Provides all veterans with the opportunity to score additional points on civil service exams and provides that military service be weighted in the veteran's favor when applying for a non-classified civil service position.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10462
IN ASSEMBLY
May 27, 2016
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SKARTADOS -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the civil service law, in relation to providing all
veterans with the opportunity to score additional points on civil
service exams and providing that military service be weighed in the
veteran's favor when applying for a non-classified civil service posi-
tion
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The civil service law is amended by adding a new section 89
2 to read as follows:
3 § 89. Additional credit allowed veterans for non-classified civil
4 service positions; preference in retention upon abolition of positions.
5 1. Definitions. As used in this section:
6 (a) "veteran" means a member of the armed forces of the United States,
7 who was honorably discharged or released under honorable circumstances
8 from such service, who is a citizen of the United States or an alien
9 lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States and who
10 is a resident of the state of New York at the time of application for
11 appointment or promotion or at the time of retention, as the case may
12 be; and
13 (b) "military service" means service as an officer or enlisted person
14 in the armed forces of the United States in time of armed conflict or
15 peace.
16 2. A veteran's military service shall be formally considered and
17 weighted in the hiring process for non-classified civil service posi-
18 tions.
19 3. (a) Except as herein otherwise provided, no person who has received
20 a permanent original appointment or a permanent promotion in a non-clas-
21 sified or classified position in the civil service of the state or of
22 any city or civil division thereof from an eligible list on which he or
23 she was allowed the additional credit granted by this article, as a
24 veteran, shall thereafter be entitled to any additional consideration
25 under this section as a veteran.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15495-01-6
A. 10462 2
1 (b) Where a veteran or disabled veteran has been originally appointed
2 or promoted to a non-classified position or a classified position from
3 an eligible list on which he or she was allowed additional credit, but
4 such appointment or promotion is thereafter terminated either at the end
5 of the probationary term or by resignation at or before the end of the
6 probationary term, he or she shall not be deemed to have been appointed
7 or promoted, as the case may be, and such appointment or promotion shall
8 not affect his eligibility for additional consideration or credit in
9 other examinations.
10 4. The state civil service department and each municipal commission
11 shall establish and maintain in its office a roster of all veterans
12 appointed or promoted as a result of additional consideration granted by
13 this section to positions under its jurisdiction. The appointment or
14 promotion of a veteran as a result of additional consideration shall be
15 void if such veteran, prior to such appointment or promotion, had been
16 appointed or promoted as a result of additional consideration granted by
17 this section or credit granted by this article.
18 5. In the event of the abolition or elimination of any non-classified
19 position in the civil service, any suspension, demotion or displacement
20 shall be made in the inverse order of the date of original appointment
21 in the service subject to the following conditions: (1) blind employees
22 shall be granted absolute preference in retention; (2) the date of such
23 original appointment for veterans shall be deemed to be thirty months
24 earlier than the actual date, determined in accordance with section
25 thirty of the general construction law; (3) no permanent competitive
26 class employee subject to the jurisdiction of the civil service commis-
27 sion of the city of New York who receives an injury in the line of duty,
28 as defined in this paragraph, which requires immediate hospitalization,
29 and which is not compensable through workmen's compensation may be
30 suspended, demoted or displaced pursuant to section eighty of this chap-
31 ter within three months of the date of his or her confinement, provided
32 that medical authorities approved by such commission shall certify that
33 the employee is not able to perform the duties of his or her position;
34 provided further, that such three-month period may be extended by such
35 commission for additional periods not to exceed one year each upon the
36 certification of medical authorities selected by such commission that
37 the employee is, as a result of his or her injury, still not able to
38 perform the duties of his or her position. An injury in the line of
39 duty, as used herein, shall be construed to mean an injury which is
40 incurred as a direct result of the lawful performance of the duties of
41 the position. In determining whether an injury was received in the line
42 of duty, such commission shall require the head of the agency by which
43 the employee is employed to certify that the injury was received as a
44 direct result of the lawful performance of the employee's duties; and
45 (4) the spouse of a veteran with one hundred percent service connected
46 disability shall be deemed to be sixty months earlier than the actual
47 date, determined in accordance with section thirty of the general
48 construction law, provided, the spouse is domiciled with the veteran-
49 spouse and is the head of the household. This section shall not be
50 construed as conferring any additional benefit upon such employee other
51 than a preference in retention. Such employee shall be subject to trans-
52 fer upon the abolition of his or her function within his or her agency
53 or department. For the purpose of this subdivision, the terms "date of
54 original appointment" and "date of original appointment in the service"
55 shall mean, for persons subject to subdivisions one-a and one-c of
56 section eighty of this chapter, the date of original appointment on a
A. 10462 3
1 permanent basis in the grade or title in the service of the governmental
2 jurisdiction in which such abolition or deduction occurs.
