Relates to improper employer practices relating to the continuation of pay, vacation and health care benefits; relates to eligible employees for retirement plans; and relates to compensation items in disputed agreements.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5413
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 12, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. FITZPATRICK, TAGUE -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of
A. MANKTELOW -- read once and referred to the Committee on Govern-
mental Employees
AN ACT to amend the civil service law, in relation to improper employer
practices relating to the continuation of pay, vacation and health
care benefits; to amend the education law, in relation to eligible
employees for retirement plans; and to amend the civil service law, in
relation to disputed agreements
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 1 of section 209-a of the
2 civil service law, as amended by chapter 244 of the laws of 2007, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 (e) to refuse to continue [all the] terms of an expired agreement that
5 relate to leaves of absence, active employees health insurance, holi-
6 days, salaries excluding step increases, and all other mandatory
7 subjects of a bargaining agreement as defined by the public employment
8 relations board case law prior to its conversion doctrine until a new
9 agreement is negotiated, unless the employee organization which is a
10 party to such agreement has, during such negotiations or prior to such
11 resolution of such negotiations, engaged in conduct violative of subdi-
12 vision one of section two hundred ten of this article;
13 § 2. Subdivision 3-a of section 390 of the education law, as added by
14 chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows:
15 3-a. (a) Beginning July first, two thousand thirteen, the term "eligi-
16 ble employees" shall also mean any person excluded from or not encom-
17 passed within a negotiating unit within the meaning of article fourteen
18 of the civil service law who would otherwise be entitled to receive a
19 benefit under the retirement and social security law or the education
20 law initially hired on or after July first, two thousand thirteen with
21 estimated annual wages of seventy-five thousand per annum or greater.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06010-02-9
A. 5413 2
1 Such estimate of annual wages to determine eligibility for the purposes
2 of this subdivision shall be provided by the employer. For the purposes
3 of this subdivision, a newly hired state employee whose immediate
4 preceding employment was with another department, division, or agency of
5 the state shall not be deemed to be an eligible employee.
6 (b) Beginning January first, two thousand twenty, the term "eligible
7 employees" shall also mean any person who would otherwise be entitled to
8 receive a benefit under the retirement and social security law or the
9 education law initially hired on or after January first, two thousand
10 twenty who would otherwise be eligible for membership in the New York
11 state and local employees' retirement system or the New York state
12 teachers' retirement system. For the purpose of this paragraph, a newly
13 hired state employee whose prior employment, immediately preceding such
14 state employment, was with another department, division, or agency of
15 the state shall not be deemed to be an eligible employee.
16 § 3. Section 209 of the civil service law is amended by adding a new
17 subdivision 7 to read as follows:
18 7. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, for
19 any dispute that is subject to the provisions of this section, the
20 determination of the public arbitration panel on a disputed agreement
21 shall not contain an increase in all compensation items subject to nego-
22 tiation which is greater than two percent more than all compensation
23 items subject to negotiation received by the employee organization in
24 the agreement between the public employer and the employee organization
25 immediately preceding the agreement being arbitrated.
26 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. Effective immediately,
27 the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces-
28 sary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are
29 authorized and directed to be made and completed on or before such
30 effective date.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would amend Section 390 of the Education Law to expand the
definition of the term "eligible employees" as it applies to eligibility
to join the State University of New York Optional Retirement Program
(ORP). The definition would now include any person initially hired on or
after January 1, 2020 and who would otherwise be eligible for membership
in the New York State Teachers' Retirement System (NYSTRS) or the New
York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS). Currently only new
employees with an annual salary of $75,000 or more and who are not
represented by a collective bargaining unit are given the choice between
joining a public retirement system (NYSTRS, NYSLRS) or the ORP. Newly
hired employees of participating employers of NYSTRS whose immediately
preceding employment was with another department, division or agency of
the State of New York would not be deemed an eligible employee.
It is not possible to determine the total annual cost to the employers
of members of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System since the
number of newly hired employees who would choose to participate in the
ORP each year cannot be estimated. The number of new entrants to the
System could potentially decline each year if some newly hired employees
opt to participate in the ORP. The System's outstanding liability under
the defined benefit plan is funded over the average future remaining
working lifetime of its members. Thus if the System experiences a large
decline in the number of new entrants each year, this funding period
would decrease resulting in potentially increasing costs to employers.
It is strongly recommended that a full actuarial analysis and report be
completed to fully and more quantitatively gauge all the potential costs
A. 5413 3
and implications before a structural change of this magnitude is under-
taken.
Member data is from the System's most recent actuarial valuation
files, consisting of data provided by the employers to the Retirement
System. Data distributions and statistics can be found in the System's
Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). System assets are as
reported in the System's financial statements, and can also be found in
the CAFR. Actuarial assumptions and methods are provided in the System's
Actuarial Valuation Report.
The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2019-12 dated January 24,
2019 prepared by the Actuary of the New York State Teachers' Retirement
System and is intended for use only during the 2019 Legislative Session.
I, Richard A. Young, am the Actuary for the New York State Teachers'
Retirement System. I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries
and I meet the Qualification Standards of the American Academy of Actu-
aries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
