Job Description

Duties Description The Bureau of Employee and Labor Relations represents the Agency in the administration of collective bargaining agreements and various provision of Civil Service Law for more than 20,000 state employees. The Labor Relations representatives administer the statewide disciplinary processes for OPWDD employees in assigned geographic areas and may respresent OPWDD at hearings before arbitrators, PERB, and others. The Labor Relations representative may respond to and resolve grievances, and provide support to human resources professionals and other managers. The Bureau is responsible for the administration of bargaining unit contract agreeemnts with multiple public employee unions representing the Agency's employees.
Under the supervision of the Associate Director of Employee Relations, the Human Resources Specialist 3 Labor Relations may be responsible for:
-Acting as the Central Office Labor Relations liaison with officials form all bargaining units which serve agency employees.
-Working with union representatives to resolve workplace issues, including policy and contract interpretation.
-Conducting investigations into employee misconduct.
-Reviewing and analyzing investigative reports and resolving disciplinary cases through settlement or binding arbitration.
-Administering the discipline process, including drafting Notices of Discipline, negotiating settlements, and representing the Agency at Arbitration.
-Providing support and advice to supervisors and Human Resources professionals.
-Acting as liaison with Office of Employee Relations on Grievance Arbitrations, discipline issues, and PERB-related matters.
-Working closely with managers, regional administrative services staff, and subordinate staff regarding labor relations matters.
Two Human Resources Specialist 3 Labor Relations positions are being filled. The positions are temporary shadow positions leading to permanent appointment.
Positions may be located at any of the below locations:
-Monroe-620 Westfall Rd, Rochester
-Erie-1200 East & West Rd, West Seneca
-Albany-44 Holland Ave, Albany
-Richmond-1150 Forest Hill Rd, Staten Island
-Bronx-2400 Halsey Street, Bronx
-Suffolk-45 Mall Drive, Commack
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Minimum Qualifications Candidate must be reachable on the current Civil Service list for Human Resources Specialist 3 Labor Relations.
OR
Transfer: Candidates must have one year of permanent competitive or 55-b/c status in the posted title and be eligible for lateral transfer; OR be eligible to transfer via Section 70.1, 70.4, or 52.6 of Civil Service Law. The transfer cannot be a second consecutive transfer resulting in an advancement of more than two salary grades.
To determine if your current Civil Service title is eligible for transfer to this title, visit the Career Mobility GOT-IT website: https://careermobilityoffice.cs.ny.gov/cmo/gotit/index.cfm.
Additional Comments o If you are currently a New York State employee serving in a permanent competitive qualifying title and eligible for a transfer via Section 70.1 or 52.6 of the Civil Service Law, you may be appointed to this title as a permanent competitive employee.

• Preference will be given to OPWDD employees impacted by closures. If you are being impacted by closure, please indicate this on your resume.

• All OPWDD employees must be eligible and maintain eligibility for full and unconditional participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Continued employment will depend on maintaining eligibility.

• If you are employed by state government you may be able to receive loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF). The PSLF Program forgives the remaining balance on Direct Loans after 120 qualifying monthly payments have been made under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time for a qualifying employer. For more information on PSLF, please visit www.studentAid.gov/publicservice.

• Employees on long term leave can bid on positions but must be able to report to work within fourteen (14) days and be able to perform the essential functions of their positions with or without reasonable accommodation (RA).

• If an employee or job applicant believes that they need a reasonable accommodation, they should contact the Reasonable Accommodation Unit at (518) 486-7222 or email accommodationrequests@opwdd.ny.gov to obtain information and RA forms.

• Savings programs such as the U.S. Savings Bond and the College Savings Plan.

• Voluntary pre-tax savings programs such as Health Care Spending Account and the Dependent Care Advantage Account offer employees options to pay for uncovered health care expenses or dependent care expenses.

• Access to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) an assessment and referral service that connects employees with local service providers and support services to address their personal needs.

• Life insurance and Disability insurance.

• The New York State Deferred Compensation Plan is a voluntary retirement plan that offers employees the option to invest a part of their salaries for retirement on a tax-deferred basis.

• Paid Holidays and Leave:

Thirteen (13) paid holidays each year.
Thirteen (13) days of paid vacation leave initially.
Five (5) days paid personal leave each year.
Thirteen (13) days of paid sick leave each year (PEF/CSEA), which may carry over from year to year.
Up to three (3) days professional leave each year to participate in professional development events.

• Health Care Coverage:

Employees and their eligible dependents can choose from a variety of affordable health insurance programs. Employees are provided family dental and vision plans at no extra cost.

• Paid Parental Leave:

Paid Parental Leave allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave at full pay for each qualifying event. A qualifying event is defined as the birth of a child or placement of a child for adoption or foster care.

• Retirement Program:

Participate in The NYS Employees' Retirement System (ERS), which is recognized as one of the best-managed and best-funded public retirement systems in the nation.

• Professional Development and Education and Training:

NYS offers training programs and tuition assistance to eligible employees to maintain and increase their professional skills and prepare them for promotional opportunities. For more information, please visit https://oer.ny.gov/training-and-professional-development.

• Additionally, the Public Service Workshops Program (PSWP) offers certain professional training opportunities for PEF represented and M/C designated employees that may grant continuing education credits towards maintaining professional licensure. For more information, please visit https://oer.ny.gov/public-service-workshops-program-pswp.

• OPWDD is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer dedicated to creating and sustaining a culture of inclusion. We believe that we are most effective in managing and improving our service system with a diverse team of employees. With such a large workforce, we rely on the collective individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, self-expression, ideas and talent that our employees bring to their work. This speaks to our culture and is a key part of our successes. As we continuously recruit people for our team, we welcome the unique contributions that applicants bring in terms of their education, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veteran's status, color, religion, disability, sexual orientation and beliefs.

***All people with disabilities are encouraged to apply.***
Some positions may require additional credentials or a background check to verify your identity.

Skills Required