AGO 1990-002.

• Case Date: January 05, 1990
• Court: Connecticut

Connecticut Attorney General Opinions 1990. AGO 1990-002. January 5, 1990Opinion No. 1990-002The Honorable Richard J. Balducci Speaker of the House of Representatives State of Connecticut Legislative Office Building, Room 4100 Hartford, CT 06106 Dear Mr. Speaker: This is in response to your request for advice dated November 16, 1989 in which you ask "whether the unclassified employees of a board of trustees of any constituent unit of the state system of higher education who are members of ARP are actually subject to the dictates of this arbitration award, [on state employees retirement benefits] specifically Issue 17 ... which mandated that the members of the Alternate Retirement Program (ARP) be provided with Social Security coverage effective July 1, 1989." For the reasons set forth below, the answer to your question is that those employees who are in bargaining units represented in the arbitration which resulted in the award are subject to the award. Those employees not in such units are not subject to the award, but are required to be provided with similar coverage by the terms of the Social Security Act. On September 13, 1989 this office issued an opinion in which we concluded that neither the Social Security Agreement between the State and the federal government nor the Connecticut General Statutes permit, authorize or allow ARP participants to be covered by Social Security. This opinion provides a history of Social Security coverage in the State, and the development of the Alternate Retirement Plan. --- Conn.Op.Atty.Gen. ---- (1989). On November 16, 1989, in a letter to the State Employees Retirement Commission, the Social Security Administration confirmed this office's opinion with respect to non-coverage of ARP participants. For some time the state and a coalition representing all state employees who are members of collective bargaining units (State Employees' Bargaining Agent Coalition or SEBAC) have been involved in collective bargaining negotitations concerning changes to the state employees retirement system. These on-going negotiations were recognized by the General Assembly by the adoption of P.A. 86-411. SEBAC represented all of the designated state employee organizations. Those employee organizations were designated by the State Board of Labor Relations as exclusive representatives for the employees in the appropriate units. Such unit determinations are made without regard to whether the employees involved are within the classified or unclassified service. See Conn.Gen.Stat. § 5-275. Awards rendered pursuant to the provisions of Conn.Gen.Stat. § 5-276a are binding upon all employees in units represented by employee...