APPENDIX III
Memoranda and Side Letters
These documents
are reproduced here for information.
While they are not subject to the provisions of Article 34 of the
Agreement, the State and PEF acknowledge that they set forth certain understandings
of the parties concerning certain articles; and confirm mutually accepted
definitions and clarifications of the parties in connection with certain
articles; and therefore, have value in connection with the interpretation and
application of certain articles of the Agreement.
Mr.
President
Public Employees Federation, AFL-CIO
Dear Mr. Brynien:
This
will confirm the understanding reached during negotiations of the 2007-2011
State/PEF Agreement regarding Article 7.12 performance awards.
We
have agreed that within one year of ratification of this agreement, PEF and
GOER will examine the issue of establishing an additional October
payment date for performance awards.
Should we agree to establish an additional payment date, it will not be
effective until October 2010.
Sincerely,
John Currier
Deputy Director for Contract Negotiation and Administration
Governor's Office of Employee Relations
Countersigned for PEF:
President
Mr.
President
Public Employees Federation, AFL-CIO
Dear Mr. Brynien:
This letter confirms the
understandings reached by the parties during negotiation of the 2007–2011
State/PEF Agreement regarding the creation of a pilot program allowing certain
employees in the PS&T bargaining unit to opt to earn compensatory time in
lieu of overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a week.
1.
The program is limited to all
PS&T bargaining unit employees who are in salary grades 22 and below or
otherwise overtime eligible.
2.
Effective
3.
Enrollment forms will be
developed to facilitate employee option into the program and designation of
hours sought to be liquidated (see paragraph 9) as soon as practicable
following ratification.
4.
Once an employee opts into the
program, every hour of overtime worked by such employee will earn that employee
1.5 hours of compensatory time to be called Over40 Comp Time.
5.
For the purposes of this program,
hours in excess of 40 hours in a week will qualify for Over40 Comp Time.
6.
Employees on a 37½-hour
workweek will still earn compensatory time pursuant to current practice for
hours between 37½ and 40. However, only
those hours worked in excess of 40 will be credited into this pilot program.
7.
Over40 Comp Time can be
accumulated to a maximum of 240 hours in a bank separate from the compensatory
time bank which reflects time earned for hours worked between 37 ½ and 40
hours. In no case shall employees be permitted
to charge absences from work to the Over40 Comp Time bank. Over40 Comp Time
hours carried in the bank do not expire and shall be kept in such bank until
the employee is separated from service.
8.
Similarly, all rules and
policies that cover the treatment of compensatory time earned for hours worked
between 37 ½ and 40 hours when an employee is transferred, separated from
service or at retirement shall apply for Over40 Comp Time in this pilot
program.
9.
An employee may liquidate up to
120 hours in the bank one time per year payable in the closest payroll period
to December 1st at the rate of pay earned at the time of this liquidation.
10.
At the time the employee is
eligible to liquidate the entire bank of such accrued time, the cash-out value
of any Over40 Comp Time accrued shall be at the rate of pay earned at the time
of liquidation, but in no event shall it be less than FLSA requirements.
11.
If an employee reaches the
240-hour maximum Over40 Comp Time accumulation, any hour of overtime after 40
hours shall be paid at the overtime rate and additional Over40 Comp Time will
not be earned in lieu of overtime pay.
12.
The term of this pilot shall be
approximately three years, however in no event shall
it continue beyond
13.
Eighteen months after the
program begins, the parties shall meet to review and discuss the program to
resolve any issues that may arise.
14.
This agreement nullifies any
local agreements that may exist regarding this issue.
John Currier
Deputy Director for Contract Negotiation and Administration
Governor's Office of Employee Relations
Countersigned for PEF:
Mr.
President
Mr.
President
Public Employees Federation, AFL-CIO
Dear Mr. Brynien:
This letter confirms the
understandings reached by the parties during negotiations of the 2007 -2011
State/PEF Agreements regarding employee moves from positions designated as “NS”
(Non-Statutorily paid or unallocated to a salary grade) to statutorily graded
positions.
The provisions herein shall
apply prospectively as of the date of ratification of the 2007-2011 Agreement.
