NYC POLICE OFFICERS IN THE TIER 3 RETIREMENT SYSTEM ARE ENTITLED TO CREDIT FOR PERIODS OF UNPAID CHILDCARE LEAVE (CT APP).
The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Fahey, reversing the Appellate Division, over a two-judge dissent, determined that retiring police officers are entitled to credit for the unpaid leave for child care. The appeal raised a question of statutory interpretation. The Court of Appeals found that the relevant provision of the NYC Administrative Code was not preempted by the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL):
The Appellate Division order should be reversed and Supreme Court’s judgment declaring that defendants violated the second subdivision (h) of Administrative Code of the City of New York § 13-218 by excluding police officers in tier 3 of the state retirement system from the retirement benefits conferred by that subdivision reinstated. Applying longstanding, basic rules of statutory interpretation, we conclude that the relevant part of Administrative Code § 13-218 renders officers of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) who are members of the tier 3 retirement system eligible for credit for certain periods of unpaid childcare leave, and that the grant of such benefits for those officers is consistent with the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL). Lynch v City of New York, 2020 NY Slip Op 05841, Ct App 10-20-20
