PBANYS and SUNY reach agreement on mandatory COVID-19 testing for PBA-represented employees
SUNY also announces expansion of mandatory testing to all non-union Management / Confidential employees
SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras and Police Benevolent Association of New York State (PBANYS) President Ryan Law have reached an agreement to conduct free, mandatory COVID-19 testing for PBANYS Agency Police Services Unit employees (including University Police Officer, University Police Officer II, University Police Investigator and University Police Investigator II).
Effective immediately and continuing through Dec. 31, 2020, PBANYS-represented employees at SUNY New Paltz who are required to report in person to campus to conduct some or all of their work obligation must be tested for coronavirus.
SUNY also announced that the mandatory pool testing program will be expanded to include non-union Management / Confidential employees, effective immediately.
The testing shall be conducted without cost to the employee, and on-campus testing must be provided to these employees during their regular work hours.
The process of implementing mandatory PBANYS employee testing at SUNY New Paltz is currently in the planning stages. Campus leaders from the Testing & Tracing subcommittee and the Office of Human Resources, Diversity & Inclusion will work with local PBANYS representatives to develop testing protocols.
The group is targeting an Oct. 8 start date for PBANYS employee testing. On-campus testing will be scheduled to accommodate University Police employees who work night shifts, so that they can be tested during their regular work hours.
The SUNY-PBANYS agreement calls for employee testing to be done at the same frequency as student testing; New Paltz students are currently required to be tested twice during the fall 2020 semester.
Employees will have options for fulfilling the mandatory testing at off-campus facilities if they prefer.
PBANYS is the fourth bargaining unit to agree with SUNY on mandatory employee testing, following similar agreements with UUP, CSEA and PEF.
General information about on-campus COVID-19 testing for employees is available via this link.