Scenario 1: When an employee who occupies a position
designated as “NS” as defined above moves to an annual salaried position which
is allocated to a salary grade, the hiring rate of which is greater than the
annual rate of compensation then received by such employee in the “NS”
position, such employee shall be eligible for the salary placement provisions
found in Article 7.10 of the collective bargaining agreement covering the
PS&T bargaining unit. Accordingly, by virtue and reference of this sideletter, such employee shall receive the salary
treatment benefit provided in Section 131.5(a)(ii) or
131.5(b)(ii) of the Civil Service Law, as applicable. We note that paragraph (b) cited above
relates to seasonal positions.
Scenario 2: When an employee who occupies a position
designated as “NS” as defined above and receives an annual salary in such “NS”
position, be it equated to a grade or otherwise, moves to an annual salaried
position which is allocated to a salary grade, the hiring rate of which is
equal to or lower than the annual rate of compensation then received by such
employee in the “NS” position, the salary to be paid to that employee shall be
established in accordance with Section 131.5(c) of the Civil Service Law (i.e.,
traditional salary reconstruction).
However, upon ratification of the agreement to which this sideletter is attached, the State shall seek introduction
and passage of legislation which would amend Section 131.5(c) of the Civil
Service Law to remove current provisions that restrict the resultant salary of
an employee having moved from an NS to a graded position to not exceed the
salary which had previously been received in the NS position. Provisions of Section 131.5(a)(i) or 131.5(b)(i) of the Civil Service Law shall not apply.
Scenario 3: When an employee who occupies a position
designated as “NS” as defined above and receives an hourly or per diem rate of
pay in such “NS” position, moves to an annual salaried position which is
allocated to a salary grade, the hiring rate of which is equal to or lower than
the “hourly-converted-to-annual” rate of compensation then received by such
employee in the “NS” position, the salary to be paid to that employee shall be
established as follows:
·
Identify the date on which
the employee first achieved an “hourly-converted-to-annual” salary in the NS position
which equaled or exceeded the then hiring rate of the graded position that the
employee is being appointed to;
·
Calculate the total number
of hours that the employee served in such hourly or per diem NS position at a
rate equal to or greater than the hiring rate of the graded position (excluding
hours served at a rate lower than the hiring rate of the graded position); and
then
·
First such employee shall be
placed at the hiring rate of the annual salaried allocated position. Such employee’s salary shall then be
reconstructed consistent with the step advancement system in place for that
salary grade to a level commensurate with his/her qualifying years of service
(years served) in the previous “NS” hourly position or positions held
immediately prior to appointment to the annual salaried allocated position
(e.g., 3 years of service would result in reconstruction at step 3 of the
salary grade). For purposes of the
above, years of service shall be credited based on the summation of hours
actually worked in accordance with the hourly computation described in the
preceding paragraph, divided by the number of hours in a full work year
(2,088), rounded to the nearest whole year (e.g., 4,000 worked hours divided by
2,088 hours per year equals 2 years of service rounded). Provisions of Section 131.5(a)(i) or 131.5(b)(i) of the Civil Service Law shall not apply.
Sincerely,
John Currier
Deputy Director for Contract Negotiation and
Administration
Governor's Office of Employee Relations
Countersigned for PEF:
President
Mr.
President
Public Employees Federation, AFL-CIO
Dear Mr. Brynien:
To promote exploration of staffing
practices that minimize mandatory overtime, the parties hereby agree to a Pilot
Mandatory Overtime Reduction Program (hereafter, “Pilot Program”).
Under the Pilot Program,
nurses whose normal daily schedule is seven and one-half or eight hours shall
not be required, but may volunteer, to work more than 16 consecutive hours in a
24-hour period. This limitation on
mandatory overtime may be suspended at the employer’s discretion in an
emergency.
The term “emergency” as used
above shall mean an unscheduled situation or circumstance which is expected to
be of limited duration and either presents a clear and imminent danger to
person or property, or is likely to interfere with the conduct of the agency’s
or institution’s statutory mandates or programs. Examples include, but are not limited to,
weather emergencies, mass transit disruptions, terrorist alerts and attacks,
public health emergencies, fires, and/or other circumstances where there is a
critical need for coverage to ensure the continuation of State services.
The Appointing Authority shall
have sole discretion to determine what circumstances constitute an emergency as
defined above.
For the purposes of the Pilot
Program, the term “nurses” shall mean employees in a nursing title who spend
60% or more of their work time involved in direct care of clients and/or
patients.
