Testing positive for alcohol at the workplace

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Testingpositive for alcohol at the workplace

OATH Index No. 1405/12
OATH Administrative Law Judge Tynia D. Richard recommended a30-day suspension* for a sanitation worker who tested positive for alcohol in arandom workplace test.
The employee contended that the positive test was caused byingestion of herbal supplements that unbeknownst to him contained alcohol.  
Judge Richard found that there was no evidence that theamount of alcohol in the supplements was sufficient to trigger a positive breathtest, particularly when the confirmatory test administered  22minutes after the initial screen test also was positive. 
The decision is posted on the Internet at: Dep’t of Sanitation v. Anonymous (in PDF),OATH Index No. 1405/12
* The Commissioner imposes followup drug/alcoholtesting in addition to the 30-day suspension.

Continuation of employment upon the expiration of a contract of employment may not be automatic

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Continuation ofemployment upon the expiration of a contract of employment may not be automatic
Goldman v White Plains Ctr. for Nursing Care, LLC, 11 NY3d 173
Some public employments, typically those involving employment in a positionhaving academic rank at a public college or university [see, for example 4NYCRR 335.10] or as a school superintendent or an associate schoolsuperintendent, [see, for example, Education Law §§1711(3) and 2507(1)], arecontrolled by employment contracts between the parties.

The issue to be resolved in the Goldman case was whether the expiration of atwo-year employment contract gives rise to successive one-year implied “commonlaw” contracts of employment when the employee continues working for theemployer without a new agreement in place. In this instance the Court ofAppeals concluded that Lorraine Goldman became an at-will employee at the endof the two-year period and did not enjoy any “successive one-year impliedcontract of employment with White Plains.

Goldman’s initial contract of employment, executed in 1990, provided that theparties would "enter into good faith negotiations . . . with respect torenewal of th[e] Agreement on mutually agreeable terms" no less than ninemonths before the contract was due to expire.” The agreement could beterminated by the mutual consent of the parties or "[b]y either partygiving notice to the other at least six (6) months prior to the end of theEmployment Period of its intention not to renew this Agreement." Atexpiration of the contract or termination of employment, the employer would"be released of any responsibility or obligation hereunder, except forpayment of salary and benefits accrued to the effective date of such expirationor termination." Finally, the contract included a provision that stated itwas the "entire Agreement and understanding" of the parties and could"not be changed, modified or amended, except by a writing signed by"Goldman and her then employer.

During the course of the two-year term, Goldman and her employer did not discussrenewal of the agreement and neither sent a notice of termination. After thecontract expired on March 31, 1992, Goldman continued to serve as thefacilities’ administrative director and received annual salary adjustments.However the facilities were purchased by White Plains Center for Nursing Care,LLC and NMC Acquisitions, LLC (White Plains) from Goldman’s initial employer inOctober 2004. In conjunction with that transaction, White Plains Centerexecuted an assignment and assumption of contracts, which listed Goldman’s 1990employment contract among the documents provided to the purchasers. Threemonths later, White Plains Center terminated Goldman's employment.

In deciding Goldman’s breach of contract action, the Appellate Divisionconcluded that the application of an implied contractual arrangement afterexpiration of the two-year term was inconsistent with the express language ofthe original employment agreement. The Court of Appeals agreed, holding that “Afundamental tenet of contract law is that agreements are construed inaccordance with the intent of the parties and the best evidence of the parties'intent is what they express in their written contract.”

Goldman’s contract provided that in the event the agreement was allowed toexpire at the conclusion of the two-year term, her then employer would have nofurther obligations to her other than compensating her for accrued salary andbenefits. Further, said the court, the contract “unambiguously indicate thatthe parties understood that the employment contract would end at the conclusionof the two-year period unless an extension was agreed upon.”

Rejecting Goldman’s argument that under “common law” she had a one-year impliedcontract on the same terms as set forth in the original agreement each yearthat her employment continued after the expiration of the written contract, theCourt of Appeals held that “this contention conflicts with the well-establishedrule that, ‘absent an agreement establishing a fixed duration, an employmentrelationship is presumed to be a hiring at will, terminable at any time byeither party.’”

The court then pointed out that Goldman’s argument relies on a common-law rulethat recognizes an inference that parties intend to renew an employmentagreement for an additional year where the employee continues to work afterexpiration of an employment contract. In a footnote, the Court of Appealsexplained that “The common law created a presumption of a new term ofemployment of only one year to avoid a statute of frauds problem.”

However, said the court, this common-law presumption — developed in the 19thcentury before the establishment of the employment-at-will doctrine — can berebutted by demonstrating that the parties did not intend to allow a contractto renew automatically.

In this instance, said the court, Goldman’s employment became an at-willarrangement upon the expiration of the agreement under the terms of thecontract itself on March 31, 1992 and thus White Plains was entitled to summaryjudgment dismissing the breach of contract claim.
The Court of Appeals then observed that “Parties to future contracts can avoiduncertainty regarding application of the common-law rule simply by specifyingthat continuation of the employment relationship after the expiration of thecontractual period will result in either successive one-year extensions ofemployment or at-will employment status.”

The full text of the decision is posted on the Internet at:
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2008/2008_07760.htm

Changing the method of testing employees for the use of illegal drugs constitutes a “procedure” that is a mandatory subject of collective bargaining

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Changing the method oftesting employees for the use of illegal drugs constitutes a “procedure” thatis a mandatory subject of collective bargaining
City of New York v Patrolmen's Benevolent Assn. of the City of New York, Inc., 56 AD3d 70

On August 1, 2005, NYPD unilaterally discontinued using urinalysis as itspreferred method of random drug screening of its police personnel in favor orusing a type of hair follicle testing known as radioimmunoassay of hair (RIAH).The Detectives Endowment Association filed an improper practice petition withthe New York City Office of Collective Bargaining (OCB) on behalf of itself,the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association and the Sergeants Benevolent Association(the unions) contending that by unilaterally changing the drug testing method,NYPD violated New York City Collective Bargaining Law §12-306(a)(4)(Administrative Code, Title 12, Chapter 3).

OCB granted the unions' petition, finding that NYPD violated New York CityCollective Bargaining Law "by unilaterally changing drug testingprocedures, a mandatory subject of bargaining." Although NYPD argued thatprobationary police officers were subject to hair follicle testing for illegal drugs,OCB said that "even if NYPD's procedures for hair testing are the same asapplied to a subset of employees already subject to such testing, the expansionof the categories of employees to whom the procedures now are appliedconstitutes a unilateral change in drug screening procedures." The Cityappealed OCB’s ruling contending that OCB’s determination was arbitrary andcapricious,

The Appellate Division, disagreed, rejecting the City of New York’s argumentthat its changing the method of random drug testing utilized by NYPD for thescreening of police officers from urinalysis to hair analysis is exempt fromcollective bargaining because it involves the disciplinary authority of thePolice Commissioner, as conferred by New York City Charter §434 and AdministrativeCode of the City of New York §14-115.

Pointing out that the Administrative Code provision gives the Commissioner'sinvestigatory authority arises only after written charges have been preferredand reasonable notice of the alleged infraction has been given, the courtconcluded that “no persuasive policy reason has been advanced to require OCB todepart from its prior decisions, which have consistently found that routinedrug screening procedures are a mandatory subject of collective bargaining.”