3 6. Penalty for denial of preference in retention. A refusal to allow
4 the preference in retention provided for in this section to any veteran,
5 or a reduction of his or her compensation intended to bring about his or
6 her resignation shall be deemed a misdemeanor, and any such veteran
7 shall have a right of action therefor in any court of competent juris-
8 diction for damages and for righting the wrong.
9 § 2. Section 85 of the civil service law, as added by chapter 790 of
10 the laws of 1958, paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 as amended by chapter
11 333 of the laws of 1993, paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 as amended by
12 chapter 661 of the laws of 1983, subparagraph 2 of paragraph (b) of
13 subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 616 of the law of 1995, subparagraph
14 3 of paragraph (b) and paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 as amended by
15 chapter 467 of the laws of 1991, subparagraph 4 of paragraph (c) of
16 subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 179 of the laws of 2006, paragraph
17 (c) of subdivision 4 as amended by chapter 15 of the laws of 1971,
18 subdivision 7 as amended by chapter 532 of the laws of 1976 and subdivi-
19 sion 7-a as amended by chapter 334 of the laws of 1994, is amended to
20 read as follows:
21 § 85. Additional credit allowed veterans in competitive examinations;
22 preference in retention upon abolition of positions. 1. Definitions. (a)
23 The [terms] term "veteran" [and "non-disabled veteran" mean] means a
24 member of the armed forces of the United States who served therein in
25 time of war or peace, who was honorably discharged or released under
26 honorable circumstances from such service, who is a citizen of the
27 United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in
28 the United States and who is a resident of the state of New York at the
29 time of application for appointment or promotion or at the time of
30 retention, as the case may be.
31 [(b) The term "disabled veteran" means a veteran who is certified by
32 the United States veterans' administration or a military department as
33 entitled to receive disability payments upon the certification of such
34 veterans' administration or a military department for a disability
35 incurred by him in time of war and in existence at the time of applica-
36 tion for appointment or promotion or at the time of retention, as the
37 case may be. Such disability shall be deemed to be in existence at the
38 time of application for appointment or promotion or at the time of
39 retention, as the case may be, if the certificate of such veterans'
40 administration shall state affirmatively that such veteran has been
41 examined by a medical officer of such veterans' administration on a date
42 within one year of either the date of filing application for competitive
43 examination for original appointment or promotion or the date of the
44 establishment of the resulting eligible list or within one year of the
45 time of retention, as the case may be; that at the time of such examina-
46 tion the war-incurred disability described in such certificate was found
47 to exist; and that such disability is rated at ten per centum or more.
48 Such disability shall also be deemed to be in existence at such time if
49 the certificate of such veterans' administration shall state affirma-
50 tively that a permanent stabilized condition of disability exists to an
51 extent of ten per centum or more, notwithstanding the fact that such
52 veteran has not been examined by a medical officer of such veterans'
53 administration within one year of either the time of application for
54 appointment or promotion or the date of filing application for compet-
55 itive examination for original appointment or promotion, or within one
A. 10462 4
1 year of the time of retention, as the case may be. The term "disabled
2 veteran" shall also mean:
3 (1) A veteran who served in world war I, who continued to serve in the
4 armed forces of the United States after the eleventh day of November,
5 nineteen hundred eighteen, and who is certified, as hereinbefore
6 provided, by the United States veterans' administration as receiving
7 disability payments upon the certification of such veterans' adminis-
8 tration for a disability incurred by him in such service on or before
9 the second day of July, nineteen hundred twenty-one.
10 (2) A veteran who served in world war II, who continued to serve in
11 the armed forces of the United States after the second day of September,
12 nineteen hundred forty-five, or who was employed by the War Shipping
13 Administration or Office of Defense Transportation or their agents as a
14 merchant seaman documented by the United States Coast Guard or Depart-
15 ment of Commerce, or as a civil servant employed by the United States
16 Army Transport Service (later redesignated as the United States Army
17 Transportation Corps, Water Division) or the Naval Transportation
18 Service; and who served satisfactorily as a crew member during the peri-
19 od of armed conflict, December seventh, nineteen hundred forty-one, to
20 August fifteenth, nineteen hundred forty-five, aboard merchant vessels
21 in oceangoing, i.e., foreign, intercoastal, or coastwise service as such
22 terms are defined under federal law (46 USCA 10301 & 10501) and further
23 to include "near foreign" voyages between the United States and Canada,
24 Mexico, or the West Indies via ocean routes, or public vessels in ocean-
25 going service or foreign waters and who has received a Certificate of
26 Release or Discharge from Active Duty and a discharge certificate, or an
27 Honorable Service Certificate/Report of Casualty, from the Department of
28 Defense, or who served as a United States civilian employed by the Amer-
29 ican Field Service and served overseas under United States Armies and
30 United States Army Groups in world war II during the period of armed
31 conflict, December seventh, nineteen hundred forty-one through May
32 eighth, nineteen hundred forty-five, and who was discharged or released
33 therefrom under honorable conditions, or who served as a United States
34 civilian Flight Crew and Aviation Ground Support Employee of Pan Ameri-
35 can World Airways or one of its subsidiaries or its affiliates and
36 served overseas as a result of Pan American's contract with Air Trans-
37 port Command or Naval Air Transport Service during the period of armed
38 conflict, December fourteenth, nineteen hundred forty-one through August
39 fourteenth, nineteen hundred forty-five, and who was discharged or
40 released therefrom under honorable conditions, and who is certified, as
41 hereinbefore provided, by the United States veterans' administration as
42 receiving disability payments upon the certification of such veterans'
43 administration for a disability incurred by him in such service on or
44 before the date that world war II is declared terminated.
45 (3) A veteran who served during hostilities participated in by the
46 military forces of the United States subsequent to June twenty-seventh,
47 nineteen hundred fifty, and who continued to serve in the armed forces
48 of the United States after the thirty-first day of January, nineteen
49 hundred fifty-five, and who is certified, as hereinbefore provided, by
50 the United States veterans' administration as receiving disability
51 payments upon the certification of such veterans' administration for a
52 disability incurred by him in such service.
53 (c) The term "time of war" shall include the following wars and
54 hostilities for the periods and based upon the evidence herein set
55 forth:
A. 10462 5
1 (1) World war I, from the sixth day of April, nineteen hundred seven-
2 teen, to and including the eleventh day of November, nineteen hundred
3 eighteen.
4 (2) World war II, from the seventh day of December, nineteen hundred
5 forty-one, to and including the thirty-first day of December, nineteen
6 hundred forty-six.
7 (3) Hostilities participated in by the military forces of the United
8 States, from the twenty-seventh day of June, nineteen hundred fifty, to
9 and including the thirty-first day of January, nineteen hundred fifty-
10 five.
11 (4) Hostilities participated in by the military forces of the United
12 States, from the twenty-eighth day of February, nineteen hundred sixty-
13 one to the seventh day of May, nineteen hundred seventy-five.
14 (5) Hostilities participated in by the military forces of the United
15 States in Lebanon, from the first day of June, nineteen hundred eighty-
16 three to the first day of December, nineteen hundred eighty-seven, as
17 established by receipt of the armed forces expeditionary medal, the navy
18 expeditionary medal, or the marine corps expeditionary medal.
19 (6) Hostilities participated in by the military forces of the United
20 States in Grenada, from the twenty-third day of October, nineteen
21 hundred eighty-three to the twenty-first day of November, nineteen
22 hundred eighty-three, as established by receipt of the armed forces
23 expeditionary medal, the navy expeditionary medal, or the marine corps
24 expeditionary medal.
25 (7) Hostilities participated in by the military forces of the United
26 States in Panama, from the twentieth day of December, nineteen hundred
27 eighty-nine to the thirty-first day of January, nineteen hundred ninety,
28 as established by receipt of the armed forces expeditionary medal, the
29 navy expeditionary medal, or the marine corps expeditionary medal.
30 (8) Hostilities participated in by the military forces of the United
31 States in the Persian Gulf, from the second day of August, nineteen
32 hundred ninety to the end of such hostilities.
33 (d)] (b) The term "time of application for original appointment or
34 promotion" shall mean the date of the establishment of an eligible list
35 resulting from a competitive examination for original appointment or
36 promotion, as the case may be, which date shall be the date on which the
37 term of such eligible list commences.
38 [(e)] (c) The term "time of retention" shall mean the time of aboli-
39 tion or elimination of positions.
40 2. Additional credits in competitive examinations for original
41 appointment or promotion.
42 (a) On all eligible lists resulting from competitive examinations, the
43 names of eligibles shall be entered in the order of their respective
44 final earned ratings on examination, with the name of the eligible with
45 the highest final earned rating at the head of such list, provided,
46 however, that for the purpose of determining final earned ratings, [(1)
47 Disabled] veterans shall be entitled to receive ten points additional in
48 a competitive examination for original appointment and five points addi-
49 tional credit in a competitive examination for promotion[, and
50 (2) Non-disabled veterans shall be entitled to receive five points
51 additional credit in a competitive examination for original appointment
52 and two and one-half points additional credit in a competitive examina-
53 tion for promotion].
54 (b) Such additional credit shall be added to the final earned rating
55 of such [disabled veteran or non-disabled] veteran, [as the case may
56 be,] after he or she has qualified in the competitive examination and
A. 10462 6
1 shall be granted only at the time of establishment of the resulting
2 eligible list.
3 3. Application for additional credit; proof of eligibility; establish-
4 ment of eligible list. Any candidate, believing himself or herself enti-
5 tled to additional credit in a competitive examination as provided here-
6 in, may make application for such additional credit at any time between
7 the date of his or her application for examination and the date of the
8 establishment of the resulting eligible list. Such candidates shall be
9 allowed a period of not less than two months from the date of the filing
10 of his or her application for examination in which to establish by
11 appropriate documentary proof his or her eligibility to receive addi-
12 tional credit under this section. At any time after two months have
13 elapsed since the final date for filing applications for a competitive
14 examination for original appointment or promotion, the eligible list
15 resulting from such examination may be established, notwithstanding the
16 fact that a veteran [or disabled veteran] who has applied for additional
17 credit has failed to establish his or her eligibility to receive such
18 additional credit. A candidate who fails to establish, by appropriate
19 documentary proof, his or her eligibility to receive additional credit
20 by the time an eligible list is established shall not thereafter be
21 granted additional credit on such eligible list.
22 4. Use of additional credit. (a) Except as herein otherwise provided,
23 no person who has received a permanent original appointment or a perma-
24 nent promotion in the civil service of the state or of any city or civil
25 division thereof from an eligible list on which he or she was allowed
26 the additional credit granted by this section, [either] as a veteran [or
27 disabled veteran], shall thereafter be entitled to any additional credit
28 under this section either as a veteran [or a disabled veteran].
29 (b) Where, at the time of establishment of an eligible list, the posi-
30 tion of a veteran [or disabled veteran] on such list has not been
31 affected by the addition of credits granted under this section, the
32 appointment or promotion of such veteran [or disabled veteran, as the
33 case may be,] from such eligible list shall not be deemed to have been
34 made from an eligible list on which he or she was allowed the additional
35 credit granted by this section.
36 (c) If, at the time of appointment from an eligible list, a veteran
37 [or disabled veteran] is in the same relative standing among the eligi-
38 bles who are willing to accept appointment as if he or she had not been
39 granted the additional credits provided by this section, his or her
40 appointment from among such eligibles shall not be deemed to have been
41 made from an eligible list on which he or she was allowed such addi-
42 tional credits.
43 (d) Where a veteran [or disabled veteran] has been originally
44 appointed or promoted from an eligible list on which he or she was
45 allowed additional credit, but such appointment or promotion is there-
46 after terminated either at the end of the probationary term or by resig-
47 nation at or before the end of the probationary term, he or she shall
48 not be deemed to have been appointed or promoted, as the case may be,
49 from an eligible list on which he or she was allowed additional credit,
50 and such appointment or promotion shall not affect his or her eligibil-
51 ity for additional credit in other examinations.
