House Bill No. 5718
               House Bill No. 5718

              PUBLIC ACT NO. 98-257


AN ACT CONCERNING  PARTICIPATION  BY CERTAIN STATE
EMPLOYEES  IN  THE  BIG  BROTHER  AND  BIG  SISTER
PROGRAM.


    Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and House of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
    Section 1. (NEW)  (a)  On  and  after  June 1,
1998,  each  full-time  employee  in  a  permanent
position  in  the   state   service,  who  is  not
represented    by    a    collective    bargaining
representative,  who  worked  at  least  one  full
calendar  year,  shall  be  granted  one  week  of
additional annual vacation,  with  pay, based upon
their normal work  schedule for each calendar year
that they are  a  Big Brother or Big Sister in the
Big Brothers and  Big  Sisters  program.  The year
period shall be  measured  annually from September
first of each  year.  The  Big  Brothers  and  Big
Sisters program shall  provide a list to the state
of the employees  who  are  certified  as eligible
under  this  program  within  one  month  of  full
acceptance into the  program  and shall certify to
the state the  names  of  the  employees  who have
completed a year  of  full  participation  in  the
program as a Big Brother or Big Sister. If such an
employee does not participate for the full year or
does  not  satisfy   the   expected  regular  time
commitments, no additional  vacation time shall be
granted.  The decision  to  grant  the  additional
vacation time shall  be subject to approval by the
Office of Policy  and  Management and shall not be
subject  to appeal  under  section  5-202  of  the
general  statutes  or   under   any   collectively
bargained agreement. The regulations regarding the
utilization   of   vacation   shall   govern   the
utilization   of  the   additional   time   earned
hereunder.
    (b)  Big  Brothers  and  Big  Sisters shall be
totally responsible  for  all  elements  of  their
program.   No   activities   performed   by  state
employees with Big Brothers and Big Sisters  shall
be  on  state  time  and  such activities shall be
outside of the scope of their employment.
    (c)  Any  collective bargaining representative
of state employees may agree to have their members
participate in the program. Such participation may
commence upon execution of  an  agreement  between
state of Connecticut, acting through the Office of
Labor Relations,  and  the  collective  bargaining
representative   indicating  the  representative's
acceptance of the terms  and  conditions  of  this
section.  No variation of the terms and conditions
may  be  granted  without   legislative   approval
pursuant to section 5-278 of the general statutes.
Such matter is not subject to  the  grievance  and
arbitration procedure or interest arbitration.
    Sec.  2.  This  act shall take effect from its
passage.

Approved June 11, 1998