This article is adopted pursuant to the provisions
of the Municipal Home Rule Law of the State of New York which allows
municipalities to adopt local laws concerning the wages and conditions
of employment of employees and officers of the Town. The Town Board
hereby recognizes that employees who have health-care coverage through
their spouses or others are, in effect, deprived of a valuable economic
incident of employment if they do not receive health insurance coverage
from the Town. It is the purpose of this article to adjust this difference
in monetary treatment by allowing eligible employees to participate
in an insurance buyout program.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEE
Any full-time employee, other than an elected official or
member of a collective bargaining unit, who is eligible for medical
insurance coverage made available by the Town as a benefit of employment,
but who has comparable health insurance coverage from another source.
Eligible employees who have followed the procedures set forth in §
34-7 of this chapter shall receive a buyout of $1,500 annually.
The annual buyout shall be paid to eligible
employees throughout the course of the buyout year, in equal payments,
to be included in the employee's regular paycheck for each pay period
for so long as the employee remains eligible to receive the buyout.
In the event that an eligible employee is no
longer covered by an alternate insurance plan, that employee may resume
coverage under the medical insurance plan made available through the
Town, provided the employee meets all eligibility requirements of
the medical insurance plan provided by the Town. Such coverage will
begin on the first day of the month immediately following the employee
giving a minimum of five days' notice to the Town Supervisor of the
necessity of reinstatement in to the Town's medical insurance program.
Any eligible employee may request a waiver of
health insurance coverage and payment of the insurance buyout as provided
in this article.