1. Executive
Order No. 3 (1970) is rescinded.
2. (a) There
is hereby reconstituted the Governor's Employee Relations Policy
Council.
(b) The
Council shall consist of the Commissioner of the Department
of Personnel as chairperson, the Commissioner of the Department
of Labor, the Attorney General, the Chief Counsel to the Governor
and the State Treasurer, or their designees. The members of
the Council shall serve ex officio.
(c) The
Council shall advise the Governor on employee relations policy,
negotiation issues and strategies, contract acceptance, and
related matters involving State employees. The Council shall
serve, through counsel, as the Governor's agent in conducting
collective negotiations with employee organizations.
(d) The
Council shall meet at the request of the Governor or Chairperson.
The Council shall render such reports to the Governor as the
Council determines necessary or as the Governor directs.
3. The Council
is authorized to hire such outside consultants as deemed necessary
to fulfill its mandate pursuant to this Order.
4. (a) The
Council is authorized to call upon any department, office, division
or agency of the State to supply such statistical data, program
reports, and other information or personnel and materials as it
deems necessary to discharge its responsibilities under this Order.
(b) Each
department, office, division or agency of the State is authorized
and directed, to the extent not inconsistent with law, to cooperate
with the Council and to furnish it such information and assistance
as it may find necessary in the discharge of its responsibilities
under this Order.
5. Pursuant
to N.J.S.A. 52:17A-4 and 11, attorneys assigned by the Attorney
General shall appear as the Council's representative before the
New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission and any other
board, commission, court or agency in matters involving employee
relations.
6. Executive
Order No. 4 (1970) is rescinded.
7. There
is hereby reconstituted the Office of Employee Relations within
the Department of Personnel which shall be headed by an Assistant
Commissioner for Employee Relations. The Assistant Commissioner
for Employee Relations shall be appointed by the Commissioner
of Personnel and shall serve at the pleasure of the Commissioner.
The Assistant Commissioner for Employee Relations shall oversee
the operations of the Office of Employee Relations.
8. The responsibilities
of the Office of Employee Relations shall include, but not be
limited to:
(a) administration
and policy interpretation of labor agreements;
(b) coordinating
data collection, information dissemination, reporting, liaison
and training activities with other departments;
(c) providing
support staff to the Governor's Employee Relations Policy Council;
and
(d) offering
recommendations to the Governor's Employee Relations Policy
Council concerning employee relations and related matters involving
State employees, and rendering such reports to the Council as
the Council may direct or the Assistant Commissioner for Employee
Relations determines.
9. In addition
thereto, the Commissioner of Personnel may transfer any and all
functions currently performed within the Department of Personnel
to the Office of Employee Relations as the Commissioner deems
appropriate.
10. (a)
All appropriations, personnel, records and property associated
with the Office of Employee Relations shall be reallocated within
the Department of Personnel in such a manner as the Commissioner
of Personnel deems appropriate in order to maximize efficiency,
service and cost-effectiveness.
(b) The
treatment of current personnel in the Office of Employee Relations
shall be consistent with the standards set forth in P.L. 1971,
c. 375 (C.52:14D-1 et seq.), the "State Agency Transfer Act."
(c) Except
as herein otherwise provided and in accordance with Title 11A,
Civil Service, of the New Jersey Statutes, allocation of the
Office of Employee Relations to the Department of Personnel
shall not alter or change the term, tenure of office, rights,
obligations, duties or responsibilities otherwise provided for
the Office.
11. (a)
The Office of Employee Relations is authorized to call upon any
department, office, division or agency of the State to supply
such statistical data, program reports, and other information
or personnel and materials as it deems necessary to discharge
its responsibilities under this Order.
(b) Each
department, office, division or agency of the State is authorized
and directed, to the extent not inconsistent with law, to cooperate
with the Office and to furnish it such information and assistance
as it may find necessary in the discharge of its responsibilities
under this Order.
12. This
Order shall take effect immediately.
GIVEN,
under my hand and seal
this 14th day of July in the Year of
Our Lord, One Thousand Nine
Hundred and Ninety Four, and of the
Independence of the United States,
the Two Hundred and Eighteenth.
/s/
Christine Todd Whitman
GOVERNOR