Senate Bill S4184

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  4184

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             April 15, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by Sens. FLANAGAN, VOLKER -- read twice and ordered printed,
  and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and
  Pensions

AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
  the  procedure  for hiring of retired persons for public service posi-
  tions

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision 2 of section 211 of
the retirement and social security law,  paragraph  (a)  as  amended  by
chapter  753  of  the  laws  of 1976, subparagraph 7 of paragraph (a) as
amended by chapter 840 of the laws of 1983 and paragraph (b) as  amended
by chapter 640 of the laws of 2008, are amended to read as follows:
  (a)  No retired person may be employed in a position in public service
pursuant to subdivision one hereof except upon approval of THE  HEAD  OF
THE RETIREMENT SYSTEM FROM WHICH THE PERSON RETIRED AND UPON APPROVAL OF
  (1) the state civil service commission; or
  (2)  the commissioner of education if such person is to be employed in
the unclassified service of a school district other than the city of New
York, a board of cooperative educational services or a county vocational
education and extension board; or
  (3) the municipal civil service commission of the city of New York  if
such  person  is to be employed in a position in the service of the city
of New York or in the classified service in the board  of  education  or
board of higher education of such city; or
  (4) the chancellor of the city school district of the city of New York
if  such  person is to be employed in the unclassified service under the
board of education of the city of New York; or
  (5) the board of higher education of the city  of  New  York  if  such
person  is to be employed in the unclassified service under the board of
higher education of the city of New York; or

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD04371-02-9
              

S. 4184                             2

  (6) the chancellor of  state  university  if  such  person  is  to  be
employed  in  the  unclassified  service  of the state university of New
York, or in the professional service at the state colleges  of  agricul-
ture,  home  economics,  veterinary  medicine  or  industrial  and labor
relations,  the  state  agricultural experiment station at Geneva or any
other institution or agency under the management and control of  Cornell
university as representative of the board of trustees of state universi-
ty of New York, or at the state college of ceramics under the management
and control of Alfred university as representative of the board of trus-
tees of state university of New York or in the unclassified service of a
community college other than those in the city of New York; or
  (7)  the  chief  administrator  of  the courts if such person is to be
employed in a judicial or nonjudicial  position  in  the  unified  court
system.
  (b)  Such  approval  may be granted only on the written request of the
prospective employer of such retired person, which request  shall  state
detailed reasons therefor related to the standards set forth herein, and
on  a  finding,  on  evidence satisfactory to the appropriate officer or
authority specified in paragraph (a) of this subdivision,
  (1) that the retired person is duly  qualified,  competent  and  phys-
ically  fit for performance of the duties of the position in which he or
she is to be employed and is properly certified where such certification
is required;
  (2) that he or she will earn more than one  thousand  dollars  in  one
year,  including  compensation  earned  in  such  position  under  other
provisions of this article that there  are  not  readily  available  for
recruitment  persons  qualified  to perform the duties of such position;
[and (4);]
  (3) that the prospective employer has prepared a detailed  recruitment
plan to fill such vacancy on a permanent basis;
  (4) that his or her employment is in the best interests of the govern-
ment service; [and]
  (5)(i)  that  there  is an urgent need for his or her services in such
position as a result  of  an  unplanned,  unpredictable  and  unexpected
vacancy  where  sufficient  time is not available to recruit a qualified
individual and that such hiring shall be deemed as non-permanent  rather
than a final filling of such position; or
  (ii)  that  the prospective employer has undertaken extensive recruit-
ment efforts to fill such vacancy and as a result  thereof,  has  deter-
mined  that  there  are  no  available  non-retired persons qualified to
perform the duties of such position[.]; AND
  (6) THAT THE EMPLOYER ISSUED A PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE POSITION  AT
LEAST  THIRTY  DAYS PRIOR TO FILING A WRITTEN REQUEST FOR APPROVAL UNDER
THIS SECTION AND ADVERTISED THE POSITION IN A SUFFICIENT  MANNER  DURING
THOSE  THIRTY  DAYS; AND SUCH ANNOUNCEMENT AND ADVERTISING SET FORTH THE
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED AND OTHER NECESSARY INFORMATION, INCLUD-
ING BUT NOT LIMITED TO POSITION  DESCRIPTION  AND  APPLICATION  REQUIRE-
MENTS.
  Such  approvals  may  be  granted  for periods not exceeding two years
each, provided that such person may not return to work in  the  same  or
similar  position  for  a  period  of one year following retirement. The
authority or officer specified in paragraph  (a)  of  this  subdivision,
upon  approving employment of a retired person under this section, shall
certify such approval to the retirement  system  or  pension  plan  from
which such person is receiving a retirement allowance.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

S. 4184                             3

  FISCAL NOTE.-- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
  This bill would amend section 211 of the Retirement and Social Securi-
ty  Law  to require an employer issue a public announcement of any posi-
tion to be filled with a public system retiree who would receive both  a
salary  and  pension. In addition, this bill would also require approval
of such hiring from the head of the retirement  system  from  which  the
person retired.
  Insofar  as  this bill affects the New York State and Local Employees'
Retirement System (ERS) and the New York State and Local Police and Fire
Retirement System (PFRS), if this bill were enacted there would be small
administrative costs to the Systems. These costs would be borne  by  the
State of New York and the participating employers in the ERS and PFRS.
  This  estimate,  dated  April 3, 2009 and intended for use only during
the 2009 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2009-211,  prepared  by
the  Actuary  for  the  New  York  State and Local Employees' Retirement
System and the New York State  and  Local  Police  and  Fire  Retirement
System.