§ 92-D — Sick leave for officers and employees with a qualifying World Trade Center condition

§ 92-d. Sick leave for officers and employees with a qualifying World\nTrade Center condition. 1.(a) Notwithstanding any other law, rule or\nregulation to the contrary, officers and employees of the state, a\npublic authority or any municipal corporation outside of a city with a\npopulation of one million or more who have filed and received approval\nfor such filed notice of participation in World Trade Center rescue,\nrecovery or cleanup operations or was a participant in World Trade\nCenter rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations as such term is defined\nin section one hundred sixty-one of the workers' compensation law, who\ndoes not have such filed and approved notice of participation and has\nfiled a notice of participation under section one hundred sixty-two of\nthe workers' compensation law and is now employed by the state, a public\nauthority, or any municipal corporation, and subsequently developed a\nqualifying World Trade Center condition, as defined in section two of\nthe retirement and social security law, shall, after the receipt of a\nwritten request for line of duty sick leave, be granted line of duty\nsick leave commencing on the date that such employee was diagnosed with\na qualifying World Trade Center condition regardless of whether such\nofficer or employee was employed by his or her current employer at the\ntime that such officer or employee participated in World Trade Center\nrescue, recovery or cleanup operations. The officer or employee shall be\ncompensated at his or her regular rate of pay for those regular work\nhours during which the officer or employee is absent from work due to\nhis or her qualifying World Trade Center condition. Such leave shall be\nprovided without loss of an officer or employee's accrued sick leave.\n (b) A public employer shall not take any adverse personnel action\nagainst a public employee regarding the employee's employment because\neither (i) the employee utilizes, or requests to utilize, sick leave or\nany other available leave due to a qualifying World Trade Center\ncondition, as such term is defined in section two of the retirement and\nsocial security law, or (ii) the employee utilizes or requests to\nutilize line of duty sick leave provided by this section.\n (c) For purposes of this section, an "adverse personnel action" means\nany discipline, including issuing a notice of discipline, discharge,\nsuspension, demotion, penalization, or discrimination against an\nemployee utilizing line of duty sick leave pursuant to paragraph (a) of\nthis subdivision.\n Nothing in this section shall be deemed to diminish or impair the\nrights of a public employee or employer under any law, rule, regulation\nor collectively negotiated agreement or to prohibit any personnel action\nwhich otherwise would have been taken regardless of any request to use,\nor utilization of, any sick leave or other available leave due to a\nqualifying World Trade Center condition or request to use, or\nutilization of, any line of duty sick leave provided by this section.\n 2.(a) Notwithstanding any other law, rule or regulation to the\ncontrary, officers and employees of a city with a population of one\nmillion or more who (i) do not receive benefits similar to those\nprovided by this section pursuant to a collectively bargained agreement,\nsection 14-122.1 of the administrative code of the city of New York,\nsection 15-108.1 of the administrative code of the city of New York, or\nother statutory provision and (ii) have filed and received approval for\nsuch filed notice of participation in World Trade Center rescue,\nrecovery or cleanup operations or was a participant in World Trade\nCenter rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations as such term is defined\nin section one hundred sixty-one of the workers' compensation law, who\ndoes not have such filed and approved notice of participation and has\nfiled a notice of participation under section one hundred sixty-two of\nthe workers' compensation law and is now employed by the state, a public\nauthority, or any municipal corporation, and subsequently developed a\nqualifying World Trade Center condition, as defined in section two of\nthe retirement and social security law, shall, after receipt of a\nwritten request for line of duty sick leave, be granted line of duty\nsick leave commencing on the date that such employee was diagnosed with\na qualifying World Trade Center condition regardless of whether such\nofficer or employee was employed by his or her current employer at the\ntime that such officer or employee participated in World Trade Center\nrescue, recovery or cleanup operations. The officer or employee shall be\ncompensated at his or her regular rate of pay for those regular work\nhours during which the officer or employee is absent from work due to\nhis or her qualifying World Trade Center condition. Such leave shall be\nprovided without loss of an officer or employee's accrued sick leave.