NY State Senate Bill 2023-S8948

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Civil Service And Pensions Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Apr 02, 2024	referred to civil service and pensions

2023-S8948 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A9935
Current Committee:: Senate Civil Service And Pensions
Law Section:: Civil Service Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §72, Civ Serv L

2023-S8948 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires certain information regarding judgments about an employee's inability to perform their duties due to a disability to be provided to the employee and the authorized representative of such employee.

2023-S8948 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8948

SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the civil service law, in relation to the disclosure of
information to employees

 
PURPOSE:

To promptly provide employees with all of the information relating to
allegations by employers that such employees are unable to perform their
duties due to a disability.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Amends subdivision 1 of section 72 of the Civil Service law;
and Section 2: Effective Date

 
JUSTIFICTION:

Section 72 of the Civil Service law provides public employers with a
process through which to seek medical examination(s) when an appointing
authority believes an employee is unable to perform the duties of his or
her position due to a physical or mental disability, other than a disa-
bility resulting from occupational injury or disease as defined in the
workers' compensation law.

Under current law, employees are provided written notice of the facts by
their employer outlining the basis for the reasons such employees are
deemed physically or mentally unfit for service. However, employees are
not provided copies of any correspondence, records or other supporting
documentation by the employer to the appointed medical officer charged
with evaluating the disability claim against such employee.

Employees currently only have 10 days from service of a notice by the
employer to impose a leave of absence to request a hearing. Employees
must make such determination without full access to the written claims
made to the medical officer against them.

Employees accused of being mentally or physically unfit for duty should
have access to all of the materials outlining the medical issues affect-
ing their physical or mental abilities so that they can accurately and
appropriately defend themselves before a hearing officer. This change
would allow affected employees to know the full concerns of the employer
and allow such employee to seek input from medical professionals in
their defense.

The law and applicable regulations neither provide nor require this
information to be shared with the employee until and unless the employee
is deemed unfit and appeals the determination of the agency placing them
on leave pursuant to the law. This leaves the employee unaware of the
specifics relied upon by both the agency and the medical examiner. If
the employee is fully aware of the circumstances, the employee may be
able to mitigate the conditions causing the alleged disability. This
could avoid a prolonged hearing process that can be very costly to both
the appointing authority and the employee.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None.   
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
The first of January next succeeding the date on which it shall have
become a law.

2023-S8948 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8948
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               April 2, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN ACT to amend the civil service law, in relation to the disclosure  of
   information to employees
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 72 of the civil  service  law,  as
 amended  by  chapter  547  of  the  laws  of 1984, is amended to read as
 follows:
   1. When in the judgment of an  appointing  authority  an  employee  is
 unable to perform the duties of [his or her] SUCH EMPLOYEE'S position by
 reason  of  a disability, other than a disability resulting from occupa-
 tional injury or disease as defined in the  workers'  compensation  law,
 the  appointing authority may require such employee to undergo a medical
 examination to be conducted by a medical officer selected by  the  civil
 service  department or municipal commission having jurisdiction. Written
 notice of the facts providing the basis for the judgment of the appoint-
 ing authority that the employee is not fit to perform the duties of [his
 or her] SUCH EMPLOYEE'S position, AND COPIES OF ANY WRITTEN,  ELECTRONIC
 OR  OTHER COMMUNICATION BY THE APPOINTING AUTHORITY TO A MEDICAL OFFICER
 OR ANY OTHER ENTITY REGARDING THE CLAIM THAT SUCH EMPLOYEE IS UNABLE  TO
 PERFORM  THEIR DUTIES PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION, shall be provided to the
 employee, THE AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF SUCH EMPLOYEE and  the  civil
 service  department  or  commission  having  jurisdiction  prior  to the
 conduct of the medical examination. If, upon such  medical  examination,
 such  medical officer shall certify that such employee is not physically
 or mentally fit to perform the duties of [his or  her]  SUCH  EMPLOYEE'S
 position,  the  appointing authority shall notify such employee that [he
 or she] THEY may be placed on leave of absence. An  employee  placed  on
 leave  of  absence  pursuant  to  this  section shall be given a written
 statement of the reasons therefor  AND COMPLETE COPIES  OF  ALL  OF  THE
 DOCUMENTATION,  REPORTS  AND  RECORDS RELIED UPON BY THE MEDICAL OFFICER
 DURING THEIR EXAMINATION, INCLUDING ANY DOCUMENTS,  REPORTS  AND  CORRE-
 SPONDENCE  SENT  TO  THE  APPOINTING  AUTHORITY AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD15039-01-4
 S. 8948                             2

 EXAMINATION. Such notice shall contain the reason for the proposed leave
 and the proposed date on which such leave is to commence, shall be  made
 in  writing and served in person or by first class, registered or certi-
 fied  mail,  return  receipt  requested,  upon the employee. Such notice
 shall also inform the employee of [his or her] THEIR rights  under  this
 procedure. An employee shall be allowed ten working days from service of
 the  notice to object to the imposition of the proposed leave of absence
 and to request a hearing. The request for such hearing shall be filed by
 the employee personally or by first class, certified or registered mail,
 return receipt requested. Upon receipt of such request,  the  appointing
 authority  shall  supply  to  the employee, [his or her] SUCH EMPLOYEE'S
 personal physician or authorized representative,  copies  of  all  diag-
 noses,  test results, observations and other data supporting the certif-
 ication, and imposition of the proposed leave of absence shall  be  held
 in  abeyance  until  a  final  determination  is  made by the appointing
 authority as provided in this section.  The  appointing  authority  will
 afford  the  employee  a  hearing  within  thirty  days of the date of a
 request by the employee to be held by  an  independent  hearing  officer
 agreed to by the appointing authority and the employee except that where
 the  employer  is  a city of over one million in population such hearing
 may be held by a hearing officer employed by the office  of  administra-
 tive  trials  and  hearings.  If  the parties are unable to agree upon a
 hearing officer, [he or she] SUCH HEARING OFFICER shall be  selected  by
 lot  from  a list of persons maintained by the state department of civil
 service. The hearing officer shall  not  be  an  employee  of  the  same
 appointing authority as the employee alleged to be disabled. [He or she]
 THE  HEARING  OFFICER  shall  be  vested  with  all of the powers of the
 appointing authority, and shall make  a  record  of  the  hearing  which
 shall,  with  [his  or  her]  SUCH  HEARING OFFICER'S recommendation, be
 referred to the appointing authority for review and decision  and  which
 shall be provided to the affected employee free of charge. A copy of the
 transcript  of the hearing shall, upon request of the employee affected,
 be transmitted to [him] SUCH EMPLOYEE without charge. The  employee  may
 be represented at any hearing by counsel or a representative of a certi-
 fied or recognized employee organization and may present medical experts
 and  other  witnesses  or  evidence. The employee shall be entitled to a
 reasonable period of time to obtain such representation. The  burden  of
 proving  mental  or physical unfitness shall be upon the person alleging
 it. Compliance with technical rules of evidence shall not  be  required.
 The  appointing  authority  will render a final determination within ten
 working days of the date of receipt of the hearing officer's report  and
 recommendation.  The appointing authority may either uphold the original
 proposed notice of leave of absence, withdraw such notice or modify  the
 notice as appropriate. In any event, a final determination of an employ-
 ee's  contest of a notice of leave shall be rendered within seventy-five
 days of the receipt of the request for review. An employee on such leave
 of absence shall be entitled to draw all accumulated, unused sick leave,
 vacation, overtime and other time allowances standing to  [his  or  her]
 SUCH  EMPLOYEE'S  credit. The appointing authority in the final determi-
 nation shall notify the employee of [his or her] SUCH  EMPLOYEE'S  right
 to appeal from such determination to the civil service commission having
 jurisdiction in accordance with subdivision three of this section.
   §  2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.

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Senate Bill S8948

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Civil Service And Pensions Committee

2023-S8948 (ACTIVE) - Details

2023-S8948 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2023-S8948 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2023-S8948 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S8948

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Sponsored By

Robert Jackson

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Civil Service And Pensions Committee

2023-S8948 (ACTIVE) - Details

2023-S8948 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2023-S8948 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2023-S8948 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments