A question came up recently whether NYS unchapterd laws -- that is, laws in their original form, not consolidated -- were available online. The answer is yes, at the same website where you can look up bills and other legislative materials.
http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menuf.cgi
From that site, click CHAPTERS and use the search tool. Just limit to "chapter number" and fill it in, along with the year. AND don't forget to click the box marked "text" to see the complete text of the act.
Don't know one or the other? There's a keyword search tool. Or Google the name of the act to discover its chapter number and year, then return and try again.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
"Past Practice"
While "past practice" has a definition under the law, it is not a term found in most law dictionaries. It actually comes from Labor: the US Office of Personnel Management
(http://www.opm.gov/lmr/glossary/glossaryp.asp) defines it as
"Existing practices sanctioned by use and acceptance, that are not specifically included in the collective bargaining agreement. Arbitrators use evidence of past practices to interpret ambiguous contract language. In addition, past practices can be enforced under the negotiated grievance procedure because they are considered part of the agreement. ..." Follow the OPM link above to see other definitions and context from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (http://www.flra.gov), where you can search for more information, including decisions involving unions and corporations that may be relevant to your idea.
So Why wouldn't LexisNexis help you much?? As I said, "Past Practice" is a term used most often in labor, especially in contracts and negotiations. Many labor negotiations, arbitrations and other disputes are resolved by independent or governmental boards, rather than the courts. So while you may find a few case decisions on Past Practice, you'd find much more looking at unions', negotiators', and arbitrators' websites. Here are a few to try, all of which allow you to search for decisions relating to labor negotiations (they are not court cases!)
* The National Labor Relations Board [http://www.nlrb.gov/]
* The NYS Public Employees Review Board [http://www.perb.state.ny.us/]
* United Federation of Teachers [http://www.uft.org] Note: Some "members only" portions of this site
* National Education Association [http://www.nea.org]
* AFSCME [http://www.afscme.org]
The NYS Commissioner of Education's Decisions, which contain some uses of the term in context, may be valuable, though the Commissioner is not empowered to hear certain labor matters. Still, it's worth a visit, and you can search for the term there. If you're in the Ed Law class at New Paltz this semester, you'll search the Decisions often. They're found at
http://www.counsel.nysed.gov
(http://www.opm.gov/lmr/glossary/glossaryp.asp) defines it as
"Existing practices sanctioned by use and acceptance, that are not specifically included in the collective bargaining agreement. Arbitrators use evidence of past practices to interpret ambiguous contract language. In addition, past practices can be enforced under the negotiated grievance procedure because they are considered part of the agreement. ..." Follow the OPM link above to see other definitions and context from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (http://www.flra.gov), where you can search for more information, including decisions involving unions and corporations that may be relevant to your idea.
So Why wouldn't LexisNexis help you much?? As I said, "Past Practice" is a term used most often in labor, especially in contracts and negotiations. Many labor negotiations, arbitrations and other disputes are resolved by independent or governmental boards, rather than the courts. So while you may find a few case decisions on Past Practice, you'd find much more looking at unions', negotiators', and arbitrators' websites. Here are a few to try, all of which allow you to search for decisions relating to labor negotiations (they are not court cases!)
* The National Labor Relations Board [http://www.nlrb.gov/]
* The NYS Public Employees Review Board [http://www.perb.state.ny.us/]
* United Federation of Teachers [http://www.uft.org] Note: Some "members only" portions of this site
* National Education Association [http://www.nea.org]
* AFSCME [http://www.afscme.org]
The NYS Commissioner of Education's Decisions, which contain some uses of the term in context, may be valuable, though the Commissioner is not empowered to hear certain labor matters. Still, it's worth a visit, and you can search for the term there. If you're in the Ed Law class at New Paltz this semester, you'll search the Decisions often. They're found at
http://www.counsel.nysed.gov
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