or similar positions shall be made in the inverse order of original
appointment on a permanent basis in the classified service [of the state
service], subject to the provisions  of  subdivision  seven  of  section
eighty-five  of  this  chapter;  provided,  however,  that  the  date of
original appointment of any such incumbent who was  transferred  to  the
state  service  from another governmental jurisdiction upon the transfer
of functions shall be the date of original appointment  on  a  permanent
basis  in  the  classified  service  in  the service of the governmental
jurisdiction from which such transfer was  made.    Notwithstanding  the
provisions of this subdivision, however, upon the abolition or reduction

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD05695-01-1

S. 5708                             2

of  positions  in  the  non-competitive class OR LABOR CLASS, incumbents
holding the same or similar  positions  who  have  not  completed  their
probationary  service shall be suspended or demoted, as the case may be,
before  any  permanent incumbents, and among such probationary employees
the order or suspension or demotion  shall  be  determined  as  if  such
employees were permanent incumbents.
  2.  Continuous  service.  Except as otherwise provided herein, for the
purposes of this section, [in the state service] the  original  appoint-
ment  of  an incumbent shall mean the date of his first appointment on a
permanent basis in the classified service followed by continuous service
in the classified service on a permanent basis up to  the  time  of  the
abolition  or  reduction of the non-competitive class positions OR LABOR
CLASS POSITIONS.  An employee who has resigned and who  has  been  rein-
stated  or  reappointed in the service within one year thereafter shall,
for the purposes of this section, be deemed to have continuous  service.
An  employee  who  has been terminated because of a disability resulting
from occupational injury or disease as defined in the [workmen's]  WORK-
ERS'  compensation law and who has been reinstated or reappointed in the
service thereafter shall be deemed to have continuous service. A  period
of  employment  on a temporary or provisional basis, or in the unclassi-
fied service, immediately preceded and followed by permanent service  in
the  classified service, shall not constitute an interruption of contin-
uous service for the purposes of this section; nor  shall  a  period  of
leave  of  absence without pay pursuant to law or the rules of the civil
service commission having jurisdiction, or any period  during  which  an
employee  is  suspended  from  his  position  pursuant  to this section,
constitute an interruption of continuous service  for  the  purposes  of
this section.
  3. Interrupted service. [A state] AN employee who has resigned and who
has  been  reinstated  or  reappointed in the service more than one year
thereafter shall be credited with any previous [state] service  rendered
prior to his or her resignation to which he or she would have been enti-
tled  for  the  purposes  of  this  section  but  for  such resignation;
provided, however, that any time out  of  the  service  exceeding  three
years  shall be subtracted from the employee's previous [state] service.
In such instances, continuous service shall be deemed to have  begun  on
the  date which precedes the otherwise applicable date for the commence-
ment of continuous service by the period of  actual  creditable  service
provided by this subdivision.
  4. Units for suspension or demotion. The president may, by regulation,
designate  as  separate  units  for  suspension  or  demotion  under the
provisions of this section any state hospital, institution  or  facility
or  any  division  of any state department or agency or specified hospi-
tals, institutions and facilities of a single state department or agency
within a particular geographic area as determined by the president. Upon
the abolition or reduction of positions in the [state] service,  suspen-
sion or demotion, as the case may be, shall be made from among employees
holding  the  same  or  similar positions in the department wherein such
abolition or reduction occurs,  except  that  where  such  abolition  or
reduction  occurs  in  a separate unit for suspension or demotion desig-
nated by regulation of the president, suspension or  demotion  shall  be
made from among incumbents holding the same or similar positions in such
separate unit.
  5. Displacement. A permanent incumbent having tenure protection pursu-
ant  to  [paragraph] PARAGRAPHS (c) OR (F) of subdivision one of section
seventy-five of this [chapter] ARTICLE  who  served  in  a  position  in

