A G R E E M E N T

between

THE ATLANTIC COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
PBA LOCAL NO. 77

and the

COUNTY OF ATLANTIC

1. All employees shall be entitled to a one-half (1/2) hour paid meal period.
2. Employees shall remain alert and at the ready to respond during the meal period.

1. All employees shall be entitled to a one-half (1/2) hour paid meal period.
2. Employees shall remain alert and at the ready to respond during the meal period.
3. Employees shall be given ninety-six (96) hours advance notice of a work schedule change, except in emergent conditions. Work schedules may revert to the normal work schedule without the minimum advance notice requirement, except as restricted by Section J herein below.
4. Employees shall be given forty-eight (48) hours advance notice of a shift change, except for emergent conditions. Work shifts consist of eight (8) hours consecutively worked during a scheduled work week. Work shifts may not be changed from the scheduled work week for more than two (2) consecutive work days. This provision does not prevent the Employer from changing the employee’s work schedule for more than two (2) consecutive work days provided the employee is given ninety-six (96) hours advance notice as provided above.

1. A total of sixty-four (64) hours of compensatory time will be awarded to an employee who must be on call year round. An employee will receive a prorated amount of compensatory time proportional to the amount of time the employee is on call during the year. It is agreed that this time will be given off at the discretion of the unit supervisor and Chief of County Detectives.
2. Any employee called into work at a time not contiguous to his/her regular shift shall be entitled to a minimum of four (4) hours worked except in the instance where the employee is called into work within one (1) hour prior to his/her regular shift. In those instances where the employee is called into work within one (1) hour prior to his/her regular shift, said employee shall receive pay only for the actual hours worked prior to his/her regular starting time. When not overlapping with their regular shift, call-in work hours begin at the time that the employee receives the telephone call/notification and ends when the employee arrives home. This assumes a direct travel from work location to home. Call-in pay shall be at one and one-half (1 ½) times the employee’s regular rate of pay, irrespective of any overtime exclusions.
3. If travel time is required in excess of employee’s normal commuting time due to the employee’s being required to report to or leave from a location different from the employee’s normal work station, the employee shall receive overtime for the difference in commuting time.

The salary guide shall be as follows After ratification of the MOA and prior to signing the Contract, PBA 77 selected a COVID premium pay option that added $500 to base salaries effective 1/1/22. The $500 addition is included in the salary guide. Employees on board and on step 1 at the time of the premium pay agreement received $500 but it was not added to the first step on the guide for those hired after that date.:

	2020 (Old guide)	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
1	$50,000	$51,000	$51,000	$52,020	$52,020	$53,060
2	$53,000	$54,060	$54,560	$55,641	$55,641	$56,744
3	$56,000	$57,120	$57,620	$58,762	$58,762	$59,928
4	$60,000	$61,200	$61,700	$62,924	$62,924	$64,172
5	$64,000	$65,280	$65,780	$67,086	$67,086	$68,417
6	$68,000	$69,360	$69,860	$71,247	$71,247	$72,662
7	$72,000	$73,440	$73,940	$75,409	$75,409	$76,907
8	$77,000	$78,540	$79,040	$80,611	$80,611	$82,213
9	$82,000	$83,640	$84,140	$85,813	$85,813	$87,519
10	$87,000	$88,740	$89,240	$91,015	$91,015	$92,825
11	$92,000	$93,840	$94,340	$96,217	$96,217	$98,131
12	$98,000	$99,960	$100,460	$102,459	$102,459	$104,498
13	$106,000	$108,120	$108,620	$110,782	$110,782	$112,988
14	$113,209	$115,473	$115,973	$118,283	$118,283	$120,638
15			$119,437	$121,816	$121,456	$127,955

A. HEALTH INSURANCE AND WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

NJ Direct 10 = $33,720 total premium
NJ Direct 2030 = $29,575.36 total premium

Salary	Appendix A %	Employee share for 2030	Employee share for Direct 10	Employer share for 2030	Employer share for Direct 10	Difference for employer
A. $60,000	17%	$5,027.81	$5732.4	$24,547.55	$27,987.60	$3,440.05
B. $80,000	24%	$7,098.09	$8092.8	$22,477.27	$25,627.20	$3,149.93
C. $100,000	32%	$9,464.12	$10790.4	$20110.88	$22,929.60	$2,818.72

For Employee A: If the employee enrolls in NJ Direct 2030, the employee and the employer pay their share of the premium as they normally would and there is no cost in excess of the base plan because it is the base plan. Employee total is $5,027.81. If the employee enrolls in NJ Direct 10, the employee and the employer pay their share of the premium as they normally would. However, because the employer’s share is now $3,440.05 more than it would be if the employee were enrolled in the base plan, the employee is now responsible for that additional cost. Employee total is $9,172.45.

For Employee B: If employee selects 2030, they will pay $7,098.09. If employee selects 10, they will pay $8,092.80 plus the amount of the employer’s share that exceeds $22,477.27 which is $3,149.93. For a total of $11,242.73.

For Employee C: If employee selects 2030, employee will pay $9,464.12. If employee selects 10, employee will pay $10,790.4 + $2,818.72 for a total of $13,609.12.

Any officers hired into the Agency on or after May 22, 2010 including anyone who is newly hired into the Agency as a Captain. Lieutenant or Sergeant) shall be paid fifty percent (50%) of accrued sick leave up to maximum of $15,000 gross wages with eligibility for a terminal sick leave payout conditioned upon employee meeting either of the following scenarios:

1. having at least 25 years of service credit in the State Pension Plan and at least twenty-five (25) years of full time service with Atlantic County, or

2. being at least 62 years of age and having at least fifteen (15) years of full time service with Atlantic County.

The parties understand that an employee retiring under a “deferred retirement” shall not be eligible for such pay for his or her accumulated sick leave as provided for in this section.

