(a) The authority shall be a successor employer to the state and shall recognize existing bargaining units and collective bargaining agreements existing at the time of transfer of Bradley and the general aviation airports to the authority. The employees of the authority shall be considered state employees under the provisions of sections 5-270 to 5-280, inclusive. Managerial employees and other employees not covered by a collective bargaining agreement shall be exempt from the classified service. With regard to unclassified positions, the authority shall not be required to comply with personnel policies and procedures of the Department of Administrative Services and the Office of Policy and Management with regard to approval for the creation of new positions, the number of such positions, the decision to fill such positions or the time for filling such positions. The authority, not the executive branch, shall have the power to determine whether an individual is qualified to fill an unclassified position at the authority. Employees of the authority covered by a collective bargaining agreement shall be members of the classified service. The authority shall establish classifications and determine the qualifications and set the terms and conditions of employment of employees not covered by a collective bargaining agreement, including the establishment of compensation and incentive plans.

(b) Existing aviation employees, as defined in § 15-120oo, in collective bargaining units shall be transferred with their position to the authority, if, as and when the authority shall have been ceded the powers of the commissioner to perform the functions performed by such employees. If the authority elects to employ a smaller number of persons in such positions at the authority than the number of existing aviation employees in collective bargaining units, the opportunity to transfer to the authority shall be offered on the basis of seniority as defined by statute or collective bargaining agreement. Employees who are offered the opportunity to transfer to the authority may decline to do so. Any person who is covered by a collective bargaining agreement as an employee of the Department of Transportation who accepts employment with the authority shall transfer with his or her position and shall remain in the same bargaining unit of which he or she was a member as an employee of the Department of Transportation.

(c) No employee covered by a collective bargaining agreement as an employee of the Department of Transportation shall be laid off as a result of the creation of the authority. Each bargaining unit employee of the Department of Transportation who does not transfer to the authority and who, by virtue of sections 15-101l to 15-101n, inclusive, is no longer employed by the Department of Transportation shall be retained by said department or assigned with his or her position to another state agency in accordance with the provisions of the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition agreement. Such opportunities shall be offered in the order of seniority. Seniority shall be defined in the same way as cases of transfer under the appropriate collective bargaining agreements. Such assignments shall be made only with the approval of the Office of Policy and Management and shall be reported at the end of the fiscal year to the Finance Advisory Committee. Employees may choose to be laid off in lieu of accepting any such assignment. In such case, they shall be entitled to all collective bargaining rights under their respective collective bargaining agreements including the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition. Sections 1-120, 1-121, 1-125, 12-563, 12-563a, 12-564, 12-566, 12-567, 12-568a and 12-569, subsection (c) of § 12-574 and sections 12-800 to 12-818, inclusive, shall in no way affect the collective bargaining rights of employees of the Department of Transportation.

(d) (1) In addition to positions transferred to the authority under subsection (b) of this section, the authority may create one or more new classifications of employees as determined by the board of directors. Such classifications shall not be deemed comparable to other classifications in state service and shall be exempt from classified service.

(2) On and after July 1, 2011, the authority may hire employees into new unclassified positions without regard to any collective bargaining agreement then in effect and may set the initial terms and conditions of employment for all employees in new unclassified positions.

(e) The executive branch shall be authorized and empowered to negotiate on behalf of the authority for employees of the authority covered by collective bargaining and represent the authority in all other collective bargaining matters. The authority shall be entitled to have a representative present at all such bargaining.

(f) In any interest arbitration regarding employees of the authority, the arbitrator shall take into account as a factor, in addition to those factors specified in § 5-276a, the purposes of sections 1-120, 1-121, 1-125, 12-563, 12-563a, 12-564, 12-566, 12-567, 12-568a and 12-569, subsection (c) of § 12-574 and sections 12-800 to 12-818, inclusive, the entrepreneurial mission of the authority and the necessity to provide flexibility and innovation to facilitate the success of the authority in the marketplace.

(g) The officers and all other employees of the authority shall be state employees for the purposes of group welfare benefits and retirement, including, but not limited to, those provided under chapter 66 and sections 5-257 and 5-259. The authority shall reimburse the appropriate state agencies for all costs incurred by such designation.

(h) The executive director, as described in subsection (d) of § 15-120bb, may, at the discretion of the authority and at the one-time irrevocable option of the executive director, be exempted from the provision of subsection (g) of this section for the purposes of retirement under chapter 66 or group welfare benefits under sections 5-257 and 5-259. If the executive director elects either or both such options, as approved by the authority, the executive director’s participation in the retirement or group benefits plan, as applicable, shall be suspended during the period of such election while the executive director is an employee of the authority. The authority may develop and implement retirement plans and group welfare benefits for the executive director. Such plans shall not be subject to supervision, oversight or approval by the State Employees Retirement Commission under chapter 66 or the Comptroller, Attorney General or Insurance Commissioner under chapter 67, provided any such retirement plan shall be considered a Connecticut retirement plan for purposes of subsection (d) of § 5-160. The authority shall pay all costs, fees, contributions and other expenses incurred as a result of any such retirement plan or group welfare benefit.