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David
A.
Paterson
Governor
DearAgencyCommissioners:
STATEOF
NEW
YORK
EXECUTIVEDEPARTMENT
DIVISION
OF
THEBUDGETSTATECAPITOLALBANY,
NEW
YORK12224
November18,2009
Robert
L.
Megna
Director
ofthe
Budget
TheVoluntarySeveranceProgramended
on
November11,2009.Ithascometoourattentionthatthousands·
of
employeesexpressedaninterest
in
participatingin.theprogram,butcertainagencieschosenottoaccepttheseemployeesintotheprogram.Asyouareaware,theStatecontinuestofaceseriousfiscalchallenges.Toaddressthissituation,theGovernorhasinstructedagenciestoaggressivelyofferseverancestoreducetheStateworkforceandmaximizesavingswhichwillassistwithclosingthe2010-11budgetgap.Anyadditionalpersonalservicesavingsrealizedthroughthisfinalextensionwillbecreditedtoagencies'
201
O ~
11
gapreductiontarget.ConsistentwiththeGovernor'sdirective,theSeveranceProgramwillbeextendedthroughJanuary20,2010.Employeeswhoelecttoretireunderthis.programwillneedtofileapplicationswiththeirretirementsystemnolaterthanDecember22,
2 0 0 9 ~ U n d e r
thisextendedprogram,tobecalledthePhase
II
SeveranceProgram,all
of
theexistingeligibilitycriteriaandprogramprovisionsotherwisereferenced
in
BudgetBulletin0-1125(exceptfortheemployeeseparationdate)willremain
in
effect.PleaseseeAttachmentAforspecificpolicyguidelines.Agenciesshouldmakeeveryefforttoincreasetheutilization
of
theSeveranceProgram.Accordingly,youshouldrecanvass·youremployeesforinterestintheprogramandofferseverancesto
as
manyemployees'asfeasible,includingsome
of
thosewhoweredeniedseVerances
in
thefirstphase
of
theprogram.PleasecontactyourrespectivebudgetexaminerwithanyquestionsyoumayhaveasyouimplementthePhase
II
SeveranceProgram.Thankyouforyourcontinuedeffortstoreducespendingandstreamlinetheworkforce.Sincerely,
/ U - t - e - t d ~
Robert
L.
MegnaAttachments
AttachmentA
Policy
Guidelines
of
Phase
II
SeveranceProgram
•SeverancepaymentswillonlybeavailabletoCSEA,PEFand
M/C
employees(unlessotherunionsagree
to
participatebyexecutingaMOUwiththeState)andparticipationwillbelimitedtoExecutiveBranchagencies.•Tobeeligible,anemployeemusthavebeen
in
active,full-timeannual-salaried.serviceinanlon-federallyfundedpositiononJuly
1,
2009and
at
thetimetheyelecttoparticipate
in
theProgram
..
HourJy
andnon-annualsalariedemployeesarenot
eligib1e
toparticipate
in
thePhase
II
SeveranceProgram.Additionally;employeesworkingunderSection
211
or
Section212
of
theRetirementandSocialSecurityLaware
n'ot
eligibletoparticipateinthePhase
II
SeveranceProgrnm.
.'
•AllCSEA
and
PEFemployeestowhomtheseveranceisofferedandacceptedmustsignanIrrevocableLetter
of
VoluntaryResignation,intheformprovidedinAttachment
B,
aspart
of
theiracceptance
..
For
M/C
employeestoparticipate
in
theseverance,they
must
signanIrrevocableLetter
of
ResignationintheformprovidedinAttachment
C.
•Employees
must
officially
resignandbe
off
the
Statepayrollnolaterthantheclose
of
business,January20,2010.
If
anemployee
is
eligible
for
retirement,andchooses
to
retire,aretirementapplication
with
theappropriateretirementsystem
must
befiledatleast
30
days
priorto
the-date
(»f
retirement
but
in
no
caselaterthanDecember22,2009.
•Payment
of
the$20,000severancewill
be
subjecttofinalconfirmationbytheagencythat$uchemployeehasinfactseparatedfromtheState'semployment.Ifsuchemplo)yeeiseligibleforretirement,andchoosestoretire,confirmationshouldbeprovidedfromtheNewYorkStateandLocalRetirementSystem(NYSLRS)on'anyotherapplicablepensionsystem.•Theseverancepaymentwill
notbe
used
in
thecalculation
of
anyretirementbenefitcalculatedbyNYSLRS,
or
otherapplicableretirementsystem,andshallbesubjectto
.all
usualandcustomarytaxesandwithholdings..•Allemployeeswhoparticipate,inthisprogramwillberestrictedfromre-hirebyExecutiveBranchagencies
of
theState,includingpublicauthoritiesasdefinedbySection2(1)
tOf
Chapter766
of
theLaws
of
New
York,2005,
for
aperiod
of
fiVe
yearsfromtrneeffectivedate
of
resignation(restrictedperiod).Afteremployeeshavebeenre-surveyedforinterest
in
participation,agenciesmustsubmitaPhase
II
SeverancePlanto
the
DiVision
ofthe
Budget
(DOB)
andtheGovernor'sOffice
orr
EmployeeRelations(GOER)nolaterthan
November30,2009.
As
of
thedateonthisletter,thereshould
b,e
nofurtheramendmentstotheseveranceplanspreviouslysubmittedandapprovedbyDOB.AllemployeesparticipatingundertherevisedseparationdeadlinesmustbelistedonthePhase
II
plans,evenifanemployeewasincluded
on
theinitialplananddidnotaccept
or
wasdeniedtheseverance.ThePhase
II
PlanshouldprovidetheinformationoutlinedinAttachmentD
..
Selection
of
eligibleemployeesniustbemadeonthebasis
of
whethertheemployeemeetstheaforementionedeligibility
c r i t ~ r i a .
Intheeventthatthelevel
of
interestexceedstheamount
of
severancesthatcanbeprudentlyoffered,theselectionshouldbemade
oli
thebasis
of
senioritywithinjobtitles,DOBwillapprovePhase
II
SeverancePlansandforwardsuchapprovedPlanstoagenciesandtheOffice
ofthe
.StateComptrollerforrecord-keepingandimplementationpurposes.Agenciesshouldimmediatelyinformemployees
of
approvaluponreceipt
of
su'ch
Plans.Participatingemployeeswhoelecttoretireshouldcontacttheapplicableretirementsystem·foraprojection
of
theirretirementbenefits.
ALL
EMPLOYEES.GRANTEDASEVERANCEMUSTBEOFFTHESTATE'S
PAYROLL
NOLATERTHANCLOSEOFBUSINESS
JANUARY
20,2010.
QuestionsontheSeveranceProgramshouldbedirectedto
your
budgetexaminer.Allcorrespondencebetweenagenciesand
DOB
andGOERrequiredbythislettershouldbeaddressedconcurreiltlyto:Mr.Robert
E.
Brondi,ChiefBudgetExaminerDivision
of
theBudgetStateCapitol,Room117.Albany,NY12224Bob.Brondi@budget.state.ny.usandMr.John
V.
Currier,DeputyDirectorGovernor'sOffice
of
EmployeeRelationsAgencyBuilding
2,
Suite1201Albany,NY12223-1250jcurrier@goer.state.ny.us.cc:[ChiefBudgetExaminer
of
DOB]Division
of
theBudgetStateCapitol,Room
__
.Albany,NY12224Emailaddress
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