The Appellate Division said that the City attempted to avoid its obligation toengage in collective bargaining with respect to the methods used for theroutine drug testing of NYPD members by extending the investigatory authoritygranted to the Commissioner beyond the context of formal disciplinaryproceedings to which it is confined. It then reversed the judgment of theSupreme Court, New York County that had granted the City’s petition andannulled OCB’s determination and reinstated OCB's ruling on its finding thatthe City failed to negotiate concerning a mandatory subject of collectivebargaining.

The full text of the decision is posted on the Internet at:
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2008/2008_07798.htm

Judge found to have presided over judicial matters involving persons with whom he had a “close relationship” removed from office

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Judge found to have presided over judicial matters involvingpersons with whom he had a “close relationship” removed from office
Matter of Young, 2012 NY Slip Op 05089, Court of Appeals
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct sustained sixcharges of misconduct alleged against LafayetteD. Young, Jr., a Justice of the Macomb Town Court, St. Lawrence County, findingthat he had engaged in serious misconduct when he presided over mattersinvolving persons with whom he and his paramour had close relationships. The Commission determined that Judge Young shouldbe removed from his office.*  
The Commission found that “In all cases, but one, [JudgeYoung] neither disqualified himself nor disclosed [his] relationship to the defendantor complaining witness. Additionally, in many of the cases at issue, JudgeYoung’s conduct gave the appearance of favoritism towards the Petrie familydefendant or complaining witness.”
Moreover, the Court of Appeals said that  "ex parte communications with[certain] parties further exacerbated Judge Young's improper conduct as they highlight his closerelationships to the Petrie family and his partiality towards them."

Holding that "Suchconduct demonstrates a misuse of his judicial office and damages publicconfidence in his integrity and impartiality," the Court of Appeals sustained the sanction imposed by the Commission: that Judge Young, removal from his position, as the appropriate penalty under the circumstances.
* See New York Constitution,Article VI, § 22; Judicial Law §44
The decision is posted on the Internet at: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2012/2012_05089.htm

Continuation on leave of absence from a teaching position upon permanent appointment to a classified service position critical to educator’s right to reinstatement to the teaching position

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Continuation on leave of absence from a teaching position upon permanentappointment to a classified service position critical to educator’s right to reinstatementto the teaching positionFehlhaber v Board of Educ. of Utica City School Dist., 2012NY Slip Op 04904, Appellate Division, Fourth Department
Craig S. Fehlhaber was initially employed by the Utica CitySchool District as a tenured teacher. In 1997 the district appointed Fehlhaberas "Clerk of the Works" and later as Superintendent of Buildings andGrounds.
In 2010 the Board abolished the position of Superintendentof Buildings and Grounds and Fehlhaber asked to be "bump" verticallyinto the position of Maintenance Foreman or, in the alternative, to resume ateaching position. The Board denied both of these requests and Fehlhaber filed anArticle 78 petition seeking a court order directing the Board to place him inone of those positions. Supreme Court dismissed his petition and Fehlhaberappealed..
Initially the Appellate Division resolved a procedural issue.
Supreme Court had ruled that Fehlhaber had failed to file atimely notice of claim. However, the Appellate Division agreed with Fehlhaberthat “no notice of claim was required” in this instance.
Although, said the court, Education Law §3813(1) mandatesthat a notice of claim be filed when a claim is asserted against a board ofeducation, "the notice of claim requirement is inapplicable to cases whichseek to vindicate tenure rights which are legal rights guaranteed by State lawand in the public interest," citing Cowan v Board of Educ. of BrentwoodUnion Free School Dist., 99 AD2d 831 and other decisions.
That said, the Appellate Division held that Supreme Courthad properly dismissed the petition on the merits. Although Fehlhaber contended that he was entitled to a vertical"bump" into the position of Maintenance Foreman pursuant to CivilService Law §80(6), the court noted that the record established that the UticaMunicipal Civil Service Commission, after consulting with the New York StateCivil Service Commission, said that "[i]n order for the rights of bumping'to exist, the [Fehlhaber] would have to demonstrate a legal entitlement to thatbumping right.”
The Utica Commission, however, determined that Fehlhaber didnot have any such bumping right. 
Here, said the court, in a case concerning anemployee's bumping rights under the Civil Service Law, Matter of Hughes v Doherty, 5 NY3d 100, the Court ofAppeals ruled that "judicial review of [the Commission's] classificationsystem and determinations are limited to whether there was a rational basis forthe agency's conclusion.... Unless the [Commission's] determinations werearbitrary or capricious, a court should not undermine its actions."
As the Appellate Division found that Fehlhaber failed toestablish that the Commission's determination was arbitrary or capricious, orthat there was no rational basis for its determination, it sustained theSupreme Court’s dismissal of his Article 78 petition on the merits.
Fehlhaber had raised an alternative theory  -- that he ismerely on a leave of absence* from his tenured teaching position and was thusentitled to be reinstated to that position. The Appellate Division said that itagreed with Supreme Court that “[Fehlhaber] voluntarily abandoned his teaching positionand thereby relinquished his tenure rights, at the latest, upon leaving theposition for which the leave of absence was approved.”
Although it is well settled that "[t]he burden ofproving abandonment is upon the [Board] and must be established by clear andconvincing evidence that the [educator], by a voluntary and deliberate act,intended to relinquish [his or] her teaching position and forfeit [his or] hertenure rights," in this instance the Board granted Fehlhaber a leave ofabsence in 1997 "[t]o assume duties as Clerk of the Works."
When Fehlhaber left the Clerk of the Works position in 2002, he received a permanent appointment to the position of Superintendent ofBuildings and Grounds, a position in the classified service, and he failed toseek reinstatement as a teacher or an extension of his leave of absence when he received that permanent appointment.

* 4 NYCRR 5.2, Leaves of Absence applies to classified service employees of theState in the service as the employer. Subdivision (c) provides as follows: (c) Successive leaves of absence. Where a leave ofabsence without pay has been granted for a period which aggregates two years,or more if extended pursuant to subdivision (b) of this section, a furtherleave of absence without pay shall not be granted unless the employee returnsto his position and serves continuously therein for six months immediatelypreceding the subsequent leave of absence. Many local civil service commissionshave adopted a similar rule.
The decision is posted on the Internet at:http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2012/2012_04904.htm
=========================The Layoff, Preferred List andReinstatement Manual - a 645 page e-book reviewing the relevantlaws, rules and regulations, and selected court and administrative decisions isavailable from the Public Employment Law Press. Click On http://nylayoff.blogspot.com/ foradditional information about this electronic reference manual.
=========================

Selected reports and information published by New York State's Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli

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Selected reports and information published by New YorkState's Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoliIssued during the week of June 18 - 24, 2012 [Click on the caption to access the full report]


DiNapoli: State Lost An Estimated $1.7 MillionBy Not Claiming Cash Discounts

New York state agencies failed to obtain cash discounts on contracts, wastingup to $1.7 million, according to three reports released Monday by StateComptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

DiNapoli Statement on Pew Pension Fund Report

On Tuesday, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said, “The PewReport has again recognized the New York State and Local Retirement Systemas one of the best public pension systems in the country. Our commitment toresponsibly manage the system and make required annual contributions has keptus on firm ground. The Pew Report has again recognized the New York State andLocal Retirement System as one of the best public pension systems in thecountry. Our commitment to responsibly manage the system and make required annualcontributions has kept us on firm ground. Our diversified portfolio and fundingstatus has permitted us to capitalize on market opportunities and rebound fromthe financial crisis of 2008–09. More than one million New Yorkers rely on thesystem for retirement security and I will make sure we continue to make prudentchoices to keep our promise to them.”

