Provides additional compensation to certain city employees who possess or make substantial use of foreign languages in the performance of official duties; further creates the "language services program" and a language services director to implement the program.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1374
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 9, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. SERRANO, RIVERA -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to providing
additional compensation to certain employees
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new
2 section 209-ii to read as follows:
3 § 209-ii. Salary compensation for employees of a police department
4 with certain language skills. 1. A city with a population of one hundred
5 thousand or more is authorized to adopt a local law to create a program
6 to be known as the "Language Services Program", which program shall
7 provide for additional compensation in an amount of not less than five
8 percent of the base salary of any employee of a police department who
9 qualifies for such additional compensation under this section.
10 2. The commissioner, superintendent or chief of police, where applica-
11 ble, of a police department in a city with a population of one hundred
12 thousand or more which has adopted a local law to create a language
13 services program as described in subdivision one of this section shall
14 designate a language services program director. The duties of such
15 program director shall include, but not be limited to:
16 (a) determining qualifications for the language services program,
17 which qualifications shall include satisfying the requirements of a
18 public contact person as set forth in subdivision three of this section;
19 (b) creating an application process for additional language skills
20 compensation;
21 (c) defining which foreign languages shall qualify under this program;
22 (d) setting language skills and proficiency standards which applicants
23 must demonstrate to qualify;
24 (e) maintaining a record of public contact positions;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02303-01-5
S. 1374 2
1 (f) keeping a record of all employees who have qualified to receive
2 language skills pay;
3 (g) informing employees who are members of the police department of
4 the program; and
5 (h) distributing to all employees of the police department information
6 regarding the application procedures for such program.
7 The program director shall identify those positions within the police
8 department that are to be designated as public contact positions. The
9 decision of the program director as to the classification of such a
10 position is final.
11 3. A public contact person shall be defined as a sworn or civilian
12 position with the police department wherein thirty percent or more of
13 the assigned work of such person involves direct communication with the
14 public. Such positions shall include, but not be limited to, patrol
15 officers, police communication dispatchers, investigators, detectives,
16 and other such positions as determined by the program director.
17 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of October next succeed-
18 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
