[HISTORY: Adopted by the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders (now Board of County Commissioners) as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 2-27-2008 by Ord. No. O-2008-00002; amended in its entirety 7-12-2023 by Ord. No. O-2023-00013]
A. 
To accommodate those persons and entities requiring the services of off-duty Sheriff's officers and to authorize their off-duty employment, the County hereby establishes this policy and procedures.
B. 
Sheriff's officers deemed eligible by the Sheriff to do so shall be permitted to accept law-enforcement-related employment from governmental, nongovernmental and school district employers only during their off-duty hours and at such times as will not interfere with the efficient performance of regularly scheduled or emergency duty for the County.
C. 
The County may choose to utilize a secondary service designee/third-party administrator ("TPA") to administer the above actions related to off-duty employment. These actions include, but are not limited to, communicating with persons and entities requiring security services [i.e., applicants requiring off-duty Sheriff's officer(s)] in order to schedule off-duty assignments; selecting and scheduling Sheriff's officers for off-duty assignments; invoicing persons and entities requiring security services; and receiving escrow and/or payments from such persons and entities in a manner set forth in this article and memorialized in an agreement between the County and a TPA. A TPA may charge an additional fee for its services, not to exceed 8% of pay for an assignment based on an applicable fee structure. A TPA shall comply with applicable laws and regulation regarding payments and accounting as set forth in an agreement between the County and TPA. A TPA must agree to reimburse/pay the County and the officer, via ACH or other funds transfer methods approved by the County, the administrative fees due to the County and payments to officers for off-duty work performed, in a timely manner, during the relevant County pay period for which the off-duty work was performed, or no later than the next County pay period.
D. 
A TPA must, in writing, agree with the provisions of this article, and this article must be attached to said agreement.
E. 
Sheriff's officers who are deemed eligible to perform outside employment and who perform in the capacity of a security officer for a licensed security officer company, as defined under the Security Officer Registration Act ("SORA"), N.J.S.A. 45:19A-1 et seq., while receiving compensation from the private security company, shall not wear their Essex County Sheriff's uniform or otherwise exhibit evidence of authority as a Sheriff's officer while performing private security functions for the licensed security company. Prior to commencement of such employment, the Sheriffs officer and, if applicable, the TPA must ensure that both the officer and the licensed security company are in full compliance with SORA. Sheriff's officers may only work for a licensed security company which has provided written assurance to the Sheriff, prior to the commencement of work, that the Sheriff's officer is an employee of that entity while performing the duties of an off-duty security officer, and is not an employee of the County, and that the licensed security company carries comprehensive workers' compensation and general liability insurance in amounts required by the County as referenced below.
A. 
Any person or entity seeking to employ off-duty Sheriff's officers [applicant requesting off-duty officer(s)] shall first obtain the approval of the Sheriff or his/her designee. The Sheriff or his/her designee or TPA is authorized to execute an agreement with the applicant for services needed, which agreement shall set forth the specific nature of the services to be performed, the location, dates and hours of service, payment arrangements mandated herein, number of officers needed, insurance coverage and/or any other provisions required by law or regulation of the State of New Jersey. As a condition precedent, the applicant must first file a request for services with the Sheriff's Outside Employment Unit ("OEU") or TPA and ensure it is in compliance with all relevant laws and regulations, including but not limited to SORA.
B. 
Any Sheriff's officer, when so employed by the County, shall be treated as an employee of the County; provided, however, that any and all wages earned for outside employment shall not be applied toward the pension benefits of Sheriff's officers so employed or for incremental raises, nor shall hours worked for outside employment be considered in any way compensable as overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act[1] or compensable in any other manner that requires the County to pay the Sheriff's officers with County funds through its payroll system. All Sheriff's officers shall be subject to the policies, procedures, directives, rules and regulations of the Sheriff, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office and the Attorney General's Office of the State of New Jersey.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.
Billing periods. Billing and payment practices for persons or entities contracting for the provision of security services by off-duty Sheriff's officers shall be conducted in accordance with local finance laws and regulations promulgated by the Local Finance Board.