DiNapoli: State Pension Fund Investing In NewYork Businesses

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli Tuesday toured the corporateheadquarters of 5LINX Enterprises in Rochester to highlight investments made inNew York businesses by the New York Common Retirement Fund (Fund). Since 2001,the Fund has invested nearly $60 million in companies in Monroe, Ontario andGenesee Counties through its In–State Private Equity Program.

DiNapoli: Leadership Event To Assist LocalGovernments 


New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s LocalGovernment Leadership Institute Wednesday brought together officials fromall levels of local government to discuss key regional issues and examinepotential solutions to the current challenges in government.

Comptroller DiNapoli Releases Municipal Audit


New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli Thursday announced his officecompleted the audit of the Townof Orchard Park.

Comptroller DiNapoli Releases School Audit 


New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli Thursday announced his office completedan audit of the COMMUNITYCharter School.

Questions concerning the prosecution of grievances and whether the compliant is grievable is for the arbitrator to resolve

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Questionsconcerning the prosecution of grievances and whether the compliant is grievableis for the arbitrator to resolve
Hartsdale Fire Dist. v Greenburgh UniformFirefighters Assn., Inc., Local 1586, IAFF, AFL-CIO, 55 AD3d 731

The collective bargaining agreement between the Hartsdale Fire District and theGreenburgh Uniform Firefighters Association contained a broad arbitrationclause providing for the arbitration of disputes "concerning the meaning,application or interpretation of this Agreement, which remains unresolved afterpresentation to, and processing through the grievance procedure."

Hartsdale resisted the Association’s demand for arbitration, contending that(a) the underlying grievance was not subject to arbitration; that theAssociation had not satisfied the procedural steps with respect to thegrievance procedure; and (3) that only a unit member, rather than theAssociation, could file a grievance and demand arbitration.

Supreme Court dismissed Hartsdale’s petition seeking a permanent stay ofarbitration and the Appellate Division affirmed the lower court’s holding.

The Appellate Division said that there was “a reasonable relationship betweenthe subject the disputes, which involves the [Association’s] grievances overthe [Hartdale’s] directives that the [Association’s] union members work andtrain in a fire-damaged firehouse before the firehouse was fully repaired, andthe general subject the collective bargaining agreement.” Further, said thecourt, the CBA does not specifically exclude from arbitration the subject thegrievances that concern public health and the safety of public employees.Accordingly, said the court, the question of the scope of the substantiveprovisions of the CBA is a contract interpretation and application reserved forthe arbitrator.

As to Hartsdale’s claim that the Association failed to comply with a conditionprecedent before demanding arbitration, the Appellate Division pointed outthat, in general, “disputes over the parties' adherence to the grievanceprocedure set forth in the parties' CBA is for the arbitrator to determine, notfor the courts.”

Finally, said the Appellate Division, Hartdale’s claim that “grievances must bepursued only by individual employees, rather than by the [Association],especially in light of the [Association’s] contention that [Hartsdale] has apast practice of hearing grievances pursued solely by the [Association], is amatter for the arbitrator to resolve.”

As to Hartsdale’s representation that only the aggrieved employee could file agrievance, in general, making a decision to file a grievance typically isviewed as vested in the employee organization and not an individual member ofthe negotiating unit. Further, the Association argued that it “owned the rightto go to arbitration” which is the traditional view in such situations.

In Hickey v Hempstead Union Free School District, 36 A.D.3d 760, the AppellateDivision said that a union member generally has no individual rights under acollective bargaining agreement that he or she can enforce against an employer.In the absence of a contract provision stating otherwise, an employee mayproceed directly against the employer only when the union fails in its duty offair representation and "In order to establish a breach of the duty offair representation, it is necessary to show that the union's refusal to demandthat the grievance go to arbitration was arbitrary, discriminatory, or in badfaith."

As to the alleged “past practice” whereby only individuals filed grievances, itis unlikely that such a practice would be viewed as a union’s abandoning orforfeiting its right to file grievances and demand arbitration with respect toalleged violations of the collective bargaining agreement.

The full text of the Hartsdale decision is posted on the Internet at:
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2008/2008_07903.htm

The full text of the Hickey decision is posted on the Internet at:
http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2007/2007_00493.htm

Employee charged with being disrespectful to another

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Employeecharged with being disrespectful to another
Health &Hospitals Corp. (Metropolitan Hospital Center) v. McCaskey, OATH Index No.2195/08

ALJ Faye Lewis recommended dismissal of a charge that a special officer wasdisrespectful to a doctor in a psychiatric emergency room when he remarked"You're trying to kill me today". The statement, made when the doctorbrought three patients to the emergency room at one time, was essentially acomplaint that the emergency room was overcrowded and understaffed.

Although the officer's "choice of language was not ideal," in theabsence of any showing that the brief exchange disrupted hospital operations,misconduct was not established.

Placing counseling memoranda in an individual’s personnel file does not constitute a disciplinary action for the purposes of Education Law §3020-a

