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Demanding negotiations concerning changes in the employer's payroll system

Demanding negotiations concerning changes in the employer's payroll system
CSEA and Nassau County, 31 PERB 3032

Nassau County employees in a negotiating unit represented by the Civil Service Employees Association [CSEA] had been receiving their regular pay in one check and any payment for overtime in a second, supplemental check.

The County unilaterally discontinued its practice of issuing two separate paychecks to employees entitled to overtime when it adopted a new payroll system. The new system allowed it to combine an employee?s regular pay and his or her overtime pay, and other payments due the employee, in a single paycheck. The new payroll system also resulted in other processing and payment schedule changes.

CSEA filed an unfair labor practice charge with PERB contending that the payroll change initiated by Nassau County changed or affected mandatory subjects of negotiations and therefore Nassau was barred from making the change unilaterally.

PERB upheld its ALJ?s dismissal of the charge, ruling that Nassau County did not violate the Taylor Law by unilaterally deciding to include overtime [and other payments] in the employees regular paycheck.

Another issue involved the recording of leave accruals and usage. CSEA claimed that the County had discontinued providing unit members with a report of their time and leave record at the beginning of each year. The employees would then use the report to record their accrual and use of leave credits.

PERB said that this had not changed. Rather, the County had discontinued manually entering time and leave information on time cards for record keeping purposes and maintained that information using its new payroll system program. Employees wishing to check their leave and accrual records could do so by viewing a computer screen or reading a computer print out rather than reviewing a traditional ?time card.?

Significantly, PERB said that an employer may maintain a record of attendance of its employees and the maintenance of such a record is not mandatorily negotiable.

Full post as published by New York Public Personnel Law on June 30, 2010 (boomark / email).