Senate Bill S2964

                                BILL NUMBER:S2964

TITLE  OF BILL:  An act to amend the retirement and social security law,
in relation to restricting the public employment of retired persons  for
twenty-four months

PURPOSE:  To create a 24 month moratorium of the issuance of Section 211
Approval  of the Retirement and Social Security Law commonly referred to
as a "211 Waiver".

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:  Amends subparagraph 2 of paragraph (b) of §  211
of  the retirement and social security law by adding a new subdivision 9
to restrict the issuance of approvals under this section for 24 months.

EXISTING LAW:  There are different rules and  restrictions  for  retired
public employees who wish to return to public service and how it impacts
their ability to collect their pension.

Post  retirement employment and earnings with the State; a county, city,
town or village; a school district  or  Board  of  Cooperative  Services
(BOCES);  public  authorities  or  public benefit corporations; or other
entities that participate in one of the eight public retirement  systems
of  the  state, may be affected depending on type of retirement a member
is receiving, the plan a member retired under and the member's age.

Under RSSL § 212 a retired member who is under the age of 65, can return
              

to public employment without approval  or  reduction  or  suspension  of
their retirement benefit as long as during the calendar year their earn-
ings  are  less  than  $30,000.  Upon  earnings  over $30,000 a member's
pension is suspended for the remainder of the calendar year.

Under RSSL § 211 if a member's earnings will be more than the limits set
under RSSL § 212 then the public employer may request approval hire  you
under  RSSL § 211, which may help avoid a reduction or suspension of the
retired member's pension.

Typically the authorization is requested if the  New  York  State  Civil
Service  Commission,  however,  the following entities are authorized to
grant these approvals for certain positions:

* The New York State Commissioner of Education

* The Campus President of each State University of New York

* The Chancellor of the New York City  Division  of  Citywide  Personnel
Services

* The New York State Office of Court Administration.

Approval  is  not  automatic,  but based on the employer's needs and the
retired member's qualifications. Waivers are granted for a fixed  period
of time of up to two years.

JUSTIFICATION:    The  moratorium  provided for by this legislation will
compel public employers to address our aging workforce and the  lack  of
workforce succession planning, quell public outrage over "double-dipping
and tap in to the availability of a large labor pool from which to hire.

According  to  2010  The  New  York  State  Workforce  Management Report
published by the New York State Department of Civil Service:

*62% of the workforce is 45 or older

*25% of the workforce is 55 or older

*Average age is 47

*Average length of service is 15 years

*In the next 5 years, 32,422 employees will be 55 or older with 30 years
of service, 20% of the non-uniformed workforce

*Average age at retirement is 58

*Average length of service at retirement is 27 years

The majority of Management/Confidential employees  are  the  5,146  most
senior  career managers in State service who serve in grades M-1 through
M-8, 21% are now eligible to retire. Within the next five years, a total
of 48% of these senior career managers will become eligible to retire.

No agency has an average age in the 20s or 30s.  There are  52  agencies
with an average employee age in the 40s and 18 in the 50s.

From  2002-2007,  the average age of a new hire to State service was 35.
It rose to 38 in 2008. In 2009 it was 41. Not  only  are  older  workers
older;  so  are the younger workers. Clearly, the old pattern of govern-
ment hiring people right out of high school  or  college  is  no  longer
true. One reason for this is that the State, like most employers lately,
needs  people capable of performing a job soon after they are hired. The
State is hiring for experience rather than for  experience  rather  than
for potential potential.

The  current  economic  crisis  allows  for  the  State and other public
employers to recruit and select employees from a large labor  pool  that
may not have traditionally considered employment in the public sector.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

2011-12 Session - S.4111- referred to Civil Service and Pensions

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

None

EFFECTIVE DATE

This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however this act shall
not  apply  to  individuals  to whom approvals were granted prior to the
effective date of this act.