The Pilot Program shall begin
on
The Pilot Program shall be
implemented in at least two facilities within each of the following
agencies: The Department of Health, The Office of Mental Health, the Office of Mental
Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, and the
The Joint Committee on Nursing
and Institutional Issues established by Article 44 of the Agreement shall meet
as soon as practicable after ratification of the Agreement to discuss
implementation of the Pilot Program and the development of standards for
evaluating the effectiveness of the Pilot Program. In no case shall the Joint Committee on
Nursing and Institutional Issues have the authority to modify the content of
the “Standard and Definitions” section above.
Prior to the April 1, 2010
expiration of the Pilot Program, a report on its effectiveness will be
delivered at an Executive Labor/Management meeting convened pursuant to Article
24.2 of the Agreement.
No aspect of this Pilot Program,
including the content of the “Standard and Definitions” section above, shall be
grievable under Article 34 of the Agreement.
Sincerely,
John Currier
Deputy Director for Contract
Negotiation and Administration
Governor’s Office of Employee
Relations
Countersigned for PEF:
President
Mr.
President
Public Employees
Federation, AFL-CIO
Re: Policy on Travel in Proximity of Official
Station or Home
Dear Mr. Brynien:
This is to confirm our understanding
reached during the course of negotiations of the 2007-2011 Agreement on the subject of mileage reimbursement when an
employee is not in travel status (i.e. when the employee is doing business
within 35 miles of his or her home or official station).
1) The Office of the
State Comptroller will amend the Travel Manual to address the appropriate
reimbursement of transportation expenses incurred by an employee when he or she
travels to an alternate work location less than 35 miles from his or her home
or official station. The amendment to
the Travel Manual will establish the following:
When an employee is assigned to work at
an alternate work location less than 35 miles from home or official station,
the employee is not considered to be in travel status.
However, an employee may be entitled to reimbursement of transportation
expenses associated with travel to the alternate work location. At minimum, mileage will be reimbursed at the
appropriate mileage reimbursement rate as established in Article 8.2 using the
“lesser of mileage rule.” This rule
provides that employees will be reimbursed the lesser of 1) mileage from home
to the alternate work location or 2) mileage from the official station to the
alternate work location. Agency management will continue to have the discretion
to establish a reasonable reimbursement policy that provides for reimbursement
in excess of the “lesser of mileage rule” for business-related mileage when an
employee is not in travel status.
2) Section 8.2 of the
Comptroller’s Rules and Regulations and the OSC Travel Manual will be changed
to establish the “lesser of mileage rule” consistent with the above policy
change.
3) The above policy
will be effective
or home.
Effective
4) The amendment to
the Travel Manual, Section 8.2 of the Comptroller’s Rules and Regulations, or
an agency’s issuance or implementation of policy which are consistent with and
are adopted solely to implement the terms of paragraph three above, may not be
grieved or form the basis for an improper practice charge, or any other legal
or administrative action.
Sincerely,
John Currier
Deputy Director for Contract
Negotiation and Administration
Governor’s Office of
Employee Relations
Countersigned for PEF:
President
Mr.
Public Employees Federation, AFL-CIO
Dear Mr. Brynien:
This
letter will confirm the understandings reached by the parties during the
negotiation of the 2007-2011 State/PEF Agreement regarding flexibility in the
administration of the Empire Plan Prescription Drug Formulary.
Commencing
with the plan-year beginning
All
other Prescription Drug Program Formulary-administrative processes remain
unchanged.
Sincerely, Countersigned for PEF:
John Currier
Deputy for Contract Negotiation President
and
Administration
Governor’s Office of Employee Relations
Mr.
Public Employees Federation,
AFL-CIO
Dear Mr. Brynien:
This letter will confirm the
understandings reached by the parties during the negotiation of the 2007-2011
State/PEF Agreement regarding the development and implementation of an Empire
Plan Specialty Pharmacy Program.
In order to promote superior clinical
outcomes and more appropriate utilization consistent with Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) and other best practice guidelines for the use of certain
prescription drugs, the State may elect to establish an Empire Plan Specialty
Pharmacy Program. If the State elects to
do so, effective on an implementation date to be determined, the Program will
consist of a network of one or more Specialty Pharmacies.
1. For purposes of this Program, Specialty Drugs that
will be eligible for inclusion are defined as:
·
“orphan drugs”;
·
drugs
requiring special handling, special administration and/or intensive patient
monitoring/testing;
·
biotech drugs developed from human cell proteins and DNA, targeted
to treat disease at the cellular level; or,
·
other drugs identified by the Program as used to treat patients with
chronic or life threatening diseases.