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Placing counseling memoranda in an individual’s personnelfile does not constitute a disciplinary action for the purposes of EducationLaw §3020-aBoard of Educ. of Dundee Cent. School Dist. (Coleman), 2012NY Slip Op 04849, Appellate Division, Fourth Department
The Dundee Central School District filed two disciplinarycharges, setting out 16 specifications against a teacher. The teacher asked thedisciplinary hearing officer to dismiss six specifications on the ground thatthe conduct encompassed by those specifications had been the subject ofcounseling memoranda placed in teacher's personnel file. The memoranda had warnedthe teacher "of the serious consequences of any future incident[s] . . .."
The Hearing Officer granted the teacher's motion, concludingthat "it would be both improper and unfair under the just cause protocolto permit and entertain formal charges, identical in nature to those at issuein the foregoing counseling memoranda, [because], by all accounts, the mattershave not repeated." Ultimately the hearing officer found the teacherguilty of certain specifications and imposed a penalty of a six-monthsuspension without pay "but with continued medical insurancebenefits."
Dundee commenced this proceeding pursuant toEducation Law § 3020-a (5) and CPLR §7511 challenging the penalty, thecontinuation of health benefits during the period of the teacher’s suspensionwithout pay and the dismissal of the six specifications. The district alsocontended that the penalty of a six-month suspension was "excessivelylenient."
Supreme Court remanded the matter to the hearing officer, concludingthat” the Hearing Officer erred in dismissing the six specifications and lackedstatutory authority to direct [the school district] to pay for [the teacher’s]health insurance* during the period ofsuspension.”
The Hearing Officer subsequently sustained, in whole or inpart, three of the six specifications, but he reimposed the same penalty,finding that the teacher had previously been disciplined for the conduct atissue in those specifications through the counseling memoranda, explaining that"[i]t would be inherently unfair and totally contrary to the just causeprotocol to issue further discipline to the [teacher] for actions thatwere never repeated."
The school district then commenced a second proceedingpursuant to Education Law §3020-a and CPLR §7511 to vacate the HearingOfficer's decision to the extent that the Hearing Officer determined that thepenalty of a six-month suspension was appropriate and failed to comply with theprior judgment. Supreme Court agreed and vacated the penalty and remitted thematter to a different hearing officer regarding only the issue of the penalty.
The Appellate Division affirmed each of the Supreme Court's.prior judgments.
With respect to the issue of the dismissal of certain of thespecifications by the hearing officer, the Appellate Division said that “weconclude that the Hearing Officer's decision to grant the motion of [theteacher’s] to dismiss six of the specifications was arbitrary and capricious. Thecourt pointed out that “It is well settled that counseling memoranda such asthose placed in [the teacher’s] personnel file are not considered disciplinary actions,citing Holt v Board of Educ. of Webutuck Cent. School Dist., 52 NY2d 625.In Holt, said the Appellate Division, the Court of Appeals specificallystated that such memoranda may "be used to support a formal charge ofmisconduct within three years of the occurrence which the evaluation addresses."
As to the issue of the hearing officer exceeding hisauthority, the Appellate Division ruled that Supreme Court “properly determinedthat the Hearing Officer exceeded his statutory authority in directing [theschool district] to pay for [the teacher’s] health insurance benefits duringthe period of suspension. The court explained that "In recommending apenalty under [section] 3020-a of the Education Law, a hearing [officer] islimited to one of the penalties set forth in that section, i.e., areprimand, a fine, suspension for a fixed time without pay or dismissal'" [emphasis in the decision].
As, said the court, “[an employer’s] contribution toward anemployee's health insurance is a form of compensation … the Hearing Officerimproperly imposed what amounted to ‘a penalty of suspension at reduced pay’” [emphasis supplied].
Addressing Supreme Court’s remanding the matter to adifferent hearing officer with respect to the issue of the penalty to beimposed, the Appellate Division held that Supreme Court “properly determinedthat the Hearing Officer's decision on remittal to impose the same penalty wasarbitrary and capricious inasmuch the Hearing Officer based his decision on anerroneous interpretation of the law”
Noting that the hearing officer refused to impose anyadditional penalty after sustaining some of the remitted six specificationsbased on his continuing belief that the counseling memoranda constituted a formof discipline, the Appellate Division again pointed out that “it is wellestablished that counseling memoranda are not disciplinary measures underEducation Law §3020-a” and that the hearing officer's conclusion that theteacher had previously been disciplined for the conduct encompassed by thosespecifications is arbitrary and capricious. Accordingly, the court concludedthat Supreme Court had properly vacated the penalty imposed by the hearing officerand remitted the matter to a different hearing officer for imposition of apenalty.
* The court ordered theteacher to reimburse the Dundee Central School District for any such costs that had beenpreviously paid by it of behalf of the teacher.
The decision is posted on the Internetat:http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2012/2012_04849.htm

===================The Discipline Book,- a concise guide to disciplinary actions involving public employees in NewYork State. This more than 1500 page e-book is now available from the PublicEmployment Law Press. Click on http://thedisciplinebook.blogspot.com/for additional information concerning this electronic reference manual.
=======================

Audits of special education contractors by the State Comptroller reveal the use of public funds for inappropriate and unallowable expenses

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Audits of special education contractors by the StateComptroller reveal the use of public funds for inappropriate and unallowableexpenses Source: Office of the New York State Comptroller Thomas P.DiNapoli

Three private contractors hired to provide special education services for pre-Kchildren are alleged to have used public money for inappropriate and unallowable expenses accordingto audits released on June 25, 2012 by New York State Comptroller Thomas P.DiNapoli.
The State Department of Education [SED],through private contractors, provides special education services to childrenaged three to 21. Contractors are reimbursed for expenses and fees by New YorkCity and counties in accordance with rates set by SED, which oversees specialeducation programs statewide. 
According to the Comptroller, the probe so far has led to felony arrests of fourcontractors and the restitution of $610,000.

The three audits issued on June 25, 2012 are posted on the Internet at:
http://www.osc.state.ny.us/audits/allaudits/093012/10s31.pdf
http://www.osc.state.ny.us/audits/allaudits/093012/10s32.pdf
http://www.osc.state.ny.us/audits/allaudits/093012/11s1.pdf

1 Hour Payday Loans With No Minimum Income Requirement

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A cheap payday loan with low interest is hard to come by, much less a personal one with no income check. When you need a fast way to borrow cash, high risk payday loans; despite their flaws, are still a convenient way to get money quickly with no questions asked. If you have a bad credit FICO score, perhaps they may be your only option since it is so difficult these days to get a approval from the banks for a signature bank loan with bad credit.

That said, there are requirements to be met for 1 hour payday loans even by their low entry barrier standards, and if you worry your monthly income of $700 will get you approved or not, you should search for online payday loans with no minimum income requirement.

It is better to find these online loan lenders with no income check as from what is commonly stated on the websites of bad credit payday lenders, a common requirement is that the borrower will need to earn a minimum of $1000 monthly to be pre-approved.

These private cash lenders are probably worried that low income loans for people with bad credit will likely result in a higher default rate and therefore implemented such a ruling to safeguard their business interests. That said, we have come across some readers who have been able to apply online for 24 hr payday loans with no income requirement. Although we do not know if they have had to accept stricter repayment terms or having to pay more fee in return for a quick cash advance with no credit check.

The varying requirements by different 1 hour payday lenders with no minimum income proof mean that you should not be discouraged by your inability to meet their pre-approval criteria as there might be other online loan companies who can give loans to people with adverse credit, or even short term loans for the unemployed.

Other than that, you can always privately negotiate for a short term 1 hour personal payday loan by putting down a collateral - valuables such as a gold ring or necklace. Lenders do not turn away your request for a no income check loan for no reason, on the contrary, they need you to borrow money from them. What matters is whether you can convince them of the ability to repay the loan fully on time. Drastic times require you to be creative and if you need to borrow money fast with no income, sometimes you need to approach it in a unorthodox way.

How To Get A Fast Loan Without A Bank Account

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If I need to borrow money without a bank account, one may wonder who can lend me money if I do not have a bank savings or checking account. While it may appear that having a bank account is something that most people have, but there also others who do not possess one and because of that, these people find it difficult to get a fast loan without a bank account, which is often a prerequisite to applying for guaranteed signature personal loans from the banks.

In order to get money fast without a bank account, we'll look at some of the more common ways to borrow cash without having any bank statements and the lenders who provide loans that don't require bank accounts, along with their pros and cons.

If you know anything about traditional pawn shops, you should know that it is a way to get cash by using your own valuables as pawns. People who own several pieces of luxury items may wish to use them as collateral to get pawn loans with no credit check since pawnbrokers generally do not turn away customers with bad credit as their business risk is already secured by clients putting down collateral.

You can get a short term loan without a checking account or if you like, pawn loans typically have a longer repayment period so you could also request for a 6 months installment loans and pay back monthly. Payment can be made by making cash payments directly to the pawnbrokers so you do not need a bank account to get a loan.

If you do not own a bank account, chances are your credit history could be poor or you are unemployed and this will limit your options in getting payday loans with no bank checking account needed because your employment status is critical when you need to get a payday loan without a job.

Therefore, if you are unemployed, have bad credit and no bank account, it is extremely hard for you to borrow money today without a bank account. Having to seek unconventional ways to get cash will also make you vulnerable to predatory lenders or scammers.