\n (b) A public employer shall not take any adverse personnel action\nagainst a public employee regarding the employee's employment because\neither (i) the employee utilizes, or requests to utilize, sick leave or\nany other available leave due to a qualifying World Trade Center\ncondition, as such term is defined in section two of the retirement and\nsocial security law, or (ii) the employee utilizes or requests to\nutilize line of duty sick leave provided by this section.\n (c) For purposes of this section, an "adverse personnel action" means\nany discipline, including issuing a notice of discipline, discharge,\nsuspension, demotion, penalization, or discrimination against an\nemployee utilizing line of duty sick leave pursuant to subdivision one\nof this section.\n Nothing in this section shall be deemed to diminish or impair the\nrights of a public employee or employer under any law, rule, regulation\nor collectively negotiated agreement or to prohibit any personnel action\nwhich otherwise would have been taken regardless of any request to use,\nor utilization of, any sick leave or other available leave due to a\nqualifying World Trade Center condition or request to use, or\nutilization of, any line of duty sick leave provided by this section.\n 3. For purposes of this section, "cost" shall mean the number of days\nof sick leave that must be restored to an officer or employee pursuant\nto subdivision one or two of this section multiplied by such officer or\nemployee's wage rate at the time that such sick leave for which\nreimbursement is being sought was taken.\n 4. A request, for line of duty sick leave shall be in writing and\ninclude a waiver of the protection afforded to the officer or employee\npursuant to the health insurance portability and accountability act to\nallow disclosure of the officer or employee's approved notice of\nparticipation and any medical records concerning such officer or\nemployee's notice of participation or qualifying World Trade Center\ncondition in the possession of the retirement system or workers'\ncompensation board in which such officer or employee is a member for the\npurpose of reviewing, processing and auditing his or her claim for line\nof duty sick leave. Such waiver shall be in the form required by the\nretirement system of which he or she is a member or the workers'\ncompensation board, along with the application for line of duty sick\nleave, with his or her employer.\n 5. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, upon request\nfrom the state, public authority or municipal corporation other than a\ncity with a population of one million or more for a copy of an approved\nnotice of participation in World Trade Center rescue, recovery or\ncleanup operations for an officer or employee, the retirement system in\nwhich such officer or employee is a member and to which such officer or\nemployee filed his or her notice of participation in World Trade Center\nrescue, recovery or cleanup operations in accordance with paragraph (a)\nof subdivision thirty-six of section two of the retirement and social\nsecurity law, such retirement system shall provide a verified copy of\nsuch approved notice of participation that includes the date that such\nnotice was filed to such requestor. A copy of such verified notice of\nparticipation shall be filed with any claim for reimbursement submitted\nto the civil service department pursuant to subdivision four of this\nsection. Except as required for filing, review, and audit purposes, such\nverified notice of participation and all copies of such verified notice\nshall be confidential and not subject to disclosure pursuant to article\nsix of the public officers law.\n 6. A public authority or municipal corporation other than a city with\na population of one million or more shall submit any claim for\nreimbursement under this section to the civil service department. In\naccordance with subdivision eight of section seven of the civil service\nlaw, the civil service department shall review each claim to determine\nif such claim shall be approved, reduced, amended or rejected and shall\nnotify the submitting public authority or municipal corporation, within\nsixty days of receipt of such claim, as to its determination. Such\npublic authority or municipal corporation shall notify the civil service\ndepartment within thirty days after receipt of the civil service\ndepartment's notification, as to its acceptance or rejection of such\ndetermination. Failure to so notify the civil service department shall\nconstitute an acceptance of the determination. If accepted by such\npublic authority or municipal corporation, such acceptance shall\nconstitute the final and conclusive determination for such claim.\nNotwithstanding any other law to the contrary, there shall be no appeal\nof such determination to the civil service commission. If rejected by\nsuch public authority or municipal corporation, such public authority or\nmunicipal corporation may commence an action in accordance with the\nprovisions of article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules.\n 7. The civil service department shall certify all claims for which a\nfinal determination has been made. The civil service department shall\nsubmit all certified claims for payment on or before the first day of\nthe immediately succeeding month during which such claim was certified.\n 8. All claims certified by the civil service department shall be paid\nmonthly.\n