Selected reports and information published by New York State's Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli during the week ending July 22, 2017

Selected reports and information published by New York State's Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli during the week ending July 22, 2017

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New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced the following audits and examinations have been issued:

OCFS Should Improve Foster Care Placement Oversight

The state Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) could not show that caseworkers contacted children in foster care within the first 30 days of their placement and lacked documentation proving children were placed in foster homes that met program certifications, according to an auditby New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

Town of Geneseo – Information Technology and Multiyear Planning (Livingston County)
The board has not adopted policies to sufficiently protect the town's information technology assets and did not ensure that the adopted acceptable use policy was enforced or monitored. Town officials did not adequately segregate online banking duties and did not dedicate a separate computer for online transactions to limit access to online bank accounts. In addition, auditors found the town accumulated excessive fund balance in various funds.

Monticello Joint Fire District – Fiscal Operations (Sullivan County)
The board did not adopt realistic budgets for the 2014 through 2016 fiscal years. Although total budgeted revenues were reasonable, total expenditures were overestimated an average of 20 percent or almost $391,000 annually. The treasurer performs all financial transactions without adequate oversight.

Town of Orchard Park – Recreation Department Cash Receipts (Erie County)
The board did not adopt written policies over financial operations or approve a key department contract. The department generally recorded and deposited cash receipts properly, but did not remit money to the supervisor in a timely manner.

Judicial review of a determination arrived at following a quasi-judicial hearing is typically limited to determining if the decision is supported by substantial evidence

Judicial review of a determination arrived at following a quasi-judicial hearing is typically limited to determining if the decision is supported by substantial evidence

2017 NY Slip Op 05608, Appellate Division, Second Department

In this decision the Appellate Division sets out the basic rules followed by the courts when reviewing an administrative determination arrived at following a quasi-judicial hearing by an appointing authority or its designee. In this instance the appointing authority adopted the report and recommendation of a hearing officer, made after a hearing pursuant to Civil Service Law §75 finding the charged party [Petitioner] guilty of certain disciplinary charges, and terminated the Petitioner's employment.

Confirming the appointing authority's determination is confirmed, the Appellate Division explained:

1. The standard of review of an administrative determination made after a quasi-judicial hearing required by law is limited to considering whether the determination was based on substantial evidence.

2. It is the function of the administrative agency, not the reviewing court, to weigh the evidence, assess the credibility of witnesses, and determine which testimony to accept and which to reject.

3. Where evidence is conflicting and room for choice exists, a reviewing court may not weigh the evidence or reject the choice made by the administrative agency.

Here, said the court, substantial evidence supported the appointing authority's determination that Petitioner was guilty of committing certain acts of misconduct or insubordination.

As to the penalty imposed, dismissal from the position, the Appellate Division, citing Kreisler v New York City Tr. Auth., 2 NY3d 775, concluded that "the penalty of termination of [Petitioner's] employment was not so disproportionate to the offenses as to be shocking to one's sense of fairness."

The decision is posted on the Internet at:

http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2017/2017_05608.htm

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Municipalities and school districts rely on federal aid

Municipalities and school districts rely on federal aid

Source: Harris Beach PLLC, New York Municipalities Blog

A new report released by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli shows how much municipalities and school districts rely on federal aid. 

The report covers statistics from 2015 and shows that local governments and school districts outside New York City received $4.7 billion in direct federal support.

Click Here to Read Full Post

Considering breaks in service in determining seniority for the purposes of layoff and reinstatement

Considering breaks in service in determining seniority for the purposes of layoff and reinstatement

2017 NY Slip Op 05657, Appellate Division, Third Department

Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court Ulster County granting petitioner's [Petitioner] application in a proceeding pursuant to CPLR Article 78 seeking to annul a determination of the Board of Education denying Petitioner's request for certain seniority rights.

The Petitioner in action was elementary teacher and had attained tenure with the school district [the District]. In 2004 Petitioner took an unpaid leave of absence and in December 2005 resigned from her position when her eligibility for continuation on unpaid leave expired rather than return to work. In 2007 the District appointed Petitioner to a teaching position and she was subsequently granted tenure by the District upon her satisfactory completion of her probationary period associated with this new appointment in 2009.

In 2010 the District eliminated positions in the elementary tenure area and Petitioner seniority for the purposes Education Law §2510 was based on her service with the District running from 2007. §2510 provides, in pertinent part, "Whenever a board of education abolishes a position under this chapter, the services of the teacher having the least seniority in the system within the tenure of the position abolished shall be discontinued."

A temporary kindergarten teaching position then became available for the 2011-2012 school year. However, another former teacher was recalled to fill the vacancy because of her greater seniority. Petitioner, contending that the District had improperly calculated her seniority by ignoring her earlier service with the District and it should have reinstated her to the vacancy. Petitioner initiated the Article 78 action seeking a court order annulling the District's decision and ultimately Supreme Court directed the District to recalculate Petitioner's "seniority rights and all salary due to her."

The District appealed the Supreme Court's decision, contending that Petitioner's resignation from her position in 2005 served to sever her ties with the District and thus she forfeited any claim with respect to her earlier service with the District for the purposes of determining her  seniority rights.

The Appellate Division, citing Kwasnik v King, 123 AD3d 1264, explained that "Although an employee may waive his or her seniority rights by resigning or retiring, such a relinquishment must be knowing and voluntary" and be an effective waiver of such rights, the waiver "must be free from any indicia of duress or coercion."

In Petitioner's case the Appellate Division concluded that she resign from her position in 2005 rather than return from her leave when the District informed her that such extension was not possible as she had "exhausted her unpaid leave time." In other words, it was Petitioner decision to resign rather than return to work.

Thus, said the court, there was nothing in the record that could be construed as duress or coercion on the part of the District to obtain her resignation and the record indicated that Petitioner voluntarily resigned for her tenured position "in response to being accurately informed that she had exhausted her [rights to additional unpaid] leave.”

The Appellate Division also noted that Petitioner had been subsequently appointed by the District as a probationary employee after a year and half break in service, thus "belying any claim that she maintained a continuing employment relationship with it."

Accordingly, said the court, the District had properly determined that Petitioner was not entitled to count the period of time she had been employed by it prior to her 2005 resignation "for the purpose of [§2510] seniority" and, reversing the Supreme Court's decision, reinstated the District's initial determination regarding Petitioner seniority for the purposes of her reinstatement from the preferred list.

The decision is posted on the Internet at:

http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2017/2017_05657.htm

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New York State regulations for Paid Family Leave Program adopted

New YorkState regulations for Paid Family Leave Program adopted

Source: NYS Workers Compensation Board

On July 19, 2017, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that New York State has adopted regulations implementing New York's landmark Paid Family Leave program. These regulations outline the responsibilities of employers and insurance carriers in implementing the most comprehensive paid family leave program in the nation. 

Starting January 1, 2018, Paid Family Leave will provide employees with wage replacement and job protection to help them bond with a child, care for a close relative with a serious health condition, or help relieve family pressures when someone is deployed abroad on active military service. Employees are also entitled to be reinstated to their job when their leave ends and to the continuation of their health insurance during their leave. 

Paid Family Leave provides coverage for:

• Parents during the first 12 months following the birth, adoption, or fostering of a child;

• Employees caring for a spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, or grandchild with a serious health condition; and

• Employees assisting loved ones when a spouse, child, domestic partner, or parent is deployed abroad on active military duty.

Employee Eligibility:

• Employees with a regular work schedule of 20 or more hours per week are eligible after 26 weeks of employment.

• Employees with a regular work schedule of less than 20 hours per week are eligible after 175 days worked.

Insurance Coverage

Paid Family Leave coverage will typically be included as a rider to an employer's existing disability insurance policy, and will be fully funded by employees through payroll deductions. In 2018, the maximum employee contribution is 0.126% of an employee's weekly wage up to 0.126% of the annualized New York State Average Weekly Wage. The program is mandatory for nearly all private employers. Public employers may opt into the program.

Phase-in Schedule

Paid Family Leave will be phased in over four years, beginning January 1, 2018. In 2018, employees may take up to eight weeks of paid leave at 50% of an employee's average weekly wage up to 50% of the New York State Average Weekly Wage. That increases to 12 weeks of paid leave in 2021 paid at 67% of an employee's average weekly wage up to 67% of the New York State Average Weekly Wage.

The regulations and other information is posted on the Internet at:

http://www.wcb.ny.gov/PFL/pfl-regs.jsp