As such, it bears reminding that if you need money but can't a loan anywhere, having a bank account will open up more credit options and hence it is important that you try to get one asap. Credit unions have simplified opening of bank savings account with no minimum deposit or balance requirement and you should visit a local credit union to inquire further.

Putting your financials right usually begins with a small savings account. Organize your budget properly today and you would reap the benefits of saving for a rainy day instead of looking for a fast loan without a bank account futilely.

Loans For People On Unemployment Benefits

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Are you unemployed, with little savings, and facing problems in meeting your financial needs? If you are looking for unemployment loan lenders to borrow money without a job, a quick solution is to apply for unsecured loans for people on unemployment benefits.

Short term personal loans for unemployed people are now being offered by non-bank loan lenders like payday loan companies and other private cash advance lenders. Online payday loan lenders, which usually give salaried workers with instant cash loan till next payday, are also providing fast cash loans for people on unemployed benefits.

These are people who are receiving free money from the government due to their unemployment status and the recurring income that they get can be presented as a form of income to qualify them for unemployment payday loans with benefits.

Unemployed loan lenders will require that you are being paid by direct deposit so as to ensure that your payment will be settled on time. Although like all low cost payday loans with no income check,  no-job loan lenders will not check on your credit history or need you to get a cosigner to guarantee for the short term unemployment loan.

If you are going through a financial slump and could do with some assistance to borrow 800 dollars today with no job, don't feel bad about asking for help from unemployment loan lenders with personal loans for the jobless.

6 Month Installment Loans With No Credit Check

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Long term loans with installments are advantageous when you need to borrow money without having to repay it within a short period. With monthly installment personal loans, users are able to repay the debt slowly on a monthly basis and therefore more likely to be able to complete the loan obligation without any missed payment. Some people end up in more debt when they rely on bad credit payday loans for the financial needs without considering if they are truly capable of returning the money within 30 days, which is usually what guaranteed payday loan companies demand. For 6 month installment loans with no credit check, you need to look beyond payday installment lenders and instead, find monthly installment lenders with long term personal loans for 12 months or more.

Although it could be argued that committing yourself to a 36 month loan with installments will mean paying more in interest, but it should be pointed out that spread over easy monthly installments, your financial burden is not as heavy. In anycase, if you need to borrow 10000 dollars with bad credit, it is likely for you to find a short term $2000 payday loan, much less a ten thousand dollar loan with no credit check.

6 mth installment loans with low fees are easier to avail and there are specialized lenders that provide monthly payment loans for people with bad credit. The APR for such 1 year loan is lower than high risk 90 day payday loans, and if you are able to offer collateral, it gives you more bargaining power to request for a low interest installment loan for 6 months.

Collateral will also come in useful if you are jobless and need money fast, as secured personal loans are about the only way for people who are unemployed to get a loan with bad credit and no income. That said, there are unemployed payday loans for people on unemployment benefits but those are usually small cash advance of 500 dollars or less, and you can't really find free loans for the unemployed with no interest.

Whether you are intending to apply for secured loans with monthly installment or unsecured loans with no credit check, it is always good to shop around first and get more information on the different types of personal loans with bad credit and how they work before you sign for a loan with half a year to pay back.

Payday Loans That Don't Require Direct Deposit

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"Where can I borrow without a checking account and no credit?" Most of the time, we tend to think that if you do not have a bank checking account, it is impossible for you to get a guaranteed loan anywhere. Understandably, most of the fast payday loan lenders require customers to have a checking account with direct deposit as it makes it easy for them to debit their customer's accounts for monies owed to them. However, if you need to borrow money and have bad credit and no checking account, it is possible to find instant payday loans that don't require direct deposit. 

Trends have changed and there are unsecured personal loans for people without a bank account as well as short term cash advance loans with no bank statement needed. Nowadays, online payday personal loan lenders with no direct deposit requirements only require you to have a savings account or debit card. For people who need a quick loan but have no bank checking account, this will come as a much needed solution.

You can search for online signature loans with no bank account needed. Over the Internet, you would be able to find some loan comparison websites which help you to find out who has the lowest cost payday loan that don't require direct deposit which you can apply for a 12 month personal loan without a bank checking account.  However, do check to see if it is a reputable loan lender you are dealing with. BBB-approved loan lenders with no credit check are regulated and they adhere to strict government laws on consumer loans so they provide more security and also provide an avenue for legal recourse if there is any dispute in the future.

No faxing payday loans that don't need a checking account can also be made available through peer lending websites like Prosper, which helps to match small-individual lenders with borrowers with less bureaucracy. A Prosper alternative is LendingClub or Zopa from the UK. As always, do your due diligence first to find online personal loans with no direct deposit requirement. Good luck.

Take the Next Important Step to Landing that Job – Action Items to Take While Working to Make the Next Transition Easier and Faster

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You may not want to hear this while you are still in a job search or once you land your new job, but your new job is not your last. The average being quoted for the number of jobs a person will have in a lifetime these days is 12 and the number of careers is 4 in a lifetime. There are steps you should take while you are employed to make the next transition easier and faster.

Once You Have an Agreement

1) Once you have an agreement and a start date celebrate! You deserve it!

2) Contact all of the people in your network so they know you have landed. Have them take your market plan off their refrigerators and let them celebrate with you. Thank them for their help regardless of what type and degree of help they gave.

3) Prepare for the new job.

Once You Start

1) Once you have your new work computer, open a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and start recording your new accomplishments on a daily or weekly basis. Capture the quantifiable data to support these accomplishments. E-mail this list home on a monthly basis.

There are two uses for this accomplishment list. The first use comes if or when you leave the company; you have your accomplishments to use to update your resume. The second use is to give to your manager BEFORE she has had time to write your annual performance review. Clean up the list (spell check, etc.) and give a copy to your manager with humility. Say you are maintaining this list for you and want to offer it to her in case it will help in writing your review. Continue with saying that if she doesn’t need it, that is okay since you are maintaining it for you anyway.

2) Update your Linked In profile with your new company & position.

On an On-going Basis

1) Maintain your contacts. Stay in touch with people in your network including the contacts you developed during the search. Don’t let the only time you reach out to Uncle Fred be when you are out of a job. After all most of us have caller id. When Uncle Fred sees that it is you calling, he’ll realize that you must be out of a job again.

2) Develop new contacts. Harvey MacKay’s new book is titled “Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty”. The point of his book is that the same goes for your network. Develop contacts in your new department and in other departments within the company. Continue to network outside of your company as well. It is hard to carve out time to work fulltime, have a life, and attend industry networking events. Think back though to the job search and imagine how much faster you would have found a job had you had an ample network in your industry already in place.

3) Maintain your skills. If your company offers training, take it – all of it. If they don’t offer training take it anyway; invest in yourself by paying for your own training. Be sure the training you take increased your marketable skills.

4) Continue the good habits and practices you started during the search (regular devotions, exercise, eating right, staying in touch with family, etc.)

5) Jim Collins the author of “Good to Great” gave the following advice to a recent graduate: “Do not spend five years getting two years worth of experience”. If you have 2 years worth of experience in your current role, ask to take on different responsibilities that will give you new experience. If you can’t get additional experience in your current role, consider moving to another position within the same company to get new experience. If you can’t move within the company then “move your own cheese” and get a new job at another company.

