NEW JERSEY COPS ■ MARCH 2014
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are only entitled to their regular rate of pay. However, many collective bargaining agreements covering law enforcement officers often
provide for additional overtime compensation or compensatory
time when an officer is forced to work during a State of Emergency.
Unfortunately, these contractual clauses are often unenforceable
as the express language of N.J.A.C. 4A:6-2.5 preempts the language
in the collective bargaining agreements.
The legislative history of this regulation provides further proof
that the intent was to preclude an award of additional compensation in such scenarios and, thus, preempt collective bargaining on
this issue. A relevant comment from a 1997 hearing on this subject
can be found in the New Jersey Register:
a result of the budget impasse between Gov. Corzine and the State
Legislature. In recounting the statute and legislative history cited
above, the court found that PERC properly determined that N.J.A.C.
4A:6-2.5(d) was preemptive in nature and, thus, no additional pay
could be provided to the members of PBA Local 105.
As thoroughly described above, it is well-settled that, alth