New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 2 - DEPARTMENT OF AUDIT AND CONTROL › Chapter VI - New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System and New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System › Part 315 - Employer Reporting › Section 315.5 - Reporting requirements for service credit involving public safety overtime

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a)
				Background. The Retirement System has long considered certain special duty
				assignments that consisted primarily of security work performed by public
				safety professionals at the request of a private entity on a voluntary basis,
				paid or reimbursed by the private entity, performed under the direction of the
				private entity, or primarily for the benefit of the private entity not to be
				creditable because such assignments did not constitute paid public service with
				a participating employer. Courts have upheld the Retirement System's position
				that such work, often referred to as "private entity overtime" was not
				allowable service, and was not within the realm of the employee's duties for
				the participating employer. In recent years, however, the manner in which
				special duty assignments performed at the request of private entities are
				assigned, supervised, and compensated has changed. Today, special duty
				assignments a re often mandatory and are directed and controlled by the public
				employer. Compensation to the employee is paid by the public employer, not the
				private entity. In recognition of the changing nature of special duty
				assignments, the Retirement System has determined that those special duty
				assignments that meet the criteria established by the Retirement System,
				qualify as "public safety overtime" and shall be considered allowable
				service.
(b) Definition. For
				purposes of the section, "public safety overtime" shall mean overtime service
				for hours worked in excess of regularly scheduled hours that is performed by a
				member as a special duty assignment that meets the criteria set forth in
				subdivision (g) of this section.
(c) Applicability. This section applies to
				the following members: Active members of the New York State and Local Police
				and Fire Retirement System who are engaged in police or fire service as defined
				in Subdivision 11 of Section 302  of the Retirement and Social Security
				Law; and Active members of the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement
				System who are employed as sheriffs, under-sheriffs or regular deputy sheriffs
				engaged directly in criminal law enforcement activities that aggregate fifty
				per centum of his or her job duties as certified by the county.
(d) Reporting. The employer of any member
				covered by this section shall report all special duty assignments to the
				Retirement System at such time and in such manner as prescribed by the
				Retirement System. The Retirement System is authorized to audit all such
				reports to confirm that only those special duty assignments that qualify as
				public safety overtime are treated as allowable service.
(e) Information required from employers. The
				employer shall provide any and all documents requested by the Retirement System
				for the purpose of confirming that the reported special duty assignment is
				allowable public safety overtime. Examples of the documents that may be
				requested shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. The contract or other written agreement
				between the private entity and the employer describing the services to be
				performed as the special duty assignment;
2. The employer's overtime policy and/or
				collective bargaining agreement; and
3. Payroll documents associated with the
				special duty assignment.