This is a change from the philosophy with which Baby Boomers were raised. People who changed jobs every few years were called job hoppers and looked down upon. Now anyone who is at one company for ten plus years is at a disadvantage in the new job market because hiring managers assume they have not developed new skills during that time.

6) Maintain your marketing materials especially your accomplishment list as mentioned above. Periodically update your resume, your inventory of education (with all training you have taken including webinars, seminars, extensive self study) and list of technical skills.

7) Stay up on your industry. If your industry is about to fail, be one of the first to get out. If your industry is getting into something new (ex. a new technology) get training in it and then offer to your management to train your peers on it. Say that you don’t know everything but you want to share what you know. This could set you up at the subject matter expert.

8) Save between 8 to 12 months of salary for the next transition. Most of us can’t do that all at once. Save a little at a time starting immediately and regularly. According to consumer advocates, saving that much ready cash is a higher priority than saving for retirement.

9) Assist others. Remember the job search? There were people who would not give you the time of day. However many people were willing to meet with you, give you leads and contacts and you were grateful for the help you received. You want to be like them. Volunteer at a job networking group, make yourself available to job seekers for informational interviews, share leads and your contacts as appropriate.

Keep your job search engine running so if / when you are on the job market again, it will be an easier and faster process.


This is the final article in the series “Take the Next Important Step to Landing that Job”. As you continue in your job search, it will be helpful to start reading the series over again to be sure you are still on track and haven’t veered. If you follow these steps in their entirety you will land the right job. With the grace of God, 100% of RightChanges clients who followed these steps (as a part of RightChanges’ Personal Coach Series) are now employed in jobs they wanted. You can too.

Copyright: The 6 Steps of a Job Search are copyrighted by Crossroads Career Services.

The Job Search and Tax Season

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Did you know that federal income taxes are not due until April 18 this year? Yes, Emancipation Day, a holiday also celebrated in Washington, DC falls on Friday April 15 this year, which means IRS offices will be closed that day. Therefore, tax returns will be due the next business day which is Monday April 18.

Even with all of that extra time (3 whole days) to complete your taxes, this is the perfect time to gather up information about your job search expenses.

Job search expenses can qualify as a tax deduction (see the IRS web site or your tax accountant for complete details). In general, the money you spent to attend networking meetings, the mileage you incurred going to and from the meetings, and the fees you paid a job search coach or resume writer can be submitted for inclusion as deductions on your taxes. This is a great time to start getting that information together.

If you have not been keeping a detailed list of the events or mileage, you can rebuild some of that information.

• A good place to check for information is your e-mail systems Sent folder.
For example you can find the e-mails when you RSVP’d to meeting invitations.

• If you paid by PayPal, there will be a record within PayPal of that
transaction.

• Most on-line banking systems have search capabilities and you can print out
canceled checks you made out for services or meeting fees.

• Look at your 2010 calendar and create a record of the events you attended.

• Use MapQuest or other on-line mapping system to get the mileage to places
you went. Don’t forget to multiple the one way mileage by two to account for
the round trip and include tolls and cost of parking if applicable.

• Add in the cost of books you bought, training you took, business cards you
ordered, and the cost of duplicating your resume.

Print out the information that you find so you have some way to substantiate these expenses; if you think the job search isn’t fun, try a tax audit.

You paid good money toward your job search and should not pay taxes unnecessarily on that amount. This is a great time to start getting the information together and consulting the IRS web site or your tax accountant for complete details on taxable job search expenses.

Judi Adams
RightChanges.biz
The Affordable and Successful Job Search Coach

The Phone Number All Job Seekers Should Know

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If you are in a job transition, you know how tough it is. Not only are you spending all of your time looking for a job, you have other issues to worry about. You have to keep the roof over the head, the car in the driveway, and food on the table. The job search can also be very tough emotionally and taxing on relationships. Job seekers need to get help for these “pressure points”.

Let me ask you: would you hesitate to call 911 if your house was on fire? Of course not; that would be absurd. Next question: if you were a trained fireman would you hesitate to call 911 if your house was on fire? On occasion when I ask that, someone will respond that they would hesitate until I point out that it is much easier to put out the fire with the pump truck than with the garden hose and you would want all of the help you can get, after all we’re talking your house here. So we clearly see that we would ask for help when we need it; there is no shame in asking for help, in fact it would be ridiculous not to.

We have the phone number 911 for first responders (fire, police, or ambulance). We have the phone number 411 for information. We have 511 for the Department of Transportation. A phone number that is not as widely known, 211, is the nationwide number for the United Way.

The United Way serves as a coordinating service for many organizations and programs. In fact, the church I belong to is part of the United Way network. My church wants to help people in our community by providing a food bank and rent assistance. It is a huge effort to get the word out to everyone in our community that we provide that type of assistance so we depend on the United Way to direct people to us.

It is impossible for me, a volunteer for Crossroads Career Network and a job search coach, to stay on top of all of the programs available to job seekers for all of the types of assistance they might need. I too depend on the United Way. If I meet a job seeker needing assistance, whether it is guidance with consumer credit or understanding the programs that will help prevent foreclosure, someone in need of emotional support or rent assistance, I direct them to 211. In return I give financially to the United Way (direct or through my employer) so it is there when I need it, or when you do.

When you call 211, they will ask for the type of assistance you are interested in and your zip code. They need your zip code so they can direct you to the organization closest to you offering the type of assistance you want.

When should you call? Call as soon as you think you might need assistance down the road. The sooner you call, more options are available. Do not wait until the sheriff is knocking on the door to call about preventing foreclosure.

So we agree there is no shame in asking for help, and in fact would be crazy not to when we need it. Remember the number 211 and call to see what assistance is available to you. Help other job seekers by letting them know about this number as well. Then, when you can, contribute to the United Way so they are there for others.

Judi Adams
RightChanges.biz
The Affordable and Successful Job Search Coach

The Phone Interview Checklist

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The phone interview is now a typical step in the hiring process because in-person interviews are a logistical challenge and time consuming. The phone interview is used to take a pool of candidates and, through a series of questions that confirm that the information provided is accurate and that the person is professional and articulate, select the top contenders to be brought in to interview.

The following is a checklist of to do’s for a phone interview.


As Soon as You Apply:

1) When you apply for a job or send your resume to a company, research the company and go beyond just what is on their web site. Google their name and click on all of the links on at least the first two pages of results to discover all of the information about the company that you can. Take notes or print the most important pages.

2) Go into Linked In and see who in your network has contacts in the company. Contact them and see what they have to say about the company. A client told me that they were dissuaded by a current employee from pursuing a position within the company (“it’s awful here).

3) Develop a list of questions you want answered about the company, the department, and the position to be sure YOU want to move on to an in-person interview.


When You Get the Call:

1) If you receive an unexpected call requesting a phone interview, do not take the interview then; propose an alternate time. You want time to prepare. No one expects you to be available without prior notice. Deferring the call to a scheduled time will not ruin your chances; in fact, being prepared before the interview will increase your chances.

2) Review your list of accomplishments (STARs).

3) Lay out your resume, cover letter (if applicable), company research, the list of questions you want to ask, paper and pen in order to take notes, and your calendar.

4) Be sure you are in an absolutely quiet location. You may be surprised how much noise can be picked up over the phone.

5) Stand up while talking. When we sit with no one else in the room, we are not as conscience about our posture and can slump, collapsing the diaphragm and sounding like we have no energy.

