December 5, 2023 — A recent package of legislation, supported by PEF and signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul on November 21, helps strengthen the rights of public sector workers in New York.
“On behalf of the 50,000 members of the NYS Public Employees Federation, we thank Governor Hochul for her continued work in support of the state workforce and for signing these important bills into law,” said PEF President Wayne Spence in a press release sent out by the governor’s office. “The Governor has been a real partner with labor as we work collectively to fortify the state’s service delivery system after a decade of neglect.”
The newly passed laws do many things, including ensuring access to health insurance for dependents and spouses of deceased state employees. One of the measures also strengthens Section 80 of the Civil Service Law.
Section 80 deals largely with the rights of employees who face layoffs, suspensions, or demotions due to agencies reducing positions, services or becoming obsolete. These protections include finding employment of a similar nature, as well as making sure employees are paid properly based on the circumstance of their layoff or suspension.
But there were gaps in Section 80 and the amendments address those.
Specifically, the legislation “provides rights to employees outside of the competitive class in the case of reduction in the workforce that are consistent with what is provided to employees in the competitive class. This new law will provide equal reduction and recall provisions in civil service law to permanently appointed employees in competitive, non-competitive, and labor jurisdictional classifications at all levels of state and local government.”
The law also now protects public employees who have worked with their agencies for years and as a result earn higher salaries. These workers can no longer be laid off purely because of their cost to the State. Additionally, the law gives employees a chance to reclaim their old jobs at the first available opportunity.
Included also is a measure to ensure that the spouses and dependents of members who retired due to an accidental disability or performance of duty disability with less than 10 years of service continue to receive healthcare benefits after the retirees’ death.
Additionally, a law important to PEF and other public sector unions clarifies what information employers are required to provide to employee organizations like unions. It states that unions are entitled to the home address of employees in their bargaining unit to facilitate contact outside of the workplace.
Finally, a law was passed that closes a loophole for arbitrations for public employees and employees by requiring a party to make an application to change or vacate an award within 90 days after the award’s delivery. This allows for more timely resolutions to matters that require arbitration. This also means that parties that are unsuccessful during arbitration must decide if they intend to comply with the award or will vacate or modify in a timely manner.
The law will save unions like PEF fees, even though they may have won their arbitration.