Labor & Employment Law

Change in procedure to designate SUNY positions in the unclassified service vetoed

Senate 6780-b, Veto #162

Sentate.6780-B [Robach]; Assembly 11126-A [Abbate] which is describe as a bill to prohibit ?the State Civil Service commission from designating a SUNY position in the unclassified service if that position is the same or is substantially similar in the scope and duties as existing positions in the classified service? has been vetoed by the Governor.

Civil Service Law Section 35(h) currently provides ?all positions in the state university in the professional service as defined in subdivision three of section three hundred fifty-five-a of the education law, which positions shall be determined by the chancellor of the state university and certified by him to the civil service commission; provided, however, that any state university position in the classified service which the chancellor seeks to designate as unclassified must be approved by the civil service commission before such change in designation.?

Enactment of Senate 6780-b/Assembly 11126-A would have changed this by requiring that a SUNY campus notify the local union president of the collective bargaining units representing employees in both the classified service and in the unclassified service of a proposed jurisdictional classification to the unclassified service. A local presidents could file objections to the filling of such positions. The bill further provided that no position that is the subject of a dispute may be filled by SUNY pending resolution of the controversy nor could any such position be filled until a final determination designating the ?negotiating unit? for the position is issued by the Public Employment Relations Board.

Similar changes were proposed for unclassified service determinations of positions with community colleges.

The memorandum in support of this bill stated, in part:

Section 35 of the Civil Service Law outlines the process for SUNY to classify positions in
the unclassified service, which is made up mainly of professional, teaching and other
positions unique to the role of SUNY. The current process however, is vague and allows
too much leeway for SUNY to designate as unclassified new positions that encompass
clerical, administrative and other duties that have been historically in the classified
service.

Full post as published by New York Public Personnel Law on September 30, 2008 (boomark / email).