New York State Assembly

 
•  Summary 
 
•  Actions 
 
•  Committee Votes 
 
•  Floor Votes 
 
•  Memo 
 
•  Text 
 
•  LFIN 
 
•  Chamber Video/Transcript 

A00286 Summary:

A00286 Actions:

A00286 Committee Votes:

Committee:LABOR   Chair:Joyner      
DATE:03/29/2022AYE/NAY:27/2  Action: Favorable refer to committee Codes        
Joyner
Aye
Brabenec
Aye
Abbate
Aye
DiPietro
Nay
Perry
Aye
Byrne
Nay
Colton
Aye
Morinello
Aye
Benedetto
Aye
DeStefano
Aye
Hevesi
Aye
Schmitt
Aye
Bronson
Aye
Durso
Aye
Rozic
Aye
Giglio
Aye
Simon
Aye
Steck
Aye
Barnwell
Aye
Rosenthal
Aye
Cruz
Aye
Reyes
Aye
Ramos
Aye
Jacobson
Aye
Burgos
Aye
Zinerman
Aye
Taylor
Aye
Fernandez
Aye
Sillitti
Aye

Committee:CODES   Chair:Dinowitz      
DATE:05/10/2022AYE/NAY:21/0  Action: Favorable refer to committee Rules        
Dinowitz
Aye
Morinello
Aye
Pretlow
Aye
Giglio
Aye
Cook
Aye
Montesano
Aye
Cymbrowitz
Aye
Reilly
Aye
O'Donnell
Aye
Mikulin
Aye
Lavine
Aye
Tannousis
Aye
Abinanti
Aye
Weprin
Aye
Hevesi
Aye
Seawright
Aye
Rosenthal
Aye
Walker
Aye
Vanel
Aye
Cruz
Aye
Carroll
Aye

Committee:RULES   Chair:Gottfried      
DATE:05/16/2022AYE/NAY:20/6  Action: Favorable         
Heastie
Excused
Barclay
Nay
Gottfried
Aye
Hawley
Nay
Nolan
Aye
Giglio
Nay
Weinstein
Excused
Blankenbush
Nay
Pretlow
Aye
Norris
Nay
Cook
Aye
Montesano
Nay
Glick
Aye
Ra
Aye
Aubry
Aye
Brabenec
Aye
Englebright
Aye
Dinowitz
Aye
Colton
Aye
Magnarelli
Aye
Paulin
Aye
Peoples-Stokes
Excused
Benedetto
Excused
Lavine
Aye
Lupardo
Aye
Zebrowski
Aye
Thiele
Aye
Braunstein
Aye
Dickens
Excused
Davila
Aye
Hyndman
Aye

A00286 Floor Votes:

A00286 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
 submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)



 
BILL NUMBER: A286A
 
SPONSOR: Gunther

 
TITLE OF BILL:
 
An act to amend the labor law, in relation to the restrictions on
consecutive hours of work for nurses
 
 
PURPOSE:
 
This bill would provide a mechanism for a civil penalty in the event an
employer violates the provisions of law, which place restrictions on
consecutive hours of work for nurses.
 
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
 
Section one amends section 167 of the labor law regarding restrictions
on consecutive hours of work for nurses to establish that if after
investigations, the commissioner determines that an employer has
violated this section, the commissioner shall issue an employer an order
directing compliance, which shall describe the alleged violation. A copy
of such order shall be provided to any employee who has filed a
complaint and to his or her authorized representative. The commissioner
shall assess the employer a civil penalty of an amount not to exceed
$1000 for a first violation, $2000 for a second violation, and $3000 for
a third violation. The employee shall receive an additional 15% of the
overtime payment from the employer for each violation as damages.
 
Section two establishes the effective date.
 
 
JUSTIFICATION:
 
Nurses are the backbone of our health care system, and work selflessly
to provide quality health care to their patients. Currently, employers
are prohibited by law from requiring a nurse to work more than that
nurse's regularly scheduled work hours except in cases of a federal,
state or county declaration of emergency, health care disaster, an ongo-
ing medical or surgical procedure or other emergencies. Nonetheless,
nurses are often required to work beyond their agreed upon scheduled
work hours. This bill would provide a mechanism for a civil penalty
where an employer violated the law, as well as provides the employee
with an additional 1-5% of overtime payment for each violation as
damages.
 
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
 
2019-20: A3706 referred to Labor / S5424 referred to Labor
2017-18: A10441 referred to Labor/S6311 referred to Labor
 
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
 
None to state.
 
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after, is shall have
become a law.

