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, in coordination with the office of information technology services, shall prepare a biennial report on or before the first day of September beginning September two thousand eighteen to be issued to 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 expanding or contracting options available to employees. The president shall compile input from agencies pursuant to this subdivision, and each agency shall provide all available information upon request to the president. However, no plan regarding alternative work schedules or flexible work hours shall be implemented and cannot be enforced with regard to employees represented by a bargaining unit unless and until such plan is implemented through a collective bargaining agreement. The president shall also include an analysis on any findings of best practices among agencies and whether agencies can adopt additional practices to provide alternative schedules or flexible work hours. 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 shall not include voluntary reduction in work schedule agreements and individualized work schedules.
Last modified: February 3, 2019