Governor Hochul announces ratification of 3-year labor agreement with New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association

On March 28, 2024, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the ratification of a three-year labor agreement with the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, which includes more than 17,000 members of the Security Services bargaining unit in titles such as correction officer, correction sergeant, and secure hospital treatment assistant. The agreement, which runs until March 31, 2026, won the approval of 73 percent of NYCOPBA member who cast ballots.

 

“This labor agreement will help to ensure that the brave members of the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association are fairly compensated for their tremendous contributions to our state,” Governor Hochul said. “I thank NYSCOPBA’s executive assembly for their partnership throughout negotiations and its membership for their hard work and dedication to keeping New Yorkers safe.”

 

The ratified contract includes raises in each year of the agreement consistent with other recently negotiated agreements. In addition, the contract includes other increases in compensation such as a lump sum bonus and up to 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave. The contract also includes changes in the health insurance program that will encourage in-network employee utilization and help control health insurance costs. 

 

New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association President Chris Summers said, “Since taking office, on more than one occasion, Governor Hochul has publicly praised our members for their dedication and hard work, day in and day out, despite very difficult and dangerous working conditions. Our members never had the option to work from home as many others did. The Governor’s Office and NYSCOPBA have recognized that working together now, and in the future, will help to resolve issues that our members are facing daily.”

 

New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Acting Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III said, “I am pleased that an agreement has been reached to ensure the hardworking members of NYSCOPBA have a ratified contract that will deliver the compensation and benefits they deserve. I value our security staff for the extremely difficult job and the role they play in public safety. This contract has the ability to significantly impact our employee recruitment and retention efforts. I commend Governor Hochul and NYSCOPBA for working cooperatively to reach this labor agreement.”

 

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Commissioner of Education dismissed an application seeking the removal of an individual from a board of education after finding the application "moot"

 The Board of Education [Board] petitioned the Commissioner of Education seeking to remove the President and member of the Board. The Commissioner denied the application as "moot". 

The Commissioner's decision explained that the Commissioner "will only decide matters in actual controversy and will not render a decision on a state of facts that no longer exists due to the passage of time or a change in circumstances" or where the Commissioner "can no longer award a petitioner meaningful relief ...."

The Board conceded that the individual it sought to have the Commissioner remove had resigned from the position and that an appointment had been made to the then vacant position. Accordingly, the Commissioner found that the Board's application "was moot and must be denied."

Although the Board contended that the matter was not moot, the Commissioner, citing Application of the Board of Education of the Beekmantown Central School District, 59 Ed Dept Rep, Decision No. 17,718, found that the Board had not met its burden to demonstrate the matter "fits within an exception to the mootness doctrine."

The staff of FindLaw has posted an item captioned Exceptions to the Mootness Doctrine on the Internet at https://constitution.findlaw.com/article3/exceptions-to-the-mootness-doctrine.html, which was last reviewed by Renee Guolee, J.D. July 15, 2022.

Click HERE to access the Commission's decision posted on the Internet.

 

New York State's State Comptroller raises concerns about local governments missing critical deadlines and not filing required financial information

On March 27, 23024, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced that six villages were designated in fiscal stress under the Fiscal Stress Monitoring System (FSMS). DiNapoli’s office evaluated all non-calendar year local governments and designated one village in “significant fiscal stress,” one in “moderate fiscal stress,” and four as “susceptible to fiscal stress.”

The following items are also posted on the Internet. Click on the text highlighted in color to access a particular report.

