BILL NUMBER: S8948
SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the civil service law, in relation to the disclosure of
information to employees
 
PURPOSE:
To promptly provide employees with all of the information relating to
allegations by employers that such employees are unable to perform their
duties due to a disability.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Amends subdivision 1 of section 72 of the Civil Service law;
and Section 2: Effective Date
 
JUSTIFICTION:
Section 72 of the Civil Service law provides public employers with a
process through which to seek medical examination(s) when an appointing
authority believes an employee is unable to perform the duties of his or
her position due to a physical or mental disability, other than a disa-
bility resulting from occupational injury or disease as defined in the
workers' compensation law.
Under current law, employees are provided written notice of the facts by
their employer outlining the basis for the reasons such employees are
deemed physically or mentally unfit for service. However, employees are
not provided copies of any correspondence, records or other supporting
documentation by the employer to the appointed medical officer charged
with evaluating the disability claim against such employee.
Employees currently only have 10 days from service of a notice by the
employer to impose a leave of absence to request a hearing. Employees
must make such determination without full access to the written claims
made to the medical officer against them.
Employees accused of being mentally or physically unfit for duty should
have access to all of the materials outlining the medical issues affect-
ing their physical or mental abilities so that they can accurately and
appropriately defend themselves before a hearing officer. This change
would allow affected employees to know the full concerns of the employer
and allow such employee to seek input from medical professionals in
their defense.
The law and applicable regulations neither provide nor require this
information to be shared with the employee until and unless the employee
is deemed unfit and appeals the determination of the agency placing them
on leave pursuant to the law. This leaves the employee unaware of the
specifics relied upon by both the agency and the medical examiner. If
the employee is fully aware of the circumstances, the employee may be
able to mitigate the conditions causing the alleged disability. This
could avoid a prolonged hearing process that can be very costly to both
the appointing authority and the employee.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None.  
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
The first of January next succeeding the date on which it shall have
become a law.

Statutes affected:
S8948: 72 civil service law, 72(1) civil service law