NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8156A
SPONSOR: Bronson TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to establishing a work-
place readiness week for secondary school students
PURPOSE:
This bill would require the week of each year that includes May 1 to be
known as "Workplace Readiness Week" to educate all secondary school
students on their workplace rights and the involvement of the labor
movement in winning these rights. The bill provides information pertain-
ing to these workplace rights to be additionally provided to minors as
part of the application process for working papers.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the Youth Work-
place Readiness Act.
Section 2. Legislative findings and intent.
Section 3. The education law is amended by adding a new section 818.
Provides for a Workplace Readiness Week to be observed by all New York
secondary schools for the first week in May every year by providing
information to pupils on their rights as workers, the labor movement's
role in winning these rights, financial literacy, and an introduction to
state-approved apprenticeship programs.
Any minor seeking working papers to be employed in the state shall be
issued, in physical or electronic format in their primary language, a
document clearly explaining fundamental labor rights extended to work-
ers.
The commissioner shall annually send a written notice detailing the
requirements and educational resources available for Workplace Readiness
Week.
The bill would encourage the New York State School of Industrial and
Labor Relations at Cornell University (ILR) to produce, with input from
bona fide labor organizations, a draft template for the document to be
provided to minors.
Section 4: This act shall take effect immediately.
JUSTIFICATION:
The month of May is traditionally celebrated as Labor History Month
throughout the State. For New. York youth to be fully prepared to enter
the workforce, they must be equipped with a strong understanding of
their rights as workers and their explicit rights as employed minors.
Equipping New York pupils with this knowledge, including their right to
join or organize a union at their workplace, will protect them from
retaliation and discrimination, ensure that these young workers receive
all the wages and benefits to which they are entitled, empower them to
refuse unsafe work when necessary and prepare them to assert their labor
rights whenever these rights are threatened.
FISCAL IMPACT:
TBD
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