 

List of Villages and Cities in Fiscal Stress - Municipalities in Fiscal Stress

 

List of Villages and Cities that Failed to File Financial Information - Municipalities that Failed to File or Inconclusive List

 

Complete List of Fiscal Stress Scores - Data Files

 

FSMS Search Tool - Tool

 

Injury sustained by a police officer participating in a training exercise ruled not an accident for the purpose of eligibility for accidental disability retirement benefits

A police officer [Petitioner] filed an application for accidental disability retirement benefits alleging that he was permanently disabled due to injuries sustained in an incident when he fell while engaged in a training exercise at the police academy. His application was denied on the ground that the incident did not constitute an accident within the meaning of Retirement and Social Security Law §363. Following a hearing for re-determination, a Hearing Officer [HO] denied the application, concluding that the incident occurred during a training program that was an ordinary part of Petitioner's job duties and a normal risk of those duties and, as such, was not an accident for purposes of accidental disability retirement benefits.

The Comptroller sustained the HO's decision, adopting the HO's findings and conclusions of law. Petitioner initiates a CPLR Article 78 proceeding challenging the Comptroller's determination.

Noting that for purposes of the Retirement and Social Security Law an accident is "defined as a sudden, fortuitous mischance, unexpected, out of the ordinary, and injurious in impact", the Appellate Division explained that under settled law, "an incident is not an accident within the meaning of the Retirement and Social Security Law where the underlying injuries result from an expected or foreseeable event arising during the performance of routine employment duties or occur during the course of a training program constituting an ordinary part of the employee's job duties and the normal risks arising therefrom". 

Further, said the Court, the petitioner has the burden to establish that the event producing the injury was accidental in nature, and the Comptroller's determination will be upheld where it is supported by substantial evidence.

Here Petitioner was participating in a "simulated training exercise" that required him to dismount from a moving bicycle and then run on foot to chase an instructor acting as a fleeing "suspect." During the exercise, Petitioner lost his balance and fell on his knee, causing injuries. Further, Petitioner confirmed "the bicycle was not defective and that he did not hit anything while riding the bicycle and did not slip or trip on anything while attempting to dismount."

Noting that "Pursuing and subduing a fleeing suspect is an ordinary employment duty of a police officer", the Appellate Division opined that Petitioner's job duties included on-the-job training in law enforcement techniques and Petitioner acknowledged that his duties as part of the unit to which he was assigned included bicycle training.

Citing Matter of Marsala v New York State & Local Employees' Retirement Sys., 14 AD3d 984, the Appellate Division observed that it had "previously recognized in comparable scenarios, incidents in which injuries are sustained while participating in a training exercise as part of routine job duties and involving normal risks related thereto, including police officers injured while practicing running dismounts during bicycle patrol training, do not constitute accidents for purposes of eligibility for accidental disability retirement benefits."

Finding that substantial evidence supported the Comptroller's determination, the Appellate Division said "it will not be disturbed".

Click HERE to access the Appellate Division's decision posted on the Internet.

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Disability Benefits for New York State and municipal public sector personnel - an e-book focusing on administering the Retirement and Social Security Law, the General Municipal Law Sections 207-a/207-c and similar laws providing disability benefits to employees of the State of New York and its political subdivisions. For more information and access to a free excerpt of the material presented in this e-book, click here: http://booklocker.com/books/3916.html

 

On March 25, 2024, the New York State Department of Civil Service posted Attendance and Leave Advisory Memoranda 2024-01 and 2024-02 on the Internet

The Department of Civil Service [DCS] published the following Advisory Memoranda:

Advisory Memorandum 2024-01, Special Holiday Waiver Memoranda of Understanding for Security Supervisors Unit (SSpU), Security Services Unit (SSU), and Agency Police Services Unit (APSU)

Advisory Memorandum 2024-02, Memoranda of Understanding on Extension of Special Military Benefits and Post-Discharge Benefits through December 31, 2024

 

If you wish to print these Memoranda, DCS offer a version in PDF format at:

https://www.cs.ny.gov/attendance_leave/AM2024-01Combined.pdf; and 

https://www.cs.ny.gov/attendance_leave/AM2024-02.pdf

 

To view previous Advisory Memoranda issued by the Department of Civil Service, visit: https://www.cs.ny.gov/ssd/Manuals/SPMM/