S. 5708                             3

[state]  service  and  who was suspended or displaced from such position
pursuant to this section shall displace the  incumbent  with  the  least
retention right pursuant to subdivisions one and two of this section who
is  serving in a position in the title in which the displacing incumbent
last served on a permanent basis prior to service in one or  more  posi-
tions  in the title from which he is suspended or displaced, if: (1) the
service of the displacing incumbent  while  in  such  former  title  was
satisfactory  and (2) the position of the junior incumbent is in (a) the
non-competitive class OR LABOR CLASS, (b) the layoff unit from which the
displacing incumbent was suspended or displaced, and (c) a lower  salary
grade than the position from which the displacing incumbent is suspended
or  displaced;  provided,  however, that no incumbent shall displace any
other incumbent having greater retention standing. Refusal  of  appoint-
ment  to  a  position afforded by this subdivision constitutes waiver of
rights  under  this  subdivision  with  respect  to  the  suspension  or
displacement  on  account of which the refused appointment was afforded.
The [state civil service] commission shall promulgate rules to implement
this subdivision including rules which may provide  adjunctive  opportu-
nities  for  displacement to formerly held positions; provided, however,
that no such rule shall permit an incumbent to displace any other incum-
bent having greater retention standing.   For the purpose  of  acquiring
preferred  list rights, displacement pursuant to this subdivision is the
equivalent of suspension or demotion pursuant to subdivision one of this
section.
  S 2. Subdivision 1 of section 75 of the civil service law, as  amended
by  chapter 942 of the laws of 1970, the opening paragraph and paragraph
(d) as amended and paragraph (e) as added by chapter 842 of the laws  of
1985,  paragraph  (b)  as amended by chapter 350 of the laws of 1989 and
paragraph (c) as amended by chapter 439 of the laws of 1986, is  amended
to read as follows:
  1.  Removal and other disciplinary action. A person described in para-
graph (a) [or], paragraph (b), [or] paragraph (c), [or]  paragraph  (d),
[or]  paragraph  (e),  OR PARAGRAPH (F) of this subdivision shall not be
removed or otherwise subjected to any disciplinary penalty  provided  in
this section except for incompetency or misconduct shown after a hearing
upon stated charges pursuant to this section.
  (a)  A  person  holding  a  position  by  permanent appointment in the
competitive class of the classified civil service, or
  (b) a person holding a position by permanent appointment or employment
in the classified service of the state or in the several  cities,  coun-
ties,  towns,  or  villages  thereof, or in any other political or civil
division of the state or of a municipality,  or  in  the  public  school
service,  or in any public or special district, or in the service of any
authority, commission or  board,  or  in  any  other  branch  of  public
service,  who  was  honorably  discharged  or  released  under honorable
circumstances from the armed forces of the United States  having  served
therein  as such member in time of war as defined in section eighty-five
of this chapter, or who is an exempt volunteer firefighter as defined in
the general municipal law, except when a person described in this  para-
graph  holds the position of private secretary, cashier or deputy of any
official or department, or
  (c) an employee holding a position in the non-competitive class  other
than  a position designated in the rules of the state or municipal civil
service commission as confidential or requiring the performance of func-
tions influencing policy, who since his  last  entry  into  service  has
completed  at  least  [five years] ONE YEAR of continuous service in the

S. 5708                             4

non-competitive class in a position or positions not  so  designated  in
the  rules  as  confidential  or  requiring the performance of functions
influencing policy, or
  (d) an employee in the service of the City of New York holding a posi-
tion  as  Homemaker or Home Aide in the non-competitive class, who since
his last entry into city service has completed at least three  years  of
continuous service in such position in the non-competitive class, or
  (e) an employee in the service of a police department within the state
of  New  York  holding  the  position of detective for a period of three
continuous years or more; provided, however, that a hearing shall not be
required when reduction in rank from said position is  based  solely  on
reasons  of  the  economy,  consolidation  or  abolition  of  functions,
curtailment of activities or otherwise, OR
  (F) AN EMPLOYEE  HOLDING  A  POSITION  IN  THE  LABOR  CLASS  WHO  HAS
COMPLETED ONE YEAR OF SERVICE IN A LABOR CLASS POSITION.
  S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

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