A00286 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         286--A
 
                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                       (Prefiled)
 
                                     January 6, 2021
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced by M. of A. GUNTHER, STECK, JACOBSON, BRAUNSTEIN, CRUZ, RICH-
          ARDSON, HEVESI, ENGLEBRIGHT -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on  Labor  -- recommitted to the Committee on Labor in accordance with
          Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
 
        AN ACT to amend the labor  law,  in  relation  to  the  restrictions  on
          consecutive hours of work for nurses
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. Section 167 of the labor law, as added by  chapter  493  of
     2  the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
     3    §  167.  Restrictions on consecutive hours of work for nurses. 1. When
     4  used in this section:
     5    a. "Health care employer"  shall  mean  any  individual,  partnership,
     6  association,  corporation,  limited  liability  company or any person or
     7  group of persons acting directly or indirectly on behalf of  or  in  the
     8  interest  of  the employer, which provides health care services (i) in a
     9  facility licensed or operated pursuant to article  twenty-eight  of  the
    10  public health law, including any facility operated by the state, a poli-
    11  tical  subdivision  or a public corporation as defined by section sixty-
    12  six of the general construction law, or (ii) in a facility  operated  by
    13  the state, a political subdivision or a public corporation as defined by
    14  section  sixty-six of the general construction law, operated or licensed
    15  pursuant to  the  mental  hygiene  law,  the  education  law  [or],  the
    16  correction law, or section five hundred four of the executive law.
    17    b.  "Nurse"  shall  mean a registered professional nurse or a licensed
    18  practical nurse as defined by article one  hundred  thirty-nine  of  the
    19  education law who provides direct patient care.
    20    c.  "Regularly  scheduled work hours", including pre-scheduled on-call
    21  time and the time spent for the purpose of communicating  shift  reports

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02199-02-2
        A. 286--A                           2
 
     1  regarding  patient status necessary to ensure patient safety, shall mean
     2  those hours a nurse has agreed to work and is normally scheduled to work
     3  pursuant to the budgeted hours allocated to the nurse's position by  the
     4  health  care  employer;  and  if  no such allocation system exists, some
     5  other measure generally used by the health care  employer  to  determine
     6  when  an  employee  is  minimally  supposed to work, consistent with the
     7  collective bargaining agreement, if any. Nothing in this  section  shall
     8  be  construed  to permit an employer to use on-call time as a substitute
     9  for mandatory overtime.
    10    2. a. Notwithstanding any  other  provision  of  law  no  health  care
    11  employer  shall require a nurse to work more than that nurse's regularly
    12  scheduled work hours, except  pursuant  to  subdivision  three  of  this
    13  section.
    14    b.  Nothing  in  this  section shall prohibit a nurse from voluntarily
    15  working overtime.
    16    3. The limitations provided for in this section shall not apply in the
    17  case of:
    18    a. a health care disaster, such as a natural or other type of disaster
    19  that increases the need for health care personnel, unexpectedly  affect-
    20  ing the county in which the nurse is employed or in a contiguous county;
    21  or
    22    b.  a  federal,  state or county declaration of emergency in effect in
    23  the county in which the nurse is employed or in a contiguous county; or
    24    c. where a health care employer  determines  there  is  an  emergency,
    25  necessary  to  provide  safe patient care, in which case the health care
    26  provider shall, before requiring an on-duty employee to remain,  make  a
    27  good faith effort to have overtime covered on a voluntary basis, includ-
    28  ing,  but  not  limited  to, calling per diems, agency nurses, assigning
    29  floats, or requesting an additional day of work from off-duty employees,
    30  to the extent such staffing options exist.  For  the  purposes  of  this
    31  paragraph,  "emergency",  including an unanticipated staffing emergency,
    32  is defined as an unforeseen event that could not  be  prudently  planned
    33  for by an employer and does not regularly occur; or
    34    d.  an  ongoing  medical  or  surgical procedure in which the nurse is
    35  actively engaged and whose continued presence through the completion  of
    36  the procedure is needed to ensure the health and safety of the patient.
    37    4.  The  provisions of this section are intended as a remedial measure
    38  to protect the public health and the quality of patient care, and  shall
    39  not  be  construed to diminish or waive any rights of any nurse pursuant
    40  to any other law, regulation, or collective bargaining agreement.
    41    5. If,  after  investigation,  the  commissioner  determines  that  an
    42  employer  has violated this section, the commissioner shall issue to the
    43  employer an order directing compliance therewith, which  shall  describe
    44  particularly  the  alleged  violation.  A  copy  of  such order shall be
    45  provided to any employee who has filed a complaint and  to  his  or  her
    46  authorized  representative. The commissioner shall assess the employer a
    47  civil penalty in an amount not to exceed  one  thousand  dollars  for  a
    48  first  violation,  two thousand dollars for a second violation, or three
    49  thousand dollars for a third or  subsequent  violation.    The  employee
    50  shall receive an additional fifteen percent of the overtime payment from
    51  the employer for each violation as damages.
    52    §  2.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
    53  have become a law.

A00286 LFIN:

 
NO LFIN

A00286 Chamber Video/Transcript: