Bill Text: NJ A1248 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires Civil Service Commission to establish and enforce clothing allowance policy for State employees; prohibits clothing allowance unless employment necessitates wearing of uniform or special clothing.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-01-10 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly State Government Committee [A1248 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-A1248-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
215th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2012 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman PAUL D. MORIARTY
District 4 (Camden and Gloucester)
SYNOPSIS
Requires Civil Service Commission to establish and enforce clothing allowance policy for State employees; prohibits clothing allowance unless employment necessitates wearing of uniform or special clothing.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning clothing allowances for State employees, and supplementing chapter 3 of Title 11A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section:
"Special clothing" means attire that is worn over, or in place of, regular clothing and is necessary to protect a State employee's clothing from damage, wear, or stains which occur in the normal performance of the employee's duties, or is necessary due to the sanitary or health conditions associated with the employee's duties or work environment. Special clothing includes, but is not limited to, an apron, laboratory smock, shop coat, coveralls, or protective footwear or headdress.
"Uniform" means an outer garment or other specified attire which is worn by a State employee to provide a distinctive and easily identifiable appearance, or to convey authority, during the performance of the employee's duties, and worn exclusively while carrying out those duties. A uniform includes, but is not limited to, law enforcement, corrections officer, or medical services attire. A uniform does not include normal business attire, obtained at the discretion of the employee, that is worn to demonstrate the general appearance of professionalism in a work environment, but is otherwise unrelated to the performance of the employee's duties.
b. The Civil Service Commission shall establish and enforce a policy on clothing allowances provided by appointing authorities to career service, senior executive service, and unclassified employees of the State for the purchase, maintenance, or replacement of uniforms or special clothing.
(1) (a) Each appointing authority of the State, to assist in the development and periodic review of the commission's policy, shall make a determination, at least once every three years as directed by the commission, as to which of its titles and positions within the State classification plan, established pursuant to N.J.S.11A:3-1, requires the wearing of a uniform or special clothing, based upon the assigned duties for those titles and positions.
(b) The determination of each appointing authority shall then be subject to the final approval of the commission, prior to the implementation by that appointing authority of the commission's clothing allowance policy concerning the purchase, maintenance, or replacement of uniforms or special clothing by State employees in the approved titles and positions.
(2) (a) A clothing allowance under the commission's policy shall only be available to those State employees who are required by their appointing authority to wear a uniform or special clothing, as determined by the appointing authority with the final approval of the commission pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection.
(b) After the effective date of this section, any ineligible State employee who erroneously receives a clothing allowance contrary to the commission's policy shall be liable for its repayment to the appropriate appointing authority, and may be subject to further disciplinary action of a kind determined by the commission pursuant to N.J.S.11A:2-20 if the employee acts knowingly in accepting the erroneous clothing allowance.
c. For purposes of carrying out the provisions of this section, the investigative, enforcement, and disciplinary authority provided to the commission and appointing authorities of the State under chapters 2 and 3 of Title 11A of the New Jersey Statutes shall apply with respect to all career service, senior executive service, and unclassified employees of the State.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fifth month next following enactment; provided, it shall only apply to a State employee upon the expiration of a binding collective negotiations agreement, if that agreement contains an applicable clothing allowance policy for the employee in force on that effective date; and provided further, that the Civil Service Commission and appointing authorities of the State may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance of the effective date as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the State's Civil Service Commission to establish and enforce a clothing allowance policy for career service, senior executive service, and unclassified employees of the State. It also prohibits any clothing allowance for such State employees unless their employment necessitates the wearing of uniforms or special clothing.
Under the bill, each civil service appointing authority, to assist in the development and periodic review of the commission's policy, must make a determination, at least once every three years as directed by the commission, as to which of its titles and positions within the State classification plan, established pursuant to N.J.S.11A:3-1, requires the wearing of a uniform or special clothing, based upon the assigned duties for those titles and positions. This determination is then subject to final approval by the commission, prior to the implementation by the appointing authority of the commission's clothing allowance policy.
Once a policy is in effect, an ineligible State employee who erroneously receives a clothing allowance contrary to that policy would be liable for its repayment to the appropriate appointing authority, and may be subject to further disciplinary action, as determined by rules established by the commission, if the employee acts knowingly in accepting the erroneous clothing allowance.
To carry out the provisions of the bill, the investigative, enforcement, and disciplinary authority provided to the commission and appointing authorities under chapters 2 and 3 of Title 11A of the New Jersey Statutes (N.J.S.11A:2-1 et seq.) would apply with respect to all career service, senior executive service, and unclassified employees of the State.
The provisions of the bill are based largely upon a recommendation for eliminating unnecessary clothing allowances contained in a report issued by the State Comptroller on April 13, 2011, titled An Analysis of Clothing Allowance Payments to White-Collar New Jersey State Employees. This report detailed the State's payments in recent years of millions of dollars in clothing allowances to professional employees who are neither required by employer policies to wear uniforms or special clothing, nor in need of doing so because their job duties do not in practice necessitate the wearing of uniforms or special clothing.
