Requires each agency to conduct exit surveys for employees resigning from state civil service; directs the state civil service commission to create an annual report on such surveys; exempts individual responses to exit surveys from the freedom of information law.
Summary
S06990, the “Improve Civil Service Working Conditions Act,” would require New York state agencies to collect exit information from employees who resign or retire from state service. By January 1, 2028, each agency must submit any existing exit survey materials or policies to the Department of Civil Service. The Civil Service Commission president would then use those materials to develop a statewide exit survey and interview protocol for resigning and retiring employees, including questions about workplace experience and reasons for leaving, manager guidance on how to conduct the process, and notice that survey responses are not subject to the Freedom of Information Law.
The bill requires agencies to offer voluntary electronic exit surveys to all departing employees and to make best efforts to conduct exit interviews, with each agency required to offer interviews to at least 30 percent of resigning or retiring employees. Surveys and interviews must be offered as soon as practicable after notice of departure and completed by the employee’s last day. The Department of Civil Service must then submit an annual report beginning March 30, 2029, summarizing participation and analyzing reasons employees leave state service, broken down by agency and job classification. The bill also expressly exempts individual exit survey responses from FOIL disclosure.
Impact
The bill would amend the Civil Service Law by adding a new section 159-e, creating a statewide framework for exit surveys and interviews in state civil service. It affects state agencies, the Department of Civil Service, and the Civil Service Commission by imposing new reporting, survey administration, and protocol-development duties, while also limiting public disclosure of individual survey responses under the Freedom of Information Law. In practice, it would create a new source of workforce-retention data for state government and require agencies to standardize how they gather information from departing employees.
Sentiment
The available voting history shows strong support for the bill. It passed the Senate Civil Service and Pensions Committee unanimously twice, then passed the Senate floor 56-1 and the Assembly floor 128-1. The lack of recorded committee discussion suggests little public controversy in the available record, and the near-unanimous votes indicate broad agreement that the measure is a workforce-management and employee-retention tool.
Contention
The main policy issues embedded in the bill are privacy and administrative burden. The bill addresses privacy by exempting individual exit survey responses from FOIL, which appears designed to encourage candid responses and reduce disclosure concerns. Potential points of contention could include the requirement that agencies offer interviews to at least 30 percent of departing employees, the added administrative workload for agencies, and whether the survey/reporting mandate will meaningfully improve working conditions or retention. No specific opposing arguments are reflected in the available transcripts, but the lone dissenting votes suggest at least minimal resistance.
Same As
Requires each agency to conduct exit surveys for employees resigning from state civil service; directs the state civil service commission to create an annual report on such surveys; exempts individual responses to exit surveys from the freedom of information law.
Requires each agency to conduct exit surveys for employees resigning from state civil service; directs the state civil service commission to create an annual report on such surveys; exempts individual responses to exit surveys from the freedom of information law.
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