Why are we so special?

[ny10570 745]

antique all ready touched on this, but here's my two cents. There is a certain comfort that comes from working under someone you know and trust that would allow you to go a little further or push a little harder because you know their track record, and can trust their judgment. If its someone I don't know, they may have all the answers and have instincts like no other, but if they don't know our capabilities, they they may not be fully aware of what they are asking us to do.

Edited April 21, 2008 by DOC22

[Oswegowind 17]

Unfortunately there is no such thing as "TRANSFER". Only resign and rehire. Just have to make sure you are hired by the new place before you resign from the first place! Retirement may carry over if it is another dept in the same State with the same system for retiring in place. State to State, I don't believe so, however it is sad, it would be nice to transfer somewhere with seniority, almost like going from station to station...

[YFD216 2]

You can transfer from dept to dept. in NYS because I know dept's that take them. You keep your years in the pension but that's all. You start at the bottom as a proby with the dept you transfer into. Yonkers does not do this you must take the test all over and go through proby school just like everyone else no matter who you worked for. I know a few guys from other dept's including FDNY that have done just that.

As far as promotion tests not everyone promoted is the right guy for the job just the guy who scored the best,not always but it does happen and depending on when you are allowed to take the test and where they work for the municipality,slow or busy house,the person promoted may not have the experience to actually be a good boss.

Just my 2 cents

[Oswegowind 17]

You can transfer from dept to dept. in NYS because I know dept's that take them. You keep your years in the pension but that's all. You start at the bottom as a proby with the dept you transfer into. Yonkers does not do this you must take the test all over and go through proby school just like everyone else no matter who you worked for. I know a few guys from other dept's including FDNY that have done just that.

As far as promotion tests not everyone promoted is the right guy for the job just the guy who scored the best,not always but it does happen and depending on when you are allowed to take the test and where they work for the municipality,slow or busy house,the person promoted may not have the experience to actually be a good boss.

Just my 2 cents

That is not a "transfer". You can't just call another department and ask to get a job, you must be on the "LIST" and be offered a job. Hence, you re-sign from your current job and are re-hired by a new department and start all over from scratch excluding retirement time as long as they are in the same system. A transfer would be if you retained your current status/position, hence if you transferred from Mt. Vernon to Yonkers as a Captain, which is not permitted! Your retirement/pension is the only thing that transfers, no seniority nor position does, therefore this is not really a transfer!

[YFD216 2]

I know of firemen who have done what they call lateral transfers into other depts and I'm not gonna argue about it just know it exists and it applies to just firemen. I was asked by one dept to transfer and I wasn't on their list besides I like'd where I was to much.

[x134 46]

That is not a "transfer". You can't just call another department and ask to get a job, you must be on the "LIST" and be offered a job. Hence, you re-sign from your current job and are re-hired by a new department and start all over from scratch excluding retirement time as long as they are in the same system. A transfer would be if you retained your current status/position, hence if you transferred from Mt. Vernon to Yonkers as a Captain, which is not permitted! Your retirement/pension is the only thing that transfers, no seniority nor position does, therefore this is not really a transfer!

As a Firefighter going from one department to another is called a transfer. You start at the bottom as far as seniority in the new Department. Your in service time counts in the system. Some departments you still have to do 20 yrs and then the other time is counted at the 20 yr mark.

[Oswegowind 17]

I understand what you both are saying, however the terminology is incorrect. I worked as a dispatcher for the Westchester County Police and then "transferred" to Yonkers. I had to be on the current list and be hired there from and in order to take the job in Yonkers, I resigned from the County and was hired by Yonkers. I did carry over time for retirement, but I started at the bottom with no time on and had to go through all the training, some of which was redundant, just as any "new" person would. I also had to request that my retirement system record with time in be "transferred" by the state from Westchester County to the City of Yonkers. This is not a true "transfer". If it were a transfer I would have moved from one location to another with no loss of anything! Once again, you can't transfer anywhere unless you are on the active hiring list that is delivered by passing the civil service test covering that specific jurisdiction. Unless you are hired provisionally by another job pending passing of the civil service exam. In both cases, you must resign your current position and be rehired at the same type of position with another department, as a new hire. There are no direct transfers between departments. It would be great if that were allowed, you know, like work 5-10 in Yonkers and then transfer to somewhere like Yorktown to wait out the last whatever years until retirement and carry over everything including paygrade, seniority, vacation/sick time, and longevity. This however is only a dream!

[Bnechis 3,961]

That is not a "transfer". You can't just call another department and ask to get a job, you must be on the "LIST" and be offered a job.

About 10 years ago we took transfers from at least 4 other departments. We did not have an active list at the time and NYS Civil Service approved it.

[Oswegowind 17]

Barry, they kept their "on the job" seniority or no? And is this still permissible? This would be the 1st time I have heard of this, but I am young. As I understood it, Police officers used to transfer from NYC to Westchester jobs but that was discontinued years ago. And now they call it resign/rehire.

[Bnechis 3,961]

Barry, they kept their "on the job" seniority or no? And is this still permissible? This would be the 1st time I have heard of this, but I am young. As I understood it, Police officers used to transfer from NYC to Westchester jobs but that was discontinued years ago. And now they call it resign/rehire.

We go on City seniority. So the 15 or so NR Cops who took our test and got hired keep their seniority for vacation and some other benefits (but not pay). The FF's who lateraled did not keep seniority, but kept pension time (as did the cops).

Mt Vernon PD in the 80's & 90's had a big problem with "Badge drain" they paid poorly and guy got 1 or 2 years of experience andwould transfer to village depts. Going to starting pay...which was often higher.

[helicopper 1,050]

Barry, they kept their "on the job" seniority or no? And is this still permissible? This would be the 1st time I have heard of this, but I am young. As I understood it, Police officers used to transfer from NYC to Westchester jobs but that was discontinued years ago. And now they call it resign/rehire.

Within the same civil service system (Police or Fire - outside NYC which is a different system) there are two options... One is the lateral transfer where someone merely changes jobs. That generally requires the approval of both Chiefs/Commissioners which is why it is so seldom used today (to prevent the badge drain that Barry mentioned). I think it used to be done with NYC cops but someone challenged it because they're a different civil service/retirement system so they can NOT lateral.

The other options is resignation-reinstatement. Resign from Job A today, get sworn in at Job B tomorrow. No break in service but you don't bring your seniority with you and you may start at base pay - or whatever is negotiated during the hiring process.

You planning on transferring?