6. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and except as provided in paragraph (c) of subdivision three of this section, commencing April first, nineteen hundred seventy-seven all justices, judges, and nonjudicial officers and employees of the courts and court-related agencies of the unified court system set forth in subdivision one of this section shall be employees of the state of New York and the salaries, wages, hours and other terms and conditions of their employment shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of this section.
- (a) Such justices, judges, and nonjudicial officers and employees shall be placed on the payroll of the state of New York and shall be entitled to the salaries, wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment to which they were entitled pursuant to any law or contract in effect immediately prior to the effective date hereof, except that they shall receive the rates of reimbursement for travel and lodging expenses provided by the state to state-paid nonjudicial officers and employees of the unified court system not affected by this paragraph, provided, however, that where an agreement has expired with no successor contract yet having been executed prior to the effective date hereof a contract subsequently executed and retroactive to the expiration of such predecessor contract shall be controlling. Such salaries, wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment shall continue in effect until altered by state law or by the terms of a successor contract, except that salaries, wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment of such nonjudicial officers and employees not provided pursuant to contract and hours and other terms and conditions of employment of justices and judges may be altered by administrative action in accordance with law. Provided, however, that no liability shall be deemed to accrue to the state as result of any such law or contract for any period prior to April first, nineteen hundred seventy-seven.
- (b) Notwithstanding any provision of paragraph (a) of this subdivision every local law enacted, contract entered into or action taken by a political subdivision or other instrumentality of the state on or after the effective date of this paragraph with respect to the terms or conditions of employment of any such justice, judge, non-judicial officer or employee shall be subject to the prior approval of the administrative board of the judicial conference. Provided, however, that any such local law, contract or action affecting any such justice, judge, non-judicial officer or employee of any court of the unified court system located in a city for which an emergency financial control board has been created shall be subject only to the prior approval of such emergency financial control board.
- (c) For the purposes of this section, the term "salary" shall mean the annual salary otherwise payable to any judge, justice or nonjudicial officer or employee to whom the provisions of this section are applicable, exclusive of overtime compensation and any allowance in lieu of maintenance. The salary of the incumbent of a position compensable on an hourly or per diem basis, or on any basis other than at an annual salary rate, shall be deemed to be the salary which would otherwise be payable if the services were required on a full time annual basis for the number of hours per day and days per week established by law or administrative rules or orders for regular full-time employees.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law:
- (i) Any nonjudicial officer or employee of the courts and court-related agencies of the unified court system who becomes an employee of the state of New York pursuant to this subdivision may, at the option of such officer or employee, be credited with sick leave earned and accumulated but unused at the time he becomes a state employee, but not in excess of two hundred days and shall be credited with vacation leave earned and accumulated but unused at the time he becomes a state employee, but not in excess of forty days. Notwithstanding the foregoing, such nonjudicial officer or employee, with the approval of the state administrator, may elect at any time to be credited with additional sick leave credits by the state, to the extent such credits were earned prior to April first, nineteen hundred seventy-seven and not already so credited pursuant to this subparagraph (i); in such event, such sick leave credits shall not be available for the purposes of subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph. The state shall not award credit or compensation for any other time or leave credits, and shall not be liable for any terminal leave benefits based upon time or leave credits earned prior to April first, nineteen hundred seventy-seven.
- (ii) Every such nonjudicial officer or employee shall be entitled to receive payments for time or leave credits, other than sick leave or terminal leave, attributable to service rendered prior to April first, nineteen hundred seventy-seven, and not transferred to the state pursuant to subparagraph (i), which payments such nonjudicial officer or employee would otherwise have received from the political subdivision had he been involuntarily terminated without fault from the employ of the political subdivision on March thirty-first, nineteen hundred seventy-seven. Such credits shall be payable in cash before July first, nineteen hundred seventy-seven, if such credits would have been so payable by the political subdivision or if such officer or employee would otherwise have been retained on the payroll of the political subdivision until any such credits had been exhausted.
