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A08156 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         8156--A
 
                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                    October 13, 2023
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by M. of A. BRONSON -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Education -- recommitted  to  the  Committee  on  Education  in
          accordance  with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill
          amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said  commit-
          tee

        AN  ACT  to amend the education law, in relation to establishing a work-
          place readiness week for secondary school students
 
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section  1.  This  act  shall  be known and may be cited as the "youth
     2  workplace readiness act".
     3    § 2. Legislative findings and intent. It is the intent of the Legisla-
     4  ture that New York pupils enter the workforce with a strong  understand-
     5  ing  of  their  rights  as  workers, as well as their explicit rights as
     6  employed minors. It is further the intent of the  Legislature  to  equip
     7  pupils with this knowledge to protect them from retaliation and discrim-
     8  ination,  to ensure that these young workers receive all wages and bene-
     9  fits to which they are entitled, to empower them to refuse  unsafe  work
    10  when necessary, and to prepare them to assert their labor rights whenev-
    11  er these rights are threatened.
    12    The  Legislature hereby finds and declares that young New Yorkers must
    13  enter the workforce having received a thorough education on their  right
    14  to join or organize a union at their workplace. It is further the intent
    15  of the Legislature that secondary schools present state-approved appren-
    16  ticeship programs as a path towards a living wage career for all pupils.
    17    §  3. The education law is amended by adding a new section 818 to read
    18  as follows:
    19    § 818. Workplace readiness  week.  1.  The  week  of  each  year  that
    20  includes  May  first  shall  be known as "workplace readiness week". All
    21  secondary schools shall annually observe that week by providing informa-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD11779-04-4

        A. 8156--A                          2
 
     1  tion to students on their rights as workers. The  topics  covered  shall
     2  include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
     3    (a)  local,  state,  and  federal laws regarding each of the following
     4  issues:
     5    (i) child labor;
     6    (ii) wage and hour protections;
     7    (iii) worker safety;
     8    (iv) workers' compensation;
     9    (v) paid sick leave;
    10    (vi) prohibitions against retaliation; and
    11    (vii) the right to organize a union in the workplace;
    12    (b) the labor movement's role in winning the protections and  benefits
    13  described in paragraph (a) of this subdivision;
    14    (c)  an  introduction to state-approved apprenticeship programs in New
    15  York, how to access them, and how they can provide an alternative career
    16  path for those who do not attend university or college;
    17    (d) an introduction to the civil service system in New  York  and  the
    18  process of testing and applying for civil service jobs; and
    19    (e) an introduction to financial literacy which shall include, but not
    20  be limited to, banking basics, budgeting, and filing taxes.
    21    2.  For students in grades eleven and twelve, the observances required
    22  by subdivision one of this section shall be integrated into the  regular
    23  school  program,  consistent with the history/social science curriculum,
    24  but may also include special events after  regular  school  hours.  This
    25  integration  is  encouraged, but not required, to occur during workplace
    26  readiness week.
    27    3. Any minor seeking working papers in order to  be  employed  in  the
    28  state  shall  be issued, before or at the time of receiving such working
    29  papers, a document clearly explaining basic  labor  rights  extended  to
    30  workers.    Topics  covered  in  this document shall include, but not be
    31  limited to, those topics identified in paragraph (a) of subdivision  one
    32  of this section. Such document shall be produced, and made available, in
    33  any  language  spoken  by five percent or more of the pupils enrolled in
    34  any one school or, if requested, in the primary language of any  student
    35  and shall express these labor rights in plain, natural terminology easi-
    36  ly  understood  by the student. The document shall be in a physical form
    37  but may also be provided electronically. The New York  state  school  of
    38  industrial  and  labor  relations at Cornell university is encouraged to
    39  produce, with input from bona fide labor organizations, a draft template
    40  for the document to be provided to minors seeking working papers  pursu-
    41  ant to this subdivision, including the translations specified.
    42    4.  The  commissioner  shall annually send a written notice, detailing
    43  the requirements of workplace readiness week and how teachers may access
    44  related instructional materials and other resources, to every  secondary
    45  school in the state, at least one month before workplace readiness week.
    46    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
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