6) Stand in front of a mirror to reflect your body language. This might help you remember to smile and a smile is heard over the phone.

7) Keep your answers a tad shorter than you normally would. You are without the benefit of seeing the interviewer’s body language to know that your answer was sufficient (nodding of a head) or that she is ready to move on to the next question (she looks down at her list of questions).

8) If you need to think about an answer, say so; don’t just go silent. Silence may cause the interviewer to think the phone connection has dropped.

9) If asked about your salary requirements, reply that it is early in the interview process and that you need to understand more about the position before you could answer that question.

10) Express interest, if indeed you are interested. If this is not a fit for you, there are two options:

a) Continue with the interviewing process to get the experience. Don’t take this too far though; if they understand you were not interested from the start, you could get your name on the “never call again” list.

b) Say it is not a fit. The hiring personnel will appreciate your honesty.

11) Ask for and understand the next steps and approximate timeframes.


After the Interview:

1) Unless they immediately schedule an in-person interview, handwrite and US mail a thank you note.

2) As is the case in all areas of the job search, follow-up is your responsibility.


Know what to do to prepare for and pass the phone interview and begin your preparation now.

The 4 Killer Job Search Mistakes - Part 1

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This series, written by Judi Adams, is being published on the Crossroads Career Network web site and then republished on this blog. Go to CrossroadsCareer.org for the next part of this four part series.

This is a very tough job market. Many highly skilled, extremely professional job seekers are taking an unprecedented amount of time to find a job. There are, though, four killer mistakes that job seekers are making that turn a long job search into an even longer one. This multiple part series will cover these mistakes and give the job seeker (you) tools to overcome them.

Mistake 1: A Bad Attitude

In the Crossroads Career Network Program, there are 6 steps to the job search.

1) Attitude
2) Aptitude
3) Altitude
4) Search
5) Sort
6) Select

Notice Attitude is the first step. In fact, it is the most important step.
When I am speaking to a group, I illustrate the importance that attitude has on the job search. I let them know I am about to say something and I challenge them to tell me if they believe me or not. Once I have their attention, I stick out my left hip with my left hand on it, shrug my shoulders as I turn my head up at an angle to the right and roll my eyes as I take a deep breath. As I’m exhaling I say “I’m thrilled to be here”. “No” is the response from the room. They don’t believe me. I ask them why they don’t believe me; I said I was thrilled to be here. Some will say my stance, others my tone or facial expression all which can be summed up as my body language. I verify that what they are saying then is that they believe my body language over the words I speak and they agree.
The same is true for you. You can NAIL all of the answers in an interview; you can give the best answers that have ever been given to the questions. If your body language is either lacking confidence, closed, or showing anger, your body is saying DO NOT HIRE ME and they will believe your body language over the words you speak.

No one ever claimed the job search is fun; that is because it’s not. There are a number of things that must be addressed in order to have a good attitude during a job search.

1) Understanding that the job market has changed and in what ways it has changed

2) Processing the loss

3) Dealing with pressure points


Understanding the New Job Market

You can’t navigate in the job market unless you know what it is. If you have heard me speak or read any of my articles, you know that I use a lot of analogies. Navigating in the market without understanding it is like navigating in a pitch black warehouse and being told you need to get to the other side of the room. It is so dark you can’t even see your hand in front of your face so you can’t see the other side of the room or the multitude of obstacles in the way. You can work as hard as you possibly can; there is just no way to see if you are making any progress. You will feel like a hamster on a hamster wheel.

Knowing how the job market has changed and what is now required to find a job is like turning on the lights in the warehouse. You can see where you need to go; you can see the obstacles in the way, how to get around them, and you can see that you are making progress. Is it a lovely place where we want to spend a lot of time? No! Yet with the lights on, we can navigate the job market and walk into the next job.

So let’s turn that light on and understand how the job market has changed.
I now turn to another analogy, the telephone.

Rotary Dial Phone

In your grandfather’s day or your great grandfather’s day, they had the large rotary dial phone. The phone weighed a ton and was hard wired into the wall. There was only one phone in the house and it was either in the kitchen (think back to the Lassie show) or at the bottom of the stairs (think Leave it To Beaver). That is like the job market of that day. They had only one or two jobs in a lifetime. My father was in the Navy and then joined Civil Service. My grandfather was a farmer. Think about the oystermen and shrimpers in the Gulf. That is the only job they have ever known and it’s the only job their fathers and their father’s fathers have ever know. Whether you worked in a glass factory or automotive plant, or served as a police officer or fireman, that was your only job.
• One job
• You retired at 65 with a gold watch, a pension, and benefits for life
• All of the services were done in house. No services were outsourced.
• Big companies meant stability. “As GM, so goes the nation”.
That is the job market of yester-year.

Modular Phone

Then the world moved to modular phones. In almost every room there is a modular plug. You plug a phone into the outlet and expect the phone to work well there and you unplug it and plug it in elsewhere and expect it to work just as well there. You still plugged into the wall though; you worked as an employee for an employer.
• People had up to 12 jobs and up to 4 different careers in a lifetime.
• The day of assuming you will receive a pension is gone and many companies now are cutting back on benefits and 401K company contributions.
• People are living longer healthier lives and don’t really think they will completely retire; they may just change what they do for a living.
• Smaller companies are more stable than huge companies because they are easier to turn around when the industry or technology changes.
This is the job market of yesterday.

Cell Phone

But how many of you don’t even have a home phone anymore; I don’t. For more and more people every day, the cell phone serves as the home phone as well. In the analogy, that means we will work with but not for companies. Another reality of today’s job market is that your next job is not your last. You will be on the job market again.

In this new job market, we are responsible for our own retirement plans and even healthcare. Even if a company offers a 401K match, you may not be there long enough to get vested. Recent graduates may consider purchasing a term life plan that goes from job to job with them than invest in a group plan that is worthless once they leave the company. Instead of going with group health plans, people may consider getting health insurance that continues regardless of the employment situation.
As more and more companies outsource work, we will not be employees but actually contract with companies.

In today’s job market, job stability is a personal responsibility. In this recession, there has not been an industry or professional that has not been touched by this latest recession. We can no longer look to companies to provide job stability. Our identities cannot come from the company we work for but instead from knowing the value we bring.

We may not like the new job market. We may long for the way it used to be. The reality is that the job market has changed and so must our approach to it in order to succeed.


Processing the Loss

We are all human and we were made to go through a certain process in order to heal from a loss. When we lose a family member, we give ourselves time and permission to grieve. The same should be true when we lose a job. Whether we left by choice or where invited to leave, it is a loss. We go through the same stages of grieving as we do when we lose a family member. We have to go through anger, denial, depression, bargaining, and then finally acceptance in order to heal and move on.

At one event where I was the guest speaker, the person introducing me wanted to make a comment to the group first. Part of his comment was advising job seekers not to have a pity party. I actually disagree. Have a pity party. I did in 2002 when I was out of work for so long. Get party hats and noise makers, cry, get angry, and feel bad. And then like any party, there is a quitting time. Set a quitting time on your pity party but while the party is on, do it right. Give yourself time to process the loss. If you don’t, that baggage will still be there as you are searching and can come out at the most inopportune time, like the middle of an interview.