K. Members will be eligible for participation in the County Disability Pool. This pool has as its purpose the granting of wage continuation to employees who, because of non-job related illness, have exhausted all accrued sick and vacation time.

L. Each member will supply two (2) sick days (to be matched by the County) so an appropriate bank of days can accumulate. Members may be required to contribute additional days to keep an appropriate amount of days in the pool.

M. The disability pool, in essence, advances a member's annual leave days in the case of disability. Upon return to work, the member must pay back the days utilized under the disability pool. The County will reclaim these days by deducting one-half (1/2) of the member's sick and annual sick leave time each subsequent calendar year until all time has been repaid.

Employees shall be permitted to take up to three (3) days of bereavement leave following the death of an “immediate family” member as the term is defined in N.J.A.C. 4A:1-1.3 and as may be revised from time to time. Currently, “immediate family” is defined as: “Employee’s spouse, domestic partner, civil union partner, child, legal ward, grandchild, foster child, father, mother, legal guardian, and other relatives residing in the employee’s household or any other individual whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship, such as a step-relative.”

1. New Year's Day
2. Martin Luther King's Birthday
3. Lincoln's Birthday
4. Washington's Birthday
5. Good Friday
6. Memorial Day
7. Juneteenth
8. Fourth of July
9. Labor Day
10. Columbus Day
11. General Election Day
12. Veterans Day
13. Thanksgiving Day
14. Christmas Day

1. Up to one (1) year of service with the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office - one (1) working day vacation for each month of service.
2. After (1) year and up to five (5) years of service with the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office -fifteen (15) working days vacation.
3. After five (5) years of service with the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office - twenty (20) working days of vacation.
4. Commencing in 1994, after twenty (20) years of service with the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office - twenty-five (25) working days of vacation.

STEP 1 – The grievance shall be submitted in writing to the immediate supervisor of the grievant within ten (10) business days of the occurrence of the grievance. The immediate supervisor shall submit a written answer to the Local representative of the grievant within seven (7) business days of the submission date of the grievance.

STEP 2 – If the grievance is not satisfactorily adjusted at Step 1, the Local may appeal to the Chief of County Detectives within five (5) business days after receipt of the written answer in Step 1. The Chief of County Detectives will review the grievance and answer by submitting in writing his position within five (5) business days of the submission of the grievance to Step 2.

STEP 3 – If the grievance is not satisfactorily adjusted at Step 2, the Local may appeal to the County Prosecutor within five (5) business days after receipt of the written reply in Step 2. The County Prosecutor shall submit a written answer to the grievance within five (5) business days after submission to Step 3. Policy grievances affecting substantial numbers of employees covered by this Agreement may proceed directly to Step 3 grievance procedure.

Upon PBA #77 finding the grievance to be meritorious, disputes concerning an interpretation, application or violation of a term or condition of the Agreement which affects the income, hours or economic fringe benefits of the employee may be submitted to an arbitrator selected through the Public Employment Relations Commission, whose decision shall be binding upon the parties. The expense of such arbitration shall be borne equally by the parties. No other disputes may be submitted to such binding arbitration.

It is agreed that the Employer will provide counsel at its expense for the defense of unit employees in criminal actions brought against them arising out of and directly related to the lawful exercise of police powers in furtherance of their official duties, to the extent the Employer is permitted by law to provide this representation.
Further, it is agreed that any unit employee charged with a criminal offense, including disorderly persons offenses, may retain counsel of his/her choice for the purpose of such representation. However, said counsel shall not enter an appearance on behalf of the employee without first obtaining written authorization from the County Counsel or his designee. The Employer shall not disapprove counsel for the employee for any reason other than lack of agreement on the cost of representation or legal conflict of interest. Written authorization shall not be required for counsel to represent employees in emergent or preliminary proceedings, including but not limited to custodial interrogations, initial court appearance, and bail hearings where it is impractical to obtain written authorization from the County Counsel or his/her designee.
As soon as practical, counsel shall provide the County Counsel or his designee with a detailed statement of anticipated services, the hourly billing rate to be applied, the total anticipated expenditure of time for the case, and the anticipated total charge. This statement shall be submitted in writing and shall be signed by the attorney. The County Counsel shall review this statement and, if acceptable, shall return an approved copy to counsel with authorization to provide representation. If events or circumstances of an unforeseen nature appear, counsel shall submit a revised statement of anticipated services and costs for approval by County Counsel.
Hourly rates of over Eighty-Five Dollars ($85.00) per hour will not be approved unless, in the judgment of the County Counsel, special circumstances unique to the case exist which warrant a greater fee, including but not limited to the complexity of the issues and the need for specialized trial experience. Total billings in excess of Six Hundred Dollars ($600.00) will not be approved for municipal court matters (in the absence of special or unique circumstances attendant to the case). In the event an appeal is taken to Superior Court from a municipal court judgment of conviction, fees in excess of Eight Hundred Dollars ($800.00) will not be approved (in the absence of special or unique circumstances attendant to the case).
Payment for services rendered will be made at the conclusion of the litigation upon submission of a copy of the judgment of the court and an itemized bill, broken down in segments not greater than quarter-hours, for all services rendered. The Employer reserves the right to decline payment for any services which are not sufficiently documented or deemed to be unreasonable in relation to the filed statement of anticipated services. In the event that a unit employee is convicted, payment will not be made to counsel unless and until that conviction is reversed on appeal. In the event that a unit employee is convicted of a criminal offense, and that conviction is either not appealed or is affirmed, the Employer shall not be responsible for any costs of defense.
In the event a dispute should arise concerning the appropriate hourly rate or fee in a particular case, either party may submit the dispute to the appropriate bar association fee arbitration committee, whose decision shall be final and binding.