§ 71 — Accrual of liabilities

§ 71. Accrual of liabilities. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision\nof this article, a county may by local law provide for the operation of\na plan on an accrued liability basis whereby amounts charged to\nparticipants shall be based on the estimated total liability of\nparticipants actuarially computed, arising each year. A county also may\nby local law provide for the operation of a plan on an experience rating\nbasis, whereby amounts charged to participants shall be based either\npartially or totally on the past liability of participants. Once\nadopted, an accrued liability basis or an experience rating basis shall\nnot thereafter be discontinued.\n 2. If a county elects to operate its plan on an experience rating\nbasis, the chief elected official of such county shall create and\nappoint a labor-management safety committee. The purposes of the\ncommittee shall be to educate public employees of the plan participants\nin proper health and safety procedures in the work places of the\nparticipants, and to design such additional programs as may be\nappropriate to the development of a safe working environment in\nparticipants' facilities and job sites. The committee shall accomplish\nthese purposes by establishing and maintaining such employee safety and\nhealth programs as it deems appropriate and by publicizing the\navailability of such programs. The purposes and powers of the committee\nmay be expanded by the county by adopting rules and regulations pursuant\nto section sixty-five of this chapter.\n 3. The committee, which shall be appointed by the chief elected\nofficial, shall be comprised of an equal number of employer and employee\nrepresentatives consisting of not less than three nor more than five\nrepresentatives each of the employer and of the employees, respectively.\nThe participants in the plan shall submit to the chief elected official\na list of candidates for the labor-management safety committee. In cases\nin which employee organizations recognized or certified to represent\nemployees of the participants pursuant to article fourteen of the civil\nservice law exist, such recognized or certified employee organizations\nshall submit a list of employee candidates for the labor-management\nsafety committee to the chief elected official. The chief elected\nofficial shall create the committee from the lists of candidates so\nsubmitted. The chief elected official, or person designated by him,\nshall act as the chairperson of the committee, but shall not be entitled\nto vote on any committee business. The members of the committee shall\nserve without salary, but shall be entitled to reimbursement for\nreasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their\nofficial duties pursuant to this section. The committee shall meet at\nleast four times a year, with at least one meeting in each calendar\nquarter. The chairperson shall designate the dates of the meeting, and\nshall give at least ten days written notice to each committee member of\neach meeting. The costs and expenses of the committee and its health and\nsafety programs shall be an administrative expense of the plan.\n 4. A recognized or certified employee organization may file a\ngrievance in writing with the chief elected official of the county\nalleging that the county is not complying with subdivision two or three\nof this section. The grievance shall designate in detail the particulars\nin which the employee organization alleges the county has failed to\ncomply with either or both such subdivisions. The chief elected official\nshall answer the grievance in writing within fifteen days of its filing.\n 5. If such answer is unsatisfactory to the employee organization, or\nis not received by the employee organization within fifteen calendar\ndays, then the employee organization may submit the grievance to\narbitration. In such event the employee organization shall request in\nwriting a list of three arbitrators from the nearest regional office of\nthe American arbitration association. The association shall compile and\nsend a copy of such list to each party. Each party shall rank the\narbitrators in order of decreasing preference from one to three and\nshall return the marked list within ten calendar days of receipt to the\nregional office of the American arbitration association from which the\nlist was requested. Such office shall then determine the arbitrator most\nacceptable to both parties.\n 6. The arbitrator selected shall hear arguments from both parties and\nfrom such additional witnesses as the arbitrator deems necessary to\nassist in rendering a decision. Within thirty days of such hearing the\narbitrator shall render a decision which shall be final and binding on\nboth parties.\n