Relates to employment, by municipalities, of persons with disabilities; allows persons with disabilities who have held a position in the non-competitive class to be treated as holding a position in the competitive class in certain situations.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9367
SPONSOR: Abbate TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the civil service law, in relation to
employment of persons with disabilities by municipalities
PURPOSE:
To require municipalities to treat employees appointed under the Civil
Service Law § 55-a as if they were employees in the competitive class
for lay-off purposes and to provide the appointees with seniority,
accruing from the date of appointment.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of this act amends section 55-a of the civil service law by
adding a new subdivision 5: Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
a municipal commission shall, for titles designated by it, treat employ-
ees who are holding or who have held a position in the non-competitive
class of such services pursuant to the provisions of this section, as if
they were employees in the competitive class where, because of economy,
consolidation or abolition of functions, curtailment of activities or
otherwise, a number of such positions in either the non-competitive or
competitive classes are abolished or reduced in rank or salary grade,
suspension or demotion, as further provided in title c of article five
of this chapter. For purposes of seniority, the date an employee is
appointed pursuant to this section, shall be deemed equivalent to the
date a competitive employee is appointed from an eligible list.
Section 2 provides for an immediate effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Section 55-a of the New York Civil Service Law allows qualified persons
with disabilities to be appointed to competitive civil service positions
without having to take an examination. This 55-a program was enacted to
encourage public employers to hire qualified persons with disabilities
to agency positions.
Unfortunately, while the 55-a program provides the opportunity to work
in a position that would normally be reserved for the competitive class,
the current law does not provide the same protections to these appoint-
ees. The 55-a appointees are considered non-competitive class employees.
During a recent reduction in service, the Civil Service Law § 55-a
employees were ranked for lay-off with the noncompetitive class, despite
years of successful work in a competitive class title with competitive
class peers. In some cases, 55-a employees with more seniority than
their competitive class peers were laid-off.
This bill would grant future 55-a appointees with seniority and compet-
itive class protections whenever there is a need for a reduction in
service.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
