NY State Senate Bill 2021-S4852

Senate Bill S4852

2021-2022 Legislative Session

Relates to compensation paid to persons employed in positions requiring foreign language skills

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Civil Service And Pensions Committee

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
Jan 05, 2022	referred to civil service and pensions
Feb 16, 2021	referred to civil service and pensions

2021-S4852 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Civil Service And Pensions
Law Section:: Civil Service Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §130, Civ Serv L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:: S6888

2021-S4852 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to compensation paid to persons employed in positions requiring foreign language skills; establishes career ladders for persons holding such positions; establishes supervisory positions for persons required to have foreign language skills.

2021-S4852 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S4852

SPONSOR: REICHLIN-MELNICK
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the civil service law, in relation to the compensation
paid to persons employed in positions requiring foreign language skills
and directing the department of civil service to conduct a study on
certain job titles that require proficiency in a language other than
English

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this bill is to provide appropriate compensation to indi-
viduals employed in positions requiring the use of specialized skills
including proficiency in a language other than English.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill would authorize the Director of Classification and
Compensation to establish a pay differential, subject to approval from

the Director of Budget, for job titles that require specialized skill,
ability, training, or knowledge including proficiency in a language
other than English.

Section 2 would instruct the director to conduct a study evaluating job
titles that require proficiency in a language other than English.

Section .3 would require each public employer to provide all requested
information and assistance to the department of civil service for the
completion of the study.

Section 4 would require the department of Civil Service to submit a
report of its findings to the speaker of the assembly, the minority
leader of the assembly, the temporary president of the senate, the
minority leader of the senate, and the governors office of employee
relations no later than one year of the effective date.

Section 5 sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

One of the most discriminatory hiring practices employed by the New York
State Civil Service System falls under the title of language parenthe-
ticals. These employees need to poses multiple language skills, are not
compensated for them, have no opportunity for promotions, are locked
into low paying titles and their supervisors are unqualified to super-
vise them. This legislation will bring all of the above to an end by
creating a language parenthetical supervisory title and requiring a pay
differential for multi-language skills of current workers. For decades,
the work of these multilingual civil servants has allowed New York State
government to conduct is constitutional duties, yet all these employees
have been discriminated against by a system that does not compensate
them for their extra job skills or their years of experience.

Fearing the loss of such valuable workers, promotional opportunities to
other civil service job titles are rarely allowed and the situation is
compounded when considering the fact that there are no supervisory
parenthetical job titles available for employees to aspire. In addition,
their present supervisors are not multilingual and therefore they are
unable to supervise the quality of their employees' work. This adds
insult to injury to employees that find their work product is needed but
no respect or proper compensation or their skills.

This legislation will address this terrible situation. The reporting
mechanism will allow the legislature to monitor the legislative intent
of this proposed law to enact substantial and ongoing oversight of DCS
actions with regard to these employees can be gained.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

No prior history in the Senate.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None noted.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2021-S4852 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4852
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 16, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. REICHLIN-MELNICK -- read twice and ordered printed,
   and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and
   Pensions
 
 AN ACT to amend the civil service law, in relation to  the  compensation
   paid  to  persons  employed  in  positions  requiring foreign language
   skills and directing the department of  civil  service  to  conduct  a
   study  on  certain  job  titles that require proficiency in a language
   other than English
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Section 130 of the civil service law is amended by adding a
 new subdivision 15 to read as follows:
   15.  THE DIRECTOR OF CLASSIFICATION AND COMPENSATION SHALL, SUBJECT TO
 THE APPROVAL OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE BUDGET, ESTABLISH A PAY DIFFERENTIAL
 FOR TITLES THAT REQUIRE SPECIALIZED SKILL, ABILITY, TRAINING,  OR  KNOW-
 LEDGE  INCLUDING,  BUT  NOT  LIMITED TO, PROFICIENCY IN A LANGUAGE OTHER
 THAN ENGLISH.
   § 2. The department of civil service is hereby directed to  conduct  a
 study  and  publish  a  report  on civil service job titles that require
 proficiency in a language other than English. The study and report shall
 include, but not be limited to:
   1. a list of employees in job titles that  require  proficiency  in  a
 language other than English and the number of employees in each title;
   2.  the jurisdictional classification and appointment type of such job
 titles;
   3. the salary grades and allocations of such job titles;
   4. a determination of whether the current salary allocations for  each
 job title adequately reflect the title's responsibilities and duties;
   5.  whether any changes should be made to the current job descriptions
 of such job titles to reflect more accurately the actual duties of  such
 titles;
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD00098-01-1

 S. 4852                             2
 
   6.  the  gender  and race/ethnicity identification of the employees in
 such job titles;
   7.  a  list of state offices and/or departments with employees in such
 job titles and the location of such job titles;
   8. the number of times that examinations are held for  appointment  or
 promotion  into titles that require proficiency in a language other than
 English in the past five years;
   9. the number of individuals that have taken examinations for appoint-
 ment or promotion into titles that require  proficiency  in  a  language
 other than English in the past five years;
   10. the number of times that existing employees in titles that require
 proficiency in a language other than English advanced to a different job
 title within the past five years; and
   11. a determination of whether there should be a career ladder for job
 titles that require proficiency in a language other than English.
   §  3.  Every  public employer as defined in this section shall provide
 all requested assistance and information  to  the  department  of  civil
 service  in  conducting  the study required by this act. It shall be the
 duty of each officer of the public employer to comply with  and  aid  in
 all  proper  ways  in carrying into effect the provisions of this study.
 For the purposes of this act, the  term  "public  employer"  shall  mean
 those  employers with offices and positions in the classified service of
 the state and its civil divisions  and  the  term  "classified  service"
 shall have the same meaning as in section 40 of the civil service law.
   §  4.  The  department  of  civil  service shall submit such published
 report pursuant to section two of this act to the speaker of the  assem-
 bly, the minority leader of the assembly, the temporary president of the
 senate,  the minority leader of the senate, and the governor's office of
 employee relations no later than one year after the  effective  date  of
 this act.
   § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.

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