- (iii) At the time of retirement or any other permanent separation without fault from the employment of the state, any such nonjudicial officer or employee shall be entitled to receive from the political subdivision payments for terminal leave based upon any time and leave credits accrued before April first, nineteen hundred seventy-seven, and not transferred to the state pursuant to subparagraph (i) nor used in the computation of any award of compensation pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, which payments such nonjudicial officer or employee would otherwise have received from the political subdivision had he retired or separated from the service of the political subdivision on March thirty-first, nineteen hundred seventy-seven. If such officer or employee retires, such entitlement shall include payments he would have received from the political subdivision as if he had been eligible to retire and as if he had retired on March thirty-first, nineteen hundred seventy-seven. Any nonjudicial officer or employee who retires or is separated from service after March thirty-first, nineteen hundred seventy-seven, who is not entitled to receive payment hereunder solely because of insufficient service with the political subdivision prior to April first, nineteen hundred seventy-seven, shall receive from the political subdivision pro rata payments based upon such nonjudicial officer or employee's time and service with such local subdivision provided he is otherwise entitled to receive such payments based upon his combined service with the political subdivision and the state pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement negotiated with the state. Such credits shall be payable in cash if such credits would have been so payable by the political subdivision or if such officer or employee would otherwise have been retained on the payroll of the political subdivision until any such credits had been exhausted.
(e)
- (i) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all justices, judges and nonjudicial officers and employees of the courts and court-related agencies of the unified court system who became employees of the state of New York pursuant to this subdivision shall receive insurance benefits as set forth in this paragraph. Such justices, judges and nonjudicial officers or employees may elect to receive all of the insurance benefits provided by the state to state-paid justices, judges and nonjudicial officers and employees of the unified court system immediately prior to the effective date hereof. If such election is not made, such justices, judges and nonjudicial officers and employees shall be entitled to receive the insurance benefits to which they were entitled pursuant to any law or contract in effect immediately prior to the effective date hereof, in which case the political subdivision from which such justices, judges and nonjudicial officers and employees were entitled to receive insurance benefits shall continue to provide such insurance coverage and such justices, judges and nonjudicial officers and employees shall be deemed employees of the political subdivisions for purposes of receiving such insurance coverage and for the processing of claims thereunder. The state shall reimburse each political subdivision for the amount of premiums paid pursuant to this paragraph or, in the case of self-insurance, for the cost of the benefit paid by the political subdivision. Insurance benefits provided pursuant to this paragraph shall continue in effect until altered by law, administrative action in accordance with law, or, for those officers and employees receiving insurance benefits pursuant to contract, by the terms of a successor contract. Nothing in this paragraph shall preclude the state from enrolling any such justice, judge or nonjudicial officer or employee in the state insurance plan upon his withdrawal from the insurance plan paid for by the political subdivision pursuant to this paragraph. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, all justices, judges and nonjudicial officers and employees of the eleventh judicial district shall have the same dual insurance coverage, consisting of the state insurance plan and the insurance plan paid for by the political subdivision pursuant to this paragraph, which is provided to the justices, judges and nonjudicial officers and employees of the first and second judicial districts.
- (ii) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, all state-paid justices and judges and all state-paid nonjudicial officers and employees of the unified court system not in any collective negotiating unit established pursuant to article fourteen of the civil service law who, on the day immediately preceding the effective date of this subparagraph, are enrolled in a health insurance plan paid for by a political subdivision, shall be deemed withdrawn therefrom and shall exclusively be enrolled in the state health insurance plan.
- (f) All monetary contributions made by a political subdivision prior to April first, nineteen hundred seventy-seven on behalf of an individual justice, judge or nonjudicial officer or employee to a welfare fund administered by an employee organization or by a political subdivision shall, commencing April first, nineteen hundred seventy-seven, be paid by the state.
- (g) Each political subdivision shall be liable for the satisfaction of any claims by any officer or employee arising out of the terms and conditions of his employment prior to the date on which such officer or employee became a state employee pursuant to this subdivision.