Relates to the negotiability of disciplinary procedures affecting police officers; provides that "terms and conditions of employment" shall include for all employees who are police officers under law, alternatives to any statutory or regulatory disciplinary provisions relating to the adjudication and disposition of disciplinary charges; makes related provisions.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10371--A
IN ASSEMBLY
April 18, 2018
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Employees -- committee discharged, bill amended,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the civil service law, in relation to the negotiability
of disciplinary procedures affecting police officers
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative findings and declarations. The legislature
2 hereby finds, declares and reaffirms that the 1967 public employees'
3 fair employment act establishes that the public policy of the state, and
4 the purpose of such act, is to promote harmonious and cooperative
5 relationships between government and its employees and to protect the
6 public by assuring, at all times, the orderly and uninterrupted opera-
7 tion and functions of government. Included among the policies adopted in
8 1967, and continuing to date, is the requirement that public employers
9 negotiate and enter into agreements with employee organizations about
10 terms and conditions of employment. Over the many years since the public
11 employees' fair employment act became the law and the declared public
12 policy of this state, matters pertaining to employee discipline, includ-
13 ing disciplinary procedures, have been negotiated into many collective
14 bargaining agreements covering all types of public employees, including
15 police officers. The legislature now declares that this practice of
16 allowing and requiring the negotiation of fair disciplinary protections
17 and procedures for all public employees must continue. Despite the
18 clarity of this state's policy and law requiring negotiations about
19 terms and conditions of employment, a few court decisions have erro-
20 neously held that the law and "public policy" of the state is to prohib-
21 it absolutely the negotiation of disciplinary procedures for police
22 officers whenever there exists laws on the subject of police officer
23 discipline that were enacted before 1958 when section 75 of the civil
24 service law was enacted. The legislature declares a necessity for the
25 enactment of this act to ensure that disciplinary procedures will
26 continue as a mandatory subject of collective negotiations for police
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15390-03-8
A. 10371--A 2
1 officers to enhance the prohibition against strikes and to protect the
2 delivery of vital public services.
3 § 2. Subdivision 4 of section 201 of the civil service law, as amended
4 by chapter 606 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows:
5 4. (a) The term "terms and conditions of employment" means salaries,
6 wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment provided,
7 however, that such term shall not include any benefits provided by or to
8 be provided by a public retirement system, or payments to a fund or
9 insurer to provide an income for retirees, or payment to retirees or
10 their beneficiaries. No such retirement benefits shall be negotiated
11 pursuant to this article, and any benefits so negotiated shall be void.
12 (b) (i) Notwithstanding any other general or special law, rule or
13 regulation to the contrary, "terms and conditions of employment" shall
14 include for all employees who are police officers under law alternatives
15 to any statutory or regulatory disciplinary provisions relating to the
16 adjudication and disposition of disciplinary charges except those charg-
17 es alleging a police officer has used unlawful, unauthorized or exces-
18 sive force in the course of employment.
19 (ii) Nothing in this subdivision shall impair the right of a public
20 employee under any state law to elect coverage under either a statutory
21 disciplinary system or an alternative disciplinary system established by
22 collective negotiations, unless any such state law requires or author-
23 izes exclusivity of a negotiated disciplinary system.
24 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
