Office of Labor Relations Services

The Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES Labor Relations and Negotiations service has been a trusted partner to the Monroe and surrounding county area school districts for over 30 years. Our dedicated team of attorneys provide guidance to school districts with labor relations matters and personnel issues encompassing the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, seniority, tenure, minimum wage and discrimination.

The School Investigator Service is staffed mainly by retired law enforcement officers. This service conducts investigations into both residency and student attendance issues.

The Residency Investigator Service helps participating districts identify suspected non-residents who are occupying attendance space intended for resident students.

In New York State, compulsory student attendance is required as well as a system for accounting for student’s school attendance throughout the school day. The Attendance Investigator Service helps districts meet this need by acting as a liaison between the school and family to facilitate the student’s school attendance.

These services are provided through an hourly fee on an as-needed basis. This charge is aidable for districts that qualify for BOCES aid.

To utilize either the Attendance or Residency Service, please contact Sr. School Investigator, Jeff Gerber.

For more information about the service, please contact Lynda M. VanCoske, Esq.

The Labor Relations and Negotiation Service provides a wealth of services and can customize an offering to meet a district’s needs. The main components of this service are research, negotiations, personnel and contract administration. We provide an analysis of existing labor contracts, comparison of contract language, and a database for comparing salaries and benefits for regional teacher, non-instructional, administrative and assistant superintendent employee groups. In addition, our dedicated team of attorneys provides consultation on employee matters that involve the ADA, FMLA, FLSA, seniority, tenure and discrimination; assists with labor-related issues, grievance administration, developing counter-proposals to union demands; and provides in-service training on a variety of labor issues. The service also conducts employee misconduct and/or harassment/discrimination investigations upon district request.

The charge for this service is aidable for districts that qualify for BOCES aid.

 

For more information about this service, please contact Lynda M. VanCoske, Esq.

The Members Only Service provides a membership to the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce as well as access to data including an Abolition Outline, Monroe and surrounding county school district contracts, I-9 Packet, Paid/Unpaid Leave Guidebook, Personnel Notebook, Survey data, FMLA Packet and a Tenure Outline. In addition, the service provides to its member districts the mandated State and federal labor law postings. Click here to log in to the Members Only portion of the website.

The Superintendent Disciplinary Hearing Service provides a hearing officer to act as the Superintendent's designee for student long term suspension hearings. One fee provides for 25 hearings and an hourly rate will apply after 25 hearings.

A district does not have to be a member of the Labor Relations and Negotiation Service to join this service. This charge is aidable for districts that qualify for BOCES aid.

The service includes the following: conducting the hearing as the Superintendent designee; providing a recommendation memo to the Superintendent; unlimited access to the staff for any and all hearing related questions; annual updates; and a biennial drug identification training.

For more information about this service, please contact Lynda M. VanCoske, Esq. Access the Superintendent Hearing Training Materials here.

 

Trainings and Seminars we have held include:
•    Progressive discipline
•    Reference checking
•    Sexual harassment
•    Writing improvement plans
•    Calculating FMLA leave

This service is complimentary for districts who participate in our Labor Relations Service.

 

For more information about this service, please contact Lynda M. VanCoske

The Unemployment Insurance Service handles benefit protests and prepares, assists and represents the district at all related hearings and appeals.

Districts may participate in the Unemployment Insurance Service without participating in the Labor Relations and Negotiation Service. The charge for this service is separate from the Labor Relations Service fee and is aidable for districts that qualify for BOCES aid.