NEW YORK STATE TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS
Changes to the Executive Order 205.2 (as of November 4th)
Any state that does not share a border with New York is considered “restricted”. Travelers from those states are subject to a mandatory quarantine upon entering New York, with the minimum being 4 days and the maximum being 14 days, depending on the circumstances. If the traveler obtains a negative Covid test 72 hours prior to entering to New York, on the fourth day “in state” they can request a second test. Should they receive a second negative test at that time, the traveler may then exit quarantine prior to the usual 14 day requirement. For all other travelers to New York who are unable to obtain a negative covid test 72 hours prior to entering the state, the mandatory quarantine continues to be 14 calendar days.
The only exemptions to the mandatory quarantine order are for those individuals traveling from CT, NJ, PA, MA or VT and where travel in the “restricted location” was for a limited duration of less than 24 hours.
2% INCREASE
On Friday, November 6th, CSEA had its Step 2 hearing on the grievance that was filed regarding our contractual 2 percent raise and retroactive money to April 1st. OCA advised CSEA should receive a decision on or before January 1st. Local Presidents do not expect a favorable decision at this step but are fully prepared to take this to arbitration. We will continue to keep you apprised of any developments.
GRIEVANCE FILED
On November 5th CSEA locals 333 and 334 filed multiple grievances in regards to the probation extensions of represented Court Officer Trainees across our respective Locals. On Thursday it was decided upon by the Union and the State Judiciary that these grievances would be combined and filed as a class action on behalf of all represented COT’s affected throughout the State. The grievance will be scheduled for a step 2 review in the near future.
PAY EQUITY STUDY
Attention State Employees: The NYS Department of Civil Service (DCS) Division of Classification & Compensation is conducting a Pay Equity Study of state and municipal employees to make sure the equivalent value of work is compensated at the same rate by public employers, regardless of race or gender, and to provide data to address any wage disparities. The last time this was done in the mid-1980s, the DCS upgraded nearly 240 titles. This is a periodic review to ensure the system is working as intended. CSEA is fortunate to have our Director of Research, Don Kelly, sitting on the advisory committee for this study to lend his expertise and advocate on behalf of CSEA members.
In the coming weeks, DCS will send out a questionnaire to a random sampling of approximately 20,000 state employees, many CSEA-represented. On November 30, a paper questionnaire will go out to those state employees without computer access, and then on December 2, they will send out electronic copies of the survey. For those selected, participation is mandatory, but you will be able to complete this on work time. Responses will be due back by the deadline of December 16.
CSEA supports this study and we urge all state employees who receive this survey to please complete it as quickly and thoroughly as possible. It is our understanding that DCS will follow up with a similar survey of local government workers following the survey of state workers. For more information, see the Frequently Asked Questions at: https://tinyurl.com/civilservicesurveyFAQ. You may also speak to your agency’s human resources office or email PayEquityStudy@cs.ny.gov
NYS DEFERRED COMP WEBINARS
Dan Kain from NYS Deferred Comp will be holding a Pre- Retirement webinar on Wednesday November 18th at 10:00am. He will also be holding an Enrollment webinar on Thursday November 19th at 10:00am. – The retirement webinars will focus on calculating your NYS pension, how and when to withdraw your NYS Deferred Comp money and the taxes involved with doing that. The Enrollment webinars will focus on the basics of deferred comp for anyone interested in learning more about the plan as well as how to enroll.
To register for one of the webinars, you may click here:
Pre- Retirement Webinar Wednesday, November 18, 2020 10:00 am
https://nationwidepcsales.webex.com/nationwidepcsales/onstage/g.php?MTID=eb635727d466f0f1e2ef8677a4eeee732
Enrollment Webinar Thursday, November 19, 2020 10:00 am
If you cannot attend but would still like to speak with Dan you can use the following link to set up an individual appointment:
http://dankainphoneappointment.myRetirementAppt.com
CSEA TESTIMONY AT LEGISLATIVE HEARING
This week, CSEA presented testimony to the Assembly Standing Committee on the Judiciary, relating to budget and staffing reductions in the Judiciary Branch.
The Unified Court System is expected to be facing a 10% cut to its budget next year, as are other state agencies as the state tries to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
CSEA Local 333 President Scott Gartland (Region 4) and CSEA Local 330 President Diane Hansen (Region 1) presented CSEA’s testimony to the legislature. The testimony stressed that the court system has still not fully recovered from cuts made during the last recession, and any cuts to non-judicial personnel next year would only endanger the functioning of the courts.
“There will likely be no easy decisions in State Fiscal Year 2021-22, but we must do all that we can to ensure that we don’t let this crisis drag our state down for years to come. CSEA can say with confidence that millions of New Yorkers from one end of the State to the other depend on our members to assist them in every type of civil and criminal case that exists. We also can say with confidence that any position that gets laid off will have their absence felt by their co-workers in the form of an additional work burden and by the public in terms of additional wait time for justice.”