About 800 employees of the Unified Court System have until Aug. 3 to accept the offer of a $20,000 payment if they leave the payroll. The severance, negotiated between court administrators and unions representing non-judicial employees, largely mirrors an incentive Governor David A. Paterson unveiled last week for executive branch employees.
Lawrence K. Marks, administrative director of the Unified Court System, said the offers were based on recommendations of regional court administrators as to which positions could go unfilled for several months without an undue burden on the system. Mr. Marks said the incentives are being offered first to employees in selected job titles with the most seniority, meaning most eligible employees will likely have been working for the court system for a decade or more. Incentives are not being offered to workers in jobs the courts have trouble keeping filled, such as court reporter.
