§ 201-A — Flexible benefits program for certain state officers and employees

§ 201-a. Flexible benefits program for certain state officers and\nemployees. 1. This section shall be applicable to employees as defined\nin subdivision one of section eleven of chapter four hundred sixty of\nthe laws of nineteen hundred eighty-two, as amended and employees and\nofficers of public authorities and public benefit corporations, annual\nemployees of the legislative branch, and judges and justices of the\nunified court system and non-judicial employees of the unified court\nsystem whose positions are not in collective negotiating units under\narticle fourteen of the civil service law who elect to participate in\nthe benefits of the employee benefit program provided by paragraph (a)\nof subdivision two of section eleven of chapter four hundred sixty of\nthe laws of nineteen hundred eighty-two, as amended.\n 2. The director of employee relations, in consultation with the\ndirector of the budget and the president of the civil service\ncommission, is authorized to establish a flexible benefits program\nconsistent with sections seventy-nine, one hundred five, one hundred\nsix, one hundred twenty-five and one hundred twenty-nine of the internal\nrevenue code and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, and implement\nsuch program subject to the approval of the director of the budget.\n 3. At the request of an employee as defined in subdivision one of this\nsection, the comptroller shall, by payroll deduction, defer the payment\nof part of the compensation of such employee as provided in a written\nstatement by the employee for the purpose of establishing and\nmaintaining a flexible spending account as authorized in subdivision two\nof this section, and shall transfer the amount so deferred to the\nauthorized program administrator.\n 4. The term "program administrator" shall mean that agent, as\ndetermined by the director of employee relations, responsible for the\nmaintenance and management of flexible spending accounts as authorized\nin subdivision two of this section.\n 5. Moneys held in such accounts for the employees of each such\nparticipating employer shall be held by the program administrator as\nagent for the participating employee and shall be accounted for\nseparately and shall remain the property of such participating employer.\nNotwithstanding any law to the contrary, moneys may be paid out of such\naccounts without any appropriation by law. All payments of moneys from\nsuch accounts shall be made only in accordance with the flexible\nbenefits program audit of the state comptroller. Any unexpended balances\nin such accounts at the end of a plan year as that term is so defined by\nthe internal revenue service shall be returned to the control of the\nparticipating employer and, in the case of the state, to the general\nfund.\n 6. To the extent permitted by section one hundred twenty-five of the\ninternal revenue code and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, any\nsalary deferred by an employee as defined in subdivision one of this\nsection under a flexible benefits program established pursuant to this\nsection shall be considered part of annual compensation for the purpose\nof computing retirement benefits.\n 7. Notwithstanding any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary,\nwhere, and to the extent that, an agreement between the state and an\nemployee organization entered into pursuant to article fourteen of the\ncivil service law on behalf of employees in a collective negotiating\nunit established pursuant to article fourteen of the civil service law\nprovides for flexible benefits provided by this section, such flexible\nbenefit program shall be established in accordance with such agreement.\n