Key Programs

Contract Negotiation and Administration Unit

Contract Negotiation and Administration Unit serve as key liaisons between the Governor and agency management on labor relations issues. Each staff member has responsibilities for a specific set of agencies or program areas and works closely with assigned agencies on all labor relations matters.

Management/Confidential Programs

The primary responsibility of Management/Confidential (M/C) Programs is to represent the interests and concerns of the State’s management and confidential employees, consistent with State policy and available resources.

Health and Safety Unit

The Health and Safety Unit negotiates and supports negotiations on safety and health articles in the collective bargaining agreements. The unit provides technical assistance and policy recommendations on a range of safety and health issues.

Research Unit

The Research Unit is an integral part of the core OER mission to represent the Governor in negotiating and implementing collective bargaining agreements with 14 bargaining units. Staff in the Research Unit works with negotiators and Counsel’s staff to develop both specific bargaining unit expertise and general assistance in all labor relations matters.

Employee Benefits Management Unit

The Employee Benefits Management Unit is responsible for negotiating the health insurance portion of the negotiated agreements, developing and implementing benefit programs on behalf of Management/Confidential(M/C), legislative, and other non-represented employees, representing OER on the Joint Committees on Health Benefits to cooperatively design, implement, and monitor the New York State Health Insurance Plan (NYSHIP), ensuring that the health maintenance organizations (HMOs) are providing quality, cost-effective coverage, researching emerging developments in health care, and overseeing flexible spending accounts that allow employees access to benefits on a pre-tax basis.

Workforce and Organizational Development Unit

The Workforce and Organizational Development Unit provides high-quality learning and development opportunities to enhance the performance and effectiveness of the NYS workforce. The unit serves NYS employees through the State’s negotiated agreements with the Public Employees Federation (PEF), the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), and the Management/Confidential (M/C) pay bill.

Counsel’s Office

Under the direction of the agency’s General Counsel, a cadre of staff attorneys provides a full range of labor and employee relations legal services and representation to the Director, OER staff, the statewide Labor-Management Committees, and Executive Branch agencies.

Disciplinary Panel Administration

The Disciplinary Panel Administration and Time and Attendance Umpire Panel is jointly funded by the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the State of New York and the Civil Service Employees Association, Inc. (CSEA) to jointly administer the Article 33 disciplinary process. The Unit schedules hearings for grievance appeals that have been filed in regard to a Notice of Discipline served to a CSEA-represented employee of the State of New York.

Time and Attendance Panel Administration

Counsel’s Office also helped develop and continues to provide direction and contract interpretation for the Time and Attendance Panel Administration system implemented pursuant to the negotiated agreements with CSEA. The Time and Attendance Panel is made up of two arbitrators, called “umpires,” selected by the State and CSEA, who hear all time and attendance Notices of Disciplines involving CSEA-represented State employees. The process is an expedited one which allows for many cases to be heard by an umpire each day.

The Anti Discrimination Investigations Division (ADID) is responsible for conducting investigations of all employment-related discrimination complaints for the majority of State agencies. These investigations include complaints filed by employees, contractors, interns, and other persons engaged in employment at State agencies and departments concerning discrimination, retaliation, and harassment based on protected class under Federal and New York State law, Executive Orders, and policies of the State of New York. ADID has a Director and Counsel for Investigations (“Director”), an Assistant Director, and support staff. ADID also has four Assistant Counsels and a number of Affirmative Action Administrators (“AAOs”).

The Division for Administration (DFA) was established in 1982 to provide personnel and financial support services to the OER and the statewide labor-management committees. Administrative services are also provided to the State’s Deferred Compensation Plan. The division is divided into five major functional areas: finance, human resources management, contract development and management, support services, and the OER website. DFA’s mission is to support all agency programs and ensure that available fiscal resources are used effectively.

NYS & CSEA Partnership for Education & Training 

The NYS & CSEA Partnership for Education and Training (Partnership) administers workforce development resources for over 60,000 CSEA-represented NYS employees and their agency managers and CSEA leaders. Under the leadership of two co-directors, Partnership programs and services are committed to cooperative labor-management relations for organizational effectiveness and employee quality of work life. A joint labor-management board of directors directs and oversees Partnership activities.

Work-Life Services 
Work-Life Services includes three negotiated labor-management programs jointly funded by the State and CSEA, PEF, UUP, DC-37, NYSCOPBA, PBANYS, GSEU, and Council 82: Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Network Child Care Centers, and Pre-Retirement Planning. The Work-Life Services Advisory Board, consisting of union and management representatives, oversees the programs, setting general policy and approving major program initiatives. 

New York State-PEF Labor-Management Committees 
The Professional, Development and Quality of Working Life Coordinating Committee (PDQCC) was established as the lead LMC by Article 14 of the State-PEF collective bargaining agreement. The PDQCC is responsible for coordinating and overseeing the activities of the three issue-specific joint committees established in the agreement. These committees are: 

• Professional Development Committee - Article 15 
• Joint Health and Safety Committee - Article 18 
• Employment Security Committee - Article 22 
• Joint Workers’ Compensation Committee - Article 13 

The PDQCC may also consider professional development or quality of work life issues that are not within the sphere of any of the issue-specific joint committees.

State-NYSCOPBA Labor-Management Committee, State Council 82 Labor-Management Committee and State PBANYS Labor-Management Committee
The purpose of the Labor-Management Committees (LMC) is to coordinate and administer programs through funding provided by Articles 13 and 25 of the collective bargaining agreements between the State and employees represented by the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, Inc. (NYSCOPBA), Council 82, and the Police Benevolent Association of New York State (PBANYS). The LMCs support programs that address quality of work-life, use of force prevention training, tuition reimbursement, the Organizational Alcoholism Program, the Employee Assistance Program, the Blood Exposure Response Team, and labor-management training.

New York State-United University Professions Joint Labor-Management Committees
The New York State-United University Professions Joint Labor-Management Committees (NYS/UUP JLMCs) provide funding for academic and professional faculty in the 29 State University of New York (SUNY) State-operated campuses to address mutually identified issues affecting the quality and productivity of the SUNY system. The joint efforts of labor and management have resulted in projects and activities that have contributed to employees’ professional development, advanced inclusion and diversity in SUNY’s workforce, promoted research and scholarship, identified and reviewed technology issues and the application of technology, provided retraining opportunities when required by shifting program needs or retrenchment, and improved safety conditions and the general health of the workforce.

NYS-State Police Units Labor-Management Committee
The members of the Division of State Police are assigned to three bargaining units. The Police Benevolent Association of the New York State Troopers, Inc., (PBA) represents two of the units, the Commissioned and Non-Commissioned Officers Unit and the Trooper Unit, while the New York State Police Investigators Association (NYSPIA) represents the investigators and senior investigators in the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. These committees address the specific concerns of each group at the division level. They focus on professional development needs, quality of working life issues, and the training and development needs of their respective bargaining units. These committees also provide funding for an advanced degree opportunity program, tuition reimbursement and the Division’s EAP program for sworn members.