Due to the wide variety of assignments Sheriff's officers may be asked to perform, as well as varying rates of compensation paid law enforcement officers by the various municipalities, it is reasonable to allow for different rates. Sheriff's officers are to receive the same hourly rate paid to police officers in the municipality in which they are to be working off-duty, including any municipal administrative fees. The $7 per hour per Sheriff's officer administrative fee the County charges to recoup its expenses for processing requests and payments shall remain constant irrespective of the amount of administrative fees charged by each municipality. The County or the TPA shall collect the same hourly rate paid by the municipality, from which it shall deduct the County's $7 per hour administrative fee per officer and Federal Insurance Contributions Act Tax ("FICA") and then pay the net remaining amount to the Sheriffs officer through the County's regular payroll. Thus, by way of example, if the municipality pays an hourly rate of $85 plus $7 hourly in administrative fees, the County shall collect $92 per hour, from which it shall deduct the County's $7 administrative fee and FICA with the remaining net amount paid to the off-duty Sheriff's officer. If a TPA is in place, the off-duty Sheriff's officer shall be paid for an assignment through the TPA. The TPA shall collect the same hourly rate paid by the municipality, from which it shall add the County's $7 per hour administrative fee per officer and the employer Federal Insurance Contributions Act Tax ("FICA"). The TPA shall forward the $7 per hour administrative fee per Sheriff's officer to the County. The TPA shall be responsible for the employer's FICA in its agreement with the County; the County shall be responsible for the employee's FICA deductions. The off-duty Sheriff's officer shall receive the net remaining amount through the County's regular payroll. The amount an officer earns off-duty shall be reflected in the officer's W-2 from the County. The TPA shall collect its 8% on each assignment from the person or entity requiring off-duty work separate from the amounts earned by an off-duty Sheriff's officer and the administrative fees to the County. Unless there are contractual agreements with a person or entity to the contrary, the rates of compensation for the assignments listed below shall be as follows:
A. 
Standard, steady security and crowd control. Compensation to the County for each Sheriff's officer shall be at the same hourly rate as the prevailing rate for the same work performed by police officers employed by the municipality in which the work is being performed, including any municipal administrative fees, from which the County or TPA shall deduct the County's $7 per hour administrative fee per officer and FICA in accordance with the example above in § 115-4. There shall be a minimum hourly rate of $85 per officer, plus the County administrative fee with the net remaining amount to the Sheriff's officer through the County's regular payroll. The administrative fee does not apply to off-duty employment performed on property owned or leased by the County of Essex.
B. 
Traffic/road construction. Compensation to the County for each Sheriff's officer shall be at the same hourly rate as the prevailing rate for the same work performed by police officers employed by the municipality in which the work is being performed, including any municipal administrative fees and all holiday and shift differentials, from which the County or TPA shall deduct the County's $7 per hour administrative fee per Sheriff's officer and FICA in accordance with the example above in § 115-4.
C. 
County property. Compensation for off-duty enforcement duties on County property, such as concerts/special events and movie/television shoots, shall be at an hourly rate of $85 per officer, from which the County or TPA shall deduct FICA.
D. 
Four-hour minimum. All assignments shall have a four-hour minimum per Sheriff's officer contracted. Any assigned TPA shall ensure this minimum for assignments. Sheriff's officers are entitled to pay for a four-hour minimum if the assignment is cancelled without a two-hour notice prior to the contracted start time. Sheriff's officers who begin an assignment that is cancelled before its completion shall be entitled to pay at the rate of the four-hour minimum or actual hours worked, whichever is longer.
E. 
Marked Sheriff's unit vehicle. Compensation for a Sheriff's officer working with a marked Sheriff's unit vehicle shall be at the hourly rate detailed above, including municipal administrative fees, plus the rate for utilization of a marked unit in the municipality in which the work is being performed, from which the County or TPA shall deduct its $7 per hour administrative fee per officer and FICA in accordance with the example in § 115-4 above. If the local ordinance does not specify a rate for a marked unit, the rate for a marked Sheriff's Office's unit shall be an additional $20 per hour. Any assigned TPA shall ensure compliance with this subsection.
F. 
Superior officers. Compensation for a superior Sheriff's officer, specifically requested due to his or her status as a supervisor, shall be the hourly rate as detailed above, which is the prevailing rate of the municipality for a superior officer, including municipal administrative fees, plus $10 per hour per supervisor, from which the County or TPA shall deduct its $7 per hour administrative fee per officer and FICA in accordance with the example in § 115-4 above. All assignments that require five Sheriff's officers to safely perform an assignment, as determined by the Sheriff's Office, shall have one supervisor on the job site for every five Sheriff's officers employed. For example, an event requiring five to nine Sheriff's officers would require one supervisor; an event requiring 10 to 14 officers would require two supervisors. The supervisor rate, as set forth above, shall apply. Any assigned TPA shall ensure compliance with this subsection.
