Requires that all human services contracts between any public entity and a human services provider stipulate that the public entity will pay no less than 150% of the higher of: the otherwise applicable minimum wage in the state or any otherwise applicable wage rule or order and that the necessary amounts have been appropriated to ensure payment of such minimum wage.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8932
SPONSOR: Bronson TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the labor law, in relation to requiring human service
providers that contract with the state to pay their employees a certain
minimum wage
PURPOSE:
To require human services providers who contract with the state to pay
their employees a minimum wage of twenty-one dollars and hour.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one would add a new Section 224-e to the Labor Law that defines
terms and establishes a requirement mandating that human services
providers contracting with the state pay their employees 150% of the
higher of either the applicable minimum wage under § 652 of the labor
law, or any applicable wage order or rule.
Section two would establish the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Nonprofits provide publicly funded human services under contract with
State agencies but there has never been a requirement or even a well-es-
tablished practice to ensure that contracts keep up with the cost of
providing quality services, resulting in a system that pays only 70
cents on the dollar for direct program expenses. When these contracts
systematically underfund services, they are relying on low-wage workers,
predominantly of color, to fill in those gaps.
Currently, the human services work force is overwhelmingly female (66%),
with more than two-thirds of the full-time staff are workers of color
(68%), and nearly half (46%) are women of color. They are highly
educated and were lauded as heroes during COVID-19 but are paid only 70%
of the salaries given to their government counterparts. This has
resulted in human services workers being some of the lowest paid workers
in New York's economy. The relatively low pay at the core human services
sector resulted in nearly 25% of all human services workers qualifying
for food stamps in recent years. The poverty-level wages appear to be
built into how New York State currently contracts for human services and
are a direct result of the decade of disinvestment that was included in
the state budgets that were enacted beginning in 2008.
This legislation seeks to address the impact of the chronically low wage
scale upon the human services workers who provide such essential
services.
FISCAL IMPACT:
To be determined.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: A1644-A - Referred to Labor; enacting clause stricken
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act would take effect immediately and would apply to contracts and
agreements issued, renewed, modified, altered or amended on or after
such date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8932
IN ASSEMBLY
January 30, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BRONSON -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to requiring human service
providers that contract with the state to pay their employees a
certain minimum wage
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The labor law is amended by adding a new section 224-g to
2 read as follows:
3 § 224-g. Wage requirements for certain human services workers. 1. For
4 the purposes of this section:
5 (a) "Human services" shall mean any service provided to individuals or
6 groups of individuals, for the purpose of improving or enhancing such
7 individuals' health and/or welfare, by addressing social problems
8 including but not limited to: domestic violence, teenage pregnancy,
9 migrant health problems, child abuse, nutritional deficiencies, suicide,
10 hunger, unemployment, lack of suitable shelter, crime, drug and alcohol
11 abuse and poverty.
12 (b) "Human services provider" shall mean any: (i) not-for-profit or
13 charitable organization, or (ii) local agency as defined in paragraph
14 (c) of this subdivision, that (1) contracts with any state agency or
15 other public entity, as defined in paragraph (e) of this subdivision to
16 provide human services as defined in paragraph (a) of this subdivision,
17 or (2) directly or indirectly receives any public funds to provide or
18 contract with third persons to provide human services for the benefit of
19 the general public or specific client groups.
20 (c) "Local agency" shall include all county, city, town and village
21 governing bodies, all other public corporations, special districts and
22 school districts in the state.
23 (d) "State agency" shall include any department, division, board,
24 bureau, commission, office, agency, authority or public corporation of
25 the state.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04314-04-4
A. 8932 2
1 (e) "Public entity" shall mean any local agency as defined in para-
2 graph (c) of this subdivision and any state agency as defined in para-
3 graph (d) of this subdivision.
4 2. Every contract for human services entered into between a public
5 entity and a human services provider, and any such contract entered into
6 by a third party acting in place of, on behalf of and for the benefit of
7 such public entity pursuant to any lease, permit or other agreement
8 between such third party and the public entity, shall stipulate that:
9 (a) the public entity shall pay to each human services worker for each
10 hour worked no less than one hundred fifty percent of the higher of: (i)
11 the otherwise applicable minimum wage under section six hundred fifty-
12 two of this chapter; or (ii) any otherwise applicable wage rule or order
13 under article nineteen of this chapter; and
14 (b) adequate funding has been appropriated to ensure compliance with
15 the minimum wage requirements set forth in paragraph (a) of this subdi-
16 vision.
17 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to
18 contracts and agreements issued, renewed, modified, altered or amended
19 on or after such date.