Then, after you get to the last stage of grieving, which is acceptance, go one step further and accept the opportunity. There is a plan that will prosper you and not harm you, that will give you a hope and a future. God promises it in Jeremiah 29:11-17. How exciting! What could be behind that next door? I left a 20+ year career in IT and now I own my own company serving as a job search coach and I LOVE it! Trust me, starting a career as a job search coach after that many years in IT is a real left turn; it is not the normal career path for a techie. People can see though how much I love what I do. You can have a job you love too. What is the plan He has for you? I can’t wait to hear all about it.

Dealing with Pressure Points

As we have agreed, the job search process is not fun. In addition we need to keep the roof over the head, the car in the driveway, and food on the table. The job search is also stressful on relationships.
Let me ask you a question. Would you hesitate to call 911 if your house was on fire? So far I have not yet met a person who said they would. That’s because it would be absurd not to call 911 if the house was on fire. Even if we were trained firemen, it would be crazy not to call 911 if our house was on fire because we’d like to use the pump truck over our little garden hose and because we’d like the help of others.

So we agree there is no shame in asking for help, in fact it would be crazy not to ask when we need it.

We have 911 for first responders. We have 411 for information. We have 511 for the Department of Transportation (please do not dial it while driving). We also have 211. 211 is the nationwide number for the United Way.

If you think you may need help down the road or at least you want to know your options, call 211. The United Way is the coordinating agency between hundreds of organizations that offer all types of assistance or advice (free or on a sliding scale). Credit card counseling, rent assistance, the latest on mortgage programs, food banks, and emotional support and counseling are just a few of the services provided by the United Way organizations. Just dial 211 and they will ask you the type of advice / assistance you need and your zip code and they will then connect you with an organization nearest to you that provides the type of assistance you desire.

There is no shame in asking for help; it is actually crazy not to. When you get your next job (and you will, God promises it) just give to the United Way.

A bad attitude will sabotage your job search. Attitude is a choice. Accept that the job market has changed, process the loss, look forward to the opportunity, and get help for pressure points. Choose a positive attitude and begin the search.

Probationary employee terminated for alleged misuse of sick leave

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Probationaryemployee terminated for alleged misuse of sick leave
Curcio v NewYork City Dept. of Education, 55AD3d 438

The New York City Department of Education dismissed a probationary physicaleducation teacher, Louis Curcio, from his position and simultaneouslyreemployed him as a tenured teacher under his common branch license.

In response to Curcio’s petition seeking reinstatement as a probationer in hisformer physical education teacher position Supreme Court, New York CountyJustice Shirley Werner Kornreich, denied the Department of Education’s motionto dismiss so much of the petition as sought review of the termination ofCurcio's probationary employment under his physical education license. JusticeKornreich also reinstated petitioner's physical education license nunc protunc*  to May 15, 2006.

The Department appealed. The Appellate Division “unanimously reversed” JusticeKornreich’s reinstating Curcio’s physical education license and dismissedCurcio’s petition challenging his termination.

Curcio had sued the Department for terminating his probationary employmentunder his physical education license. The Department had dismissed him becauseof Curcio’s alleged premeditated misuse of sick leave. The Appellate Divisionsaid that Curcio petition challenging his dismissal from his probationaryemployment should have been dismissed as he failed to establish that histermination "was for a constitutionally impermissible purpose, violativeof a statute, or done in bad faith."

On a related issue, the Appellate Division noted the record shows that Curciowas not given the requisite 60-day statutory notice that his probationaryemployment was being terminated by the Department.

Typically such a lack of notice would have entitled Curcio to one day's pay foreach day the notice was late. Here, however, the court determined that Curciowas not entitled to such payment because after being terminated from hisprobationary employment, he immediately resumed his duties at the same schooland at the same rate of pay under his common branch license under which he was fullytenured.

* Nunc pro tunc [Latin for "now forthen"] refers setting an earlier date for the effective date of an order or judgment, givingit a “retroactive” legal effect.
Thedecision is posted on the Internet at:
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2008/2008_08020.htm

Filing a statutory notice of claim: efforts by an individual to vindicate a personal interest and efforts to vindicate a public interest distinguished

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Filing a statutorynotice of claim: efforts by an individual to vindicate a personal interest andefforts to vindicate a public interest distinguished
Palmer v Niagara Frontier Transp. Auth., 56AD3d 1245

A former employee sued the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority allegingthat the Authority terminated his employment in retaliation for his havingadvised the Authority’s employees and agents of alleged safety violations athis work site.

The Appellate Division ruled that Supreme Court properly granted the Authority’smotion for summary judgment to dismiss individual’s complaint.

The former employee had contended that the Authority had violated Civil ServiceLaw §75-b, the “Whistle Blower Law." However, said the court, in thisinstance the individual sought only to vindicate his “individualinterests," and he had not filed a notice of claim as mandated by PublicAuthorities Law §1299-p(1) before initiating his law suit. This, explained thecourt, was a fatal omission on the part of the individual.

With respect to the applicability of the three-month notice of claimrequirement of Education Law 3813(1) to statutory or nonjudicial proceedingsinvolving school districts, school boards and boards of cooperative educationalservices, as well as parallel notice of claim requirements when suchproceedings involve other municipal units of government, New York’s courts havedistinguished between proceedings which concern an individual’s personalinterest [see, for example, Doyle v. Board of Education of Deer Park Union FreeSchool District, 230 A.D.2d 820, a case involving a claim of lost retirementbenefits] and those involving an individual seeking to vindicate a publicinterest (see, for example, Union Free School District No. 6 of Towns of Islip& Smithtown v New York State Division of Human Rights Appeal Board, 35 NY2d371, at 380, motion to reargue denied 36 NY2d 807).

The general rule: statutes requiring the filing of a notice of claim as acondition precedent to initiating litigation are applicable in actionsinvolving “only a personal interest” but not in actions involving an effort tovindicate a “public interest.”

There as some exceptions to this general rule, however.

PERB, relying on the Court of Appeals ruling in Freudenthal v. Nassau County,99 NY2d 285, that claims filed with the NY State Division of Human Rights, anadministrative agency, do not require the filing of a Notice of Claim pursuantto Education Law Section 3813, has ruled that such notice is not required withrespect to improper practice charges filed with it.

Similarly, the Commissioner of Education has held that Section 3813 does notapply to appeals brought under Section 310 of the Education Law [Appeals ofBodnar and DeGiglio, 1990 Opinions of the Commissioner of Education, 12369]while in Mennella v Uniondale UFSD, 287 A.D.2d 636, the Appellate Divisiondecided that a petition filed with the Commissioner of Education may constitutethe functional equivalent of a Section 3813(1) notice of claim.

In Sephton v Board of Education of the City of New York, 99 AD2d 509, theAppellate Division ruled that "the 'tenure rights' of teachers are ...considered a matter in the public interest and therefore Section 3813 is not applicableto cases seeking to enforce such rights."

Addressing another aspect of the former employee’s petition, the AppellateDivision ruled that his cause of action “is not viable because Civil ServiceLaw §75-b(2)(a)(i) prohibits a public employer from … terminating a publicemployee based on the employee's disclosure of the ‘violation of a law, rule orregulation which violation creates and presents a substantial and specificdanger to the public health or safety’ [and the Authority] established as a matterof law that the safety concerns raised by [former employee] did not presentsuch a danger, and [the individual] failed to raise an issue of fact.”

The full text of the decision is posted on the Internet at:
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2008/2008_08947.htm