N.Y. Civil Service Law § 208: Rights accompanying certification or recognition

§ 208. Rights accompanying certification or recognition. 1. A public

employer shall extend to an employee organization certified or

recognized pursuant to this article the following rights:

(a) to represent the employees in negotiations notwithstanding the

existence of an agreement with an employee organization that is no

longer certified or recognized, and in the settlement of grievances; and

(b) to membership dues deduction, upon presentation of dues deduction

authorization cards signed by individual employees. A public employer

shall commence making such deductions as soon as practicable, but in no

case later than thirty days after receiving proof of a signed dues

deduction authorization card; and such dues shall be transmitted to the

certified or recognized employee organization within thirty days of the

deduction. A public employer shall accept a signed authorization to

deduct from the salary of a public employee an amount for the payment of

his or her dues in any format permitted by article three of the state

technology law. The right to such membership dues deduction shall remain

in full force and effect until:

(i) an individual employee revokes membership in the employee

organization in writing in accordance with the terms of the signed

authorization; or

(ii) the individual employee is no longer employed by the public

employer, provided that if such employee is, within a period of one

year, employed by the same public employer in a position represented by

the same employee organization, the right to such dues deduction shall

be automatically reinstated.

(c) Should the individual employee who has signed a dues deduction

authorization card either be removed from a public employer's payroll or

otherwise placed on any type of involuntary or voluntary leave of

absence, whether paid or unpaid, such public employee's membership in an

employee organization shall be continued upon that public employee's

return to the payroll or restoration to active duty from such a leave of

absence.

(d) Unless otherwise specified by a collective bargaining agreement,

upon the request of the employee organization, not more than quarterly,

the employer shall provide the employee organization the name, home

address, job title, employing agency or department or other operating

unit and work location of all employees of a bargaining unit. A failure

to comply with this paragraph shall be deemed an improper employer

practice pursuant to paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section two

hundred nine-a of this article.

2. An employee organization certified or recognized pursuant to this

article shall be entitled to unchallenged representation status until

seven months prior to the expiration of a written agreement between the

public employer and said employee organization determining terms and

conditions of employment. For the purposes of this subdivision, (a) any

such agreement for a term covering other than the fiscal year of the

public employer shall be deemed to expire with the fiscal year ending

immediately prior to the termination date of such agreement, (b) any

such agreement having a term in excess of three years shall be treated

as an agreement for a term of three years, provided, however, any such

agreement between the state and an employee organization representing

employees in the executive or judicial branches which commences in the

calendar year two thousand twenty-six having a term in excess of three

years shall be treated as an agreement for a term certain specified in

such agreement but in no event for a term greater than four years, and

(c) extensions of any such agreement shall not extend the period of

unchallenged representation status.

3. (a) Notwithstanding provisions of and restrictions of sections two

hundred two and two hundred nine-a of this article, and section two

hundred one of the state finance law, every employee organization that

has been recognized or certified as the exclusive representative of

employees of the state within a negotiating unit of classified civil

service employees, employees within a negotiating unit of civilian state

employees of the division of military and naval affairs or employees in

a collective negotiating unit established pursuant to this article for

the professional services in the state university, for the members of

the state police or for the members of the capitol buildings police

force of the office of general services shall be entitled to have

deducted from the wage or salary of the employees in such negotiating

unit who are not members of said employee organization the amount

equivalent to the dues levied by such employee organization, and the

state comptroller shall make such deductions and transmit the sum so

deducted to such employee organization. Provided, however, that the

foregoing provisions of this subdivision shall only be applicable in the

case of an employee organization which has established and maintained a

procedure providing for the refund to any employee demanding the return

any part of an agency shop fee deduction which represents the employee's

pro rata share of expenditures by the organization in aid of activities

or causes of a political or ideological nature only incidentally related

to terms and conditions of employment. Nothing herein shall be deemed to

require an employee to become a member of such employee organization.

(b) Notwithstanding provisions of and restrictions of sections two

hundred two and two hundred nine-a of this article and section

ninety-three-b of the general municipal law, every employee organization

that has been recognized or certified as the exclusive representative of

employees within a negotiating unit of other than state employees shall

be entitled to have deducted from the wage or salary of employees of

such negotiating unit who are not members of said employee organization

the amount equivalent to the dues levied by such employee organization

and the fiscal or disbursing officer of the local government or

authority involved shall make such deductions and transmit the sum so

deducted to such employee organization. Provided, however, that the

foregoing provisions of this subdivision shall only be applicable in the

case of an employee organization which has established and maintained a

procedure providing for the refund to any employee demanding the return

of any part of an agency shop fee deduction which represents the

employee's pro rata share of expenditures by the organization in aid of

activities or causes of a political or ideological nature only

incidentally related to terms and conditions of employment. Nothing

herein shall be deemed to require an employee to become a member of such

employee organization.

4. (a) Within thirty days of a public employee first being employed or

reemployed by a public employer, or within thirty days of being promoted

or transferred to a new bargaining unit, the public employer shall

notify the employee organization, if any, that represents that

bargaining unit of the employee's name, address, job title, employing

agency, department or other operating unit, and work location; and

(b) Within thirty days of providing the notice in paragraph a of this

subdivision, a public employer shall allow a duly appointed

representative of the employee organization that represents that

bargaining unit to meet with such employee for a reasonable amount of

time during his or her work time without charge to leave credits, unless

otherwise specified within an agreement bargained collectively under

article fourteen of the civil service law, provided however that

arrangements for such meeting must be scheduled in consultation with a

designated representative of the public employer; and

(c) Upon the request of the certified and recognized employee

organization, and if the public employer conducts new employee

orientations, the public employer shall provide the employee

organization mandatory access to such new employee orientations. The

employee organization shall receive not less than ten days' notice in

advance of an orientation, except that a shorter notice may be provided

in a specific instance where there is an urgent need critical to the

employer's operations that was not reasonably foreseeable to provide

such notice. The structure, time, and manner of exclusive representative

access shall be determined through mutual agreement between the employer

and the employee organization.

5. (a) If any clause, sentence, paragraph, or subdivision of this

section shall be adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be

unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, such judgment shall not affect,

impair or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its

operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, or subdivision of this

section directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment

shall have been rendered.

(b) If any clause, sentence, paragraph, or part of a signed

authorization shall be adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to

be unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, such determination shall not

affect, impair or invalidate the remainder of such signed authorization

but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence,

paragraph, or part of the signed authorization directly involved in the

controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered.