September 14, 2011 Compensation and Benefits for Heads of Certain Police Departments – General Municipal Law Section 207-M Repealed
KEEPING YOU INFORMED…
We are writing to advise you that General Municipal Law Section 207-m has been repealed by the Legislature. That law required that the salary of the head of a police department who was not in a bargaining unit, and who oversaw a department of fewer than 575 sworn police officers, was entitled to receive both a salary increase equal to at least the same dollar amount as the base salary increase negotiated for the next highest ranking, bargaining unit-covered, subordinate police officer, as well as any increase in other compensation and benefits (such as insurance, welfare, pension and annuity benefits, but not overtime, holiday pay and shift differential), to the same extent and with the same conditions as were negotiated for that officer. In addition, Section 207-m had been interpreted to require that a newly hired head of a police department receive at least the same salary as his/her immediate predecessor.
The net effect of the repeal of this law is that, unless otherwise required by law or an individual employment agreement, covered municipalities may now adjust the wage and benefit package of the head of their police department without the floor previously required by Section 207-m. Employers should be careful, though, to ensure that the terms and conditions of employment for the head of the police department continue to be appropriate in light of his/her duties and responsibilities, as well as those of his/her subordinates.
If you have any questions regarding this change in the law, or would like advice regarding a specific police department head’s terms and conditions of employment, please contact us.
THIS MEMORANDUM IS MEANT TO ASSIST IN THE GENERAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE CURRENT LAW. IT IS NOT TO BE REGARDED AS LEGAL ADVICE, THOSE WITH PARTICULAR QUESTIONS SHOULD SEEK THE ADVICE OF COUNSEL.
© Lamb & Barnosky, LLP, 2011