N.Y. Civil Service Law § 7: Powers and duties of the president of the state civil service commission

§ 7. Powers and duties of the president of the state civil service

commission. The president of the commission shall have the following

powers and duties:

1. He shall be the head of the department of civil service and the

appointing officer thereof, and shall be responsible for the discharge

of the duties and functions of the department and for the enforcement of

the rules and regulations.

2. He may select suitable persons in the service of the state or any

of its civil divisions, after consulting the head of the department or

office in which such persons serve, to act as examiners under his

direction. Persons so selected shall be entitled to reimbursement from

the department for their actual and necessary expenses incurred in

connection with such service.

3. He shall adopt a departmental seal and require that it be used for

the authentication of orders and other documents and for such other

purposes as he may prescribe.

4. Subject to the provisions of this chapter and the rules established

thereunder, he shall make regulations for and have control of

examinations for the service of the state, and the civil divisions

thereof, except civil divisions for which a municipal commission

performs such function, and shall supervise and preserve the records

thereof.

5. He shall provide pre-retirement counseling services to employees of

the state and of the civil divisions thereof who are members of the

state retirement system, and in cooperation with such retirement system,

municipal civil service commissions, the adult education bureau of the

education department and local school boards, establish such courses on

personal counseling as may be necessary to prepare public employees for

retirement.

6. The president of the commission shall prepare an annual report

describing occupational injuries, illnesses, and workers' compensation

experience for all state agencies as defined by subdivision three of

section two-a of the state finance law. Such report shall be published

no later than September thirtieth of each year, beginning in two

thousand eight, and shall report information on the basis of the last

completed state fiscal year. In subsequent years, the report shall

include comparative data for up to five prior fiscal years if such data

is available. The report shall be delivered to the governor, the

legislature and to any labor organization that represents state agency

employees and shall be available to the public. The contents of the

report shall include the following information for each state agency,

broken down by institutions and facilities as was done in the report

previously published by the department entitled "Occupational Accidents

and Workers' Compensation Experience for NYS Government Employees"

published from nineteen hundred eighty-seven to nineteen hundred

ninety-two:

(a) the total number of employees, the number of work-related

accidents and the rate of work-related injuries and illnesses;

(b) the number of lost work time injuries and illnesses and the rate

of lost work time cases;

(c) the number of days of lost work time and the number and rate of

lost full time employees;

(d) the cost to the state of lost work time due to work-related cases;

(e) the cost to the state of medical expenses due to work-related

injuries and illnesses;

(f) a description of the types of injuries, the number of injuries and

illnesses of each type and the most common causes of those cases, and

the body part injured;

(g) a list of the job titles with work-related injury and illness

rates that are more than twenty-five percent above the average for all

state agencies;

(h) a list of the state agencies with work-related injury and illness

rates that are more than twenty-five percent above the average for all

state agencies;

(i) work-related injury and illness rates for all state agencies by

collective bargaining units; and

(j) a summary of findings and recommendations prepared in consultation

with the workers' compensation board and the state insurance fund for

state agencies regarding the prevention of injury and illnesses and the

reduction of costs due to these cases.

7. The president, with the assistance of the office of information

technology services as needed, shall prepare a report on or before the

first day of September two thousand eighteen and every three years

thereafter to be issued to the governor, the speaker of the assembly,

the temporary president of the senate, the minority leader of the

assembly, and the minority leader of the senate. Such report shall

detail current programs within state agencies that allow for alternative

work schedules or flexible work hours, the positive and negative

experiences for agencies in utilizing alternative work schedules or

flexible work hours, whether legal or practical reasons affect the

ability to offer such schedules, and any existing plans agencies may

have for altering schedule options available to employees. The president

shall compile input from agencies selected pursuant to this subdivision,

and each agency shall provide all available information upon request to

the president. The president may also include information about best

practices among selected agencies. Nothing set forth in this section

shall be construed to impede, infringe or diminish the rights and

benefits that accrue to employees and employers through collective

bargaining agreements, or otherwise diminish the integrity of the

collective bargaining relationship. For purposes of this subdivision,

"alternative work schedules or flexible work hours" shall mean an

ongoing schedule modification that applies to more than one employee in

a described business unit. Alternative work schedules or flexible work

hours shall not include voluntary reduction in work schedule agreements

and individualized work schedules.

8. The president shall have the power to review claims for

reimbursement submitted by public authorities or municipal corporations

other than a city with a population of a million or more pursuant to

section ninety-two-d of the general municipal law to determine if such

claim shall be approved, reduced, amended or rejected. Such review and

determination shall be made in accordance with section ninety-two-d of

the general municipal law.