Senate Bill S7842

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S7842

SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the civil service law, in relation to directing the
state civil service commission to design and implement a pilot location
pay compensation program for state employees designated managerial or
confidential; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expi-
ration thereof

 
PURPOSE:

To utilize the Federal Locality Pay model, which would realistically
address the difference in cost-of-living pressures throughout different
regions of the State in order to enhance recruitment in today's State
employee labor market and compensate current and future State employees
who are designated managerial or confidential (MC).

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the civil service law by adding a new section 137 where
              

state civil service commission shall design and implement a pilot
location pay compensation program for state employees designated manage-
rial or confidential that is based upon cost-of-living factors in
different geographic areas of the state.

Section 2 establishes the act's effective date as the first of April
next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law and shall
expire and be deemed repealed 4 years after such date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

State of New York Location Pay is a disincentive to employment. First,
it is limited in its application to few areas of the State. Second,
Location Pay amounts have only had irregular, incremental increases and
have not kept pace with inflationary pressures. Third, Location Pay is a
fixed dollar amount rather than a percentage of salary, thereby provid-
ing only a marginal cost-of-living adjustment to most State employees.
The federal government's General Schedule Locality Pay plan, by
contrast, is dynamic and subject to annual revision, applies to multiple
different locations, and most importantly pays a premium based upon a
percentage of salary. The federal model would most benefit State employ-
ees in metropolitan areas where the State faces the most competitive job
markets.

The State's Location Pay model is negotiated for union-represented posi-
tions and then extended to MC employees. This bill would introduce an
improved Location Pay model on a pilot basis for MC employees based upon
the federal government model. This model could be expanded to union-re-
presented employees through negotiation. This model realistically
addresses the difference in cost-of-living pressures throughout differ-
ent regions of the State based upon factual economic data. In turn, it
will enhance recruitment and retention of employees in hard to recruit
regions of the State.

Federal Locality Pay is the U.S. government equivalent of the State of
New York's Location Pay. Locality Pay is determined on an annual basis
by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) based upon data
provided by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The stated intent of Locality Pay is to provide parity with private
sector labor market compensation rates.

Federal Locality Pay is a percentage of base salary. The State of New
York, by contrast, uses a flat dollar amount. There are five Locality
Pay areas in New York. Each Locality Pay area includes a number of adja-
cent counties. The areas include:

* Albany/Schenectady and surrounding counties

* Buffalo and surrounding counties

* New York City and surrounding counties

* Rochester/Batavia/Seneca Falls and surrounding counties

* Rest of U.S." which includes New York counties not included above.
This bill will make a significant improvement in the State's competitive
position as an employer of choice in today's labor market and compensate
current and future State employees in a manner that realistically
reflects regional differences in the cost-of-living.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

N/A

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take on the first of April next succeeding the date on
which it shall have become a law and shall expire and be deemed repealed
4 years after such date.