BILL NUMBER: S3349
SPONSOR: SCARCELLA-SPANTON
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the civil service law, in relation to safe staffing for
public employees of institutional settings
 
PURPOSE:
This bill will prohibit the mandating of excessive overtime at state run
correctional facilities, locally run correctional facilities or jails,
juvenile offender and adolescent offender facilities and certain facili-
ties regulated by the Office of. Mental Health and the Office for People
with Developmental Disabilities.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Employees of covered facilities shall not be required to work in excess
of the following, except during a declared emergency or in accordance
with provisions of a collective bargaining agreement:
- The scheduled shift or duty period;
- Seventeen hours in any 24-hour period;
- 80 - hours in a consecutive 14-day period. Administrators of covered
facilities will be required to report, quarterly, on staffing levels,
vacancies, waiting lists and various other staffing and facility related
issues.
 
EXISTING LAW:
Collective bargaining agreements cover procedures and pay for overtime
shifts but are often silent on overuse of overtime by facilities or
agencies. This bill will provide statewide caps on overtime for employ-
ees of various state-run or locally run institutional settings.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
It is in the interest and the responsibility of the state and local
governments to provide for a safe, stable and humane environment for
residents and staff of the custodial facilities within the state of New
York. The maintenance of order, security, safety and care for all in
custodial facilities currently falls upon a workforce stretched beyond
its limits. Recruitment and retention of staff is at a crisis at all
levels and in all facilities within the state. Double and triple shifts
are the norm, creating unsafe conditions for residents and staff. There-
fore, it is in the interest of the state to set maximum overtime levels
to ensure staff safety and a humane environment for residents of custo-
dial facilities.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024; Held in Senate Civil Service and Pensions.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
60 days after being signed into law.