52 5. Withdrawal of application; election to relinquish additional cred-
53 it. An application for additional credit in a competitive examination
54 under this section may be withdrawn by the applicant at any time prior
55 to the establishment of the resulting eligible list. At any time during
56 the term of existence of an eligible list resulting from a competitive
A. 10462 7
1 examination in which a veteran [or disabled veteran] has received the
2 additional credit granted by this section, such veteran [or disabled
3 veteran] may elect, prior to permanent original appointment or permanent
4 promotion, to relinquish the additional credit theretofore granted to
5 him or her and accept the lower position on such eligible list to which
6 he or she would otherwise have been entitled; provided, however, that
7 such election shall thereafter be irrevocable. Such election shall be in
8 writing and signed by the veteran [or disabled veteran], and transmitted
9 to the state civil service department or the appropriate municipal civil
10 service commission.
11 6. Roster. The state civil service department and each municipal
12 commission shall establish and maintain in its office a roster of all
13 veterans [and disabled veterans] appointed or promoted as a result of
14 additional credits granted by this section to positions under its juris-
15 diction. The appointment or promotion of a veteran [or disabled veteran]
16 as a result of additional credits shall be void if such veteran [or
17 disabled veteran], prior to such appointment or promotion, had been
18 appointed or promoted as a result of additional credits granted by this
19 section.
20 7. Preference in retention upon the abolition of positions. In the
21 event of the abolition or elimination of any position in the civil
22 service for which eligible lists are established or any position the
23 incumbent of which is encompassed by section eighty-a of this chapter,
24 any suspension, demotion or displacement shall be made in the inverse
25 order of the date of original appointment in the service subject to the
26 following conditions: (1) blind employees shall be granted absolute
27 preference in retention; (2) [the date of such original appointment for
28 disabled veterans shall be deemed to be sixty months earlier than the
29 actual date, determined in accordance with section thirty of the general
30 construction law; (3)] the date of such original appointment for [non-
31 disabled] veterans shall be deemed to be thirty months earlier than the
32 actual date, determined in accordance with section thirty of the general
33 construction law; [(4)] (3) no permanent competitive class employee
34 subject to the jurisdiction of the civil service commission of the city
35 of New York who receives an injury in the line of duty, as defined in
36 this paragraph, which requires immediate hospitalization, and which is
37 not compensable through workmen's compensation may be suspended, demoted
38 or displaced pursuant to section eighty of this chapter within three
39 months of the date of his or her confinement, provided that medical
40 authorities approved by such commission shall certify that the employee
41 is not able to perform the duties of his or her position; provided
42 further, that such three-month period may be extended by such commission
43 for additional periods not to exceed one year each upon the certif-
44 ication of medical authorities selected by such commission that the
45 employee is, as a result of his or her injury, still not able to perform
46 the duties of his or her position. An injury in the line of duty, as
47 used herein, shall be construed to mean an injury which is incurred as a
48 direct result of the lawful performance of the duties of the position.
49 In determining whether an injury was received in the line of duty, such
50 commission shall require the head of the agency by which the employee is
51 employed to certify that the injury was received as a direct result of
52 the lawful performance of the employee's duties; and [(5)] (4) the
53 spouse of a veteran with one hundred percent service connected disabili-
54 ty shall be deemed to be sixty months earlier than the actual date,
55 determined in accordance with section thirty of the general construction
56 law, provided, the spouse is domiciled with the veteran-spouse and is
A. 10462 8
1 the head of the household. This section shall not be construed as
2 conferring any additional benefit upon such employee other than a pref-
3 erence in retention. Such employee shall be subject to transfer upon the
4 abolition of his or her function within his or her agency or department.
5 7-a. For the purpose of subdivision seven of this section, the terms
6 "date of original appointment" and "date of original appointment in the
7 service" shall mean, for persons subject to subdivisions one-a and one-c
8 of section eighty of this chapter, the date of original appointment on a
9 permanent basis in the grade or title in the service of the governmental
10 jurisdiction in which such abolition or reduction occurs.
11 8. Penalty for denial of preference in retention. A refusal to allow
12 the preference in retention provided for in this section to any veteran
13 [or disabled veteran], or a reduction of his or her compensation
14 intended to bring about his or her resignation shall be deemed a misde-
15 meanor, and any such veteran [or disabled veteran] shall have a right of
16 action therefor in any court of competent jurisdiction for damages and
17 for righting the wrong.
18 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
