NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8092B
SPONSOR: Reyes TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the labor law, in relation to clarifying that workers
shall not be punished or subjected to discipline by employers for lawful
absences
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To ensure that it shall be retaliation for an employer to discipline
workers by assessing point or deductions from a timebank when an employ-
ee has used any legally protected absence.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of this bill amends section 215 of the labor law to clarify
that it is retaliation for an employer to discipline workers by assess-
ing points or deductions from a timebank because an employee has used
any legally protected absence.
Section 2 established the effective date.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):
Creates protections by ensuring that such assignment of points is
considered retaliation under section 215 of the labor law instead of
creating new sections of the labor and executive laws.
JUSTIFICATION:
Employees have the right to take legally-protected time off from their
jobs to address certain medical, caregiving, and religious needs without
penalty. Pregnant workers may need to take time off for a prenatal
check-up or to obtain emergency medical care. Workers who are caregivers
may need to stay home with a sick child or an elderly parent. Workers
who have chronic health conditions, or who suddenly become ill, may need
to seek ongoing or immediate medical attention. Too often, however,
absence control or "no-fault" attendance policies violate workers'
rights in New York State and discourage them from taking job-protected
leave or time off to which they are entitled by law. Under such poli-
cies, employees are assessed points (also referred to as "demerits" or
"occurrences") for each absence regardless of the reason. Those points
subject workers to discipline, often including termination. Such poli-
cies may force employees to choose between taking care of their health
and keeping their job.
Employers maintain policies that "reliably fail to inform workers about
their legal rights to take time off without punishment for certain
illnesses, health conditions, or disabilities, or for the need to care
for an ill loved one" under state, local, and federal civil rights laws.
According to A Better Balance survey, the policies of sixty-six U.S.
employers impacting approximately eighteen million workers, more than
80% of those policies failed to make clear that employees would not
receive points for disability-related absences; many provided incomplete
or misleading information to workers regarding their right to time off
under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA); and the majority
of the policies indicated that workert will incur points when they miss
work because they are sick. It is the intent of the New York State
Legislature to make it explicitly clear that workers shall not be
punished or subjected to discipline for lawful absences. Workers have
the right to take legally-protected time off from their jobs to address
certain medical, caregiving, and religious needs without penalty.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Minimal fiscal implications.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall become
law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8092--B
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
June 11, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. REYES, JACOBSON -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Labor -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- 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 clarifying that workers
shall not be punished or subjected to discipline by employers for
lawful absences
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 215 of the labor
2 law, as amended by chapter 564 of the laws of 2010, the closing para-
3 graph as added by chapter 126 of the laws of 2019, is amended as
4 follows:
5 (a) No employer or his or her agent, or the officer or agent of any
6 corporation, partnership, or limited liability company, or any other
7 person, shall discharge, threaten, penalize, or in any other manner
8 discriminate or retaliate against any employee (i) because such employee
9 has made a complaint to his or her employer, or to the commissioner or
10 his or her authorized representative, or to the attorney general or any
11 other person, that the employer has engaged in conduct that the employ-
12 ee, reasonably and in good faith, believes violates any provision of
13 this chapter, or any order issued by the commissioner (ii) because such
14 employer or person believes that such employee has made a complaint to
15 his or her employer, or to the commissioner or his or her authorized
16 representative, or to the attorney general, or to any other person that
17 the employer has violated any provision of this chapter, or any order
18 issued by the commissioner (iii) because such employee has caused to be
19 instituted or is about to institute a proceeding under or related to
20 this chapter, or (iv) because such employee has provided information to
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03487-10-2
A. 8092--B 2
1 the commissioner or his or her authorized representative or the attorney
2 general, or (v) because such employee has testified or is about to
3 testify in an investigation or proceeding under this chapter, or (vi)
4 because such employee has otherwise exercised rights protected under
5 this chapter, or (vii) because the employer has received an adverse
6 determination from the commissioner involving the employee, or (viii)
7 because such employee has used any legally protected absence pursuant to
8 federal, local, or state law.
9 An employee complaint or other communication need not make explicit
10 reference to any section or provision of this chapter to trigger the
11 protections of this section.
12 As used in this section, to threaten, penalize, or in any other manner
13 discriminate or retaliate against any employee includes; threatening to
14 contact or contacting United States immigration authorities or otherwise
15 reporting or threatening to report an employee's suspected citizenship
16 or immigration status or the suspected citizenship or immigration status
17 of an employee's family or household member, as defined in subdivision
18 two of section four hundred fifty-nine-a of the social services law, to
19 a federal, state or local agency; or assessing any demerit, occurrence,
20 any other point, or deductions from an allotted bank of time, which
21 subjects or could subject an employee to disciplinary action, which may
22 include but not be limited to failure to receive a promotion or loss of
23 pay.
24 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
25 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
26 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
27 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
28 on or before such date.