Persons or entities contracting for off-duty law enforcement services are placed on notice that the Sheriff is the primary employer of Sheriff's officers and, in contracting for such services, expressly agree to the following conditions:
A. 
Police-related work. Sheriff's officers providing law enforcement services shall not be required to perform non-police-related tasks. Police-related tasks typically involve crowd/traffic control and site security.
B. 
Uniforms. Unless specifically authorized by the Sheriff or while performing in the capacity of a security officer for a licensed security officer company as defined under N.J.S.A. 45:19A-1 et seq., Sheriff's officers shall be in uniform. Requests from persons or entities other than licensed security officer companies for Sheriff's officers to work in a plain-clothes capacity shall be made, in writing, to the Sheriff, who in his or her sole discretion may approve or deny such a request for any or no reason.
C. 
Cancellations. Persons or entities that have contracted for off-duty Sheriff's officers and wish to cancel must provide a minimum of two hours' notice or be subject to the four-hour minimum for each Sheriff's officer contracted. Notification can be made via telephone to the Sheriff or his/her designee or the TPA.
D. 
Number of Sheriff's officers needed. Persons or entities contracting for the services of off-duty Sheriff's officers must accept as final the number of Sheriff's officers required for the job at hand as determined by the Sheriff or his/her designee.
E. 
State of emergency. The Sheriff or his/her designee shall, at all times, have the authority to order any Sheriff's officer engaged in off-duty assignments to respond to an emergency situation. The Sheriff or his/her designee shall also have the right to order any off-duty assignment terminated whenever said assignment creates an unacceptable risk to the health, safety or welfare of the off-duty Sheriff's officer and/or the citizens of Essex County.
A. 
Persons or entities contracting for off-duty law enforcement services are responsible for providing all insurance coverage as required by law. Any TPA must make sure there is compliance with this provision. Each persons or entity contracting for off-duty law enforcement services shall provide the Sheriff with appropriate certificates of insurance naming the County of Essex and the Sheriff's officers as additionally insured and evidencing that the Sheriff's officer and Essex County are covered by general liability coverage of at least $1,000,000 for each occurrence, $2,000,000 in the aggregate, and workers' compensation with respect to the services to be provided. Persons or entities contracting for off-duty law enforcement services shall cause the County of Essex to be named as an additional insured on applicable policies and will deliver same to the County Risk, Hall of Records, 4th Floor. Before assigning work, a TPA shall procure immediately insurance compliance from the persons or entities contracting for off-duty law enforcement services and provide a copy of same to the Sheriff prior to the assignment; this subsection is a condition precedent to any assignment.
B. 
The certificate of insurance or the policy shall contain the following language: "The Insurer shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless the County of Essex and Essex County Sheriff, their employees, officers, agents, servants, officials, elected officials and administrators from and against any and all claims, or actions at law, whether for personal injury, death, property damage or liability including any costs of defense incurred by the County of Essex and/or Essex County Sheriff which arise from any acts or omissions of the insured, off-duty Essex County Sheriff's officers, their employees, agents, servants, officials, elected officials or administrators arising out of or related to the use of off-duty Essex County Sheriff's officers."
A. 
The person or entity contracting for off-duty law enforcement services and the applicable insurer shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless the County of Essex and Essex County Sheriff, their employees, officers, elected officials, agents, servants, officials and administrators from and against any and all claims, or actions at law, whether for personal injury, death, property damage or liability, including any costs of defense incurred by the County of Essex and/or Essex County Sheriff which arise from any acts or omissions of the insured, off-duty Essex County Sheriff's officers, their employees, agents, servants, officials, elected officials or administrators arising out of or related to the use of off-duty Essex County Sheriff's officers.
B. 
This indemnification and hold harmless agreement shall apply in all instances, whether the County of Essex and/or Essex County Sheriff are plaintiffs, defendants, direct parties to the initial action or claim, or are subsequently made parties to the action by third-party in-pleading, or are made parties to a collateral action arising, in whole or in part, from any of the issues from the original cause of action or claim.