2. Enrollees currently using, and physicians currently prescribing drugs that will be included
in the Specialty Program will be notified in writing at least 30 days in
advance of the implementation date.
3. Following
implementation, enrollees may fill one prescription for a drug included in the
Specialty Program at a Non-Specialty Network pharmacy, except for those drugs
identified as being used for short-term therapy for which a delay in starting
therapy would not affect clinical outcome.
4. Enrollees
initially filling a prescription for a Specialty Drug at a Non-Specialty
Network pharmacy will be contacted by the Program and advised that they must
obtain all refills after the allowed fill(s) through the Specialty Drug
Program. Thereafter, any additional
claims for the same drug will be blocked at Non-Specialty Network pharmacies.
5.
Beyond
the initial fill(s) described in (3) above, enrollees must contact the
Specialty Referral Line, accessible through the NYSHIP toll-free telephone
line, prior to obtaining a drug included in the Specialty Program, in order to
receive the maximum available benefit.
Enrollee calls will be transferred directly to the participating
specialty pharmacy that has agreed to provide the drug in question.
6.
The
Program Administrator will obtain all necessary information from enrollees and
physicians in order to conduct prior authorization and enhanced case management
of the utilization of these drugs to ensure that administration will be
consistent with approved FDA indications and guidelines for administration and
nationally accepted medical protocols.
7. Once
an enrollee contacts the Specialty Referral Line, subsequent fills and refills
for the same drug should be requested directly from the Specialty Pharmacy.
8. Any and all prescription(s), initial or refill, for designated Specialty Drugs will be
limited to a 30-day supply, unless otherwise agreed to by the State and the
Program administrator.
9. All Specialty
Pharmacies that are participating in the Specialty Drug Program will provide enrollees
with 24/7/365 access to a pharmacist.
10. Drugs meeting the above definition of a
“Specialty Drug” will be excluded from coverage under the “standard” Empire
Plan Prescription Drug benefit and will be provided through the Empire Plan
Specialty Drug Program.
11. Drugs meeting the
above definition of a “Specialty Drug” that are not included in the Empire Plan
Specialty Drug benefit will continue to be covered under the “standard” Empire
Plan Prescription Drug Program.
12.
Drugs
included in the Specialty Drug Program will be assigned to tiers and subject to
the same copayments as drugs covered under the
“standard” Empire Plan Prescription Drug benefit.
13. Other than the accommodation described
in (3) above, drugs included in the Specialty Program that are purchased
without contacting the Specialty Referral Line will be treated as subscriber
submitted claims and will be reimbursed in the same manner as subscriber
submitted claims under the Empire Plan Prescription Drug Program: the enrollee
will be reimbursed the lesser of the pharmacy charge or the amount the Program
would have paid through the Specialty Drug Program less the appropriate
copayment.
Sincerely,
John Currier
Deputy Director
for Contract Negotiation and Administration
Governor’s Office
of Employee Relations
Countersigned for
PEF:
President
Mr.
President
Public Employees Federation,
AFL-CIO
Dear Mr. Brynien:
This letter will confirm the
understandings reached by the parties during the negotiation of the 2007-2011
State/PEF Agreement regarding a study of the State Dental and Vision Programs.
The parties agree that the NYS/PEF Joint
Committee on Health Benefits will conduct a comprehensive analysis of the State
Dental and Vision Programs. Such
analysis shall include examination of alternate benefit design(s), benefit
levels, funding and/or cost sharing alternatives, insured vs. self-funded
programs, statutory requirements and limitations, supplemental programs, and
such other administrative, legislative, or financial considerations as deemed
necessary and appropriate by the Joint Committee for a complete and thorough
review.
The State agrees to seek appropriate
legislative funding for the study, which will be conducted through the NYS/PEF
Joint Committee on Health Benefits.
Sincerely,
Deputy Director for Contract
Negotiation and Administration
Governor’s Office of Employee
Relations
Countersigned for PEF:
President
Mr.
President
Public Employees Federation,
AFL-CIO
Dear Mr. Brynien:
This letter will confirm our agreement reached during the negotiations of the 2007-2011 Agreement between the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations and the Public Employees Federation (PEF) regarding occupational lenses under the New York State Vision Plan for employees in the Professional,