S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   10392
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                                May 4, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. CARROLL -- read once and referred to the Commit-
   tee on Labor
 
 AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to the participation  in  the
   shared work program under the unemployment insurance law
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. The labor law is amended by adding a new section  605-a  to
 read as follows:
   §  605-A.  RETROACTIVE  ELIGIBILITY  FOR  CERTAIN EMPLOYERS DURING THE
 COVID-19 DECLARED EMERGENCY. 1. ANY EMPLOYER WHO HAS OTHERWISE  MET  THE
 REQUIREMENTS SET FORTH IN SECTION SIX HUNDRED FIVE OF THIS TITLE AND WHO
 HAS  REDUCED  HOURS  TO  EMPLOYEES ON OR AFTER THE ISSUANCE OF EXECUTIVE
 ORDER 202 ON MARCH SEVENTH, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY, WILL  BE  AUTOMATICALLY
 AND  RETROACTIVELY  DEEMED  AN  ELIGIBLE SHARED WORK EMPLOYER UNDER THIS
 TITLE AND ANY EMPLOYEE WHOSE WORK HOURS HAVE BEEN REDUCED AS A RESULT OF
 THE COVID-19 DECLARED EMERGENCY SHALL BE ELIGIBLE FOR PARTIAL  UNEMPLOY-
 MENT ACCORDING TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE THIS TITLE.
   2.  THE  COMMISSIONER SHALL NOTIFY ELIGIBLE EMPLOYERS BY MAIL OF THEIR
 RETROACTIVE ELIGIBILITY AND AUTOMATIC ENROLLMENT INTO  THE  SHARED  WORK
 PROGRAM  DUE  TO  THE COVID-19 DECLARED STATE OF EMERGENCY, ALONG WITH A
 DESCRIPTION OF THE SHARED WORK PROGRAM  AND  THE  ELIGIBILITY  OF  THEIR
 CURRENT  OR FORMER EMPLOYEES FOR PARTIAL BENEFITS, AS WELL AS THE APPLI-
 CATION AND GUIDANCE ON HOW ELIGIBLE EMPLOYERS CAN COMPLETE AND SUBMIT AN
 APPLICATION TO ENROLL IN THE  PROGRAM.  ANY  EMPLOYER  ENROLLED  IN  THE
 SHARED  WORK PROGRAM UNDER THIS PROVISION SHALL CONTINUE  TO BE ENROLLED
 UNTIL THE COVID-19  DECLARED  STATE  OF  EMERGENCY  CONCLUDES  AND  SUCH
 EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES SHALL BE EXEMPT FROM THE REQUIREMENT TO COMPLETE
 A WEEKLY CONTINUATION CLAIM FORM.
   §  2. Section 604 of the labor law, as amended by section 21-a of part
 O of chapter 57 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
   § 604. Eligibility conditions. A claimant shall be eligible for  bene-
 fits  under  this  title  if he or she works less than his or her normal
 hours in a week for  his  customary  employer,  and  that  employer  has
 reduced  or  restricted  the  claimant's  weekly  hours  of work, or has
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
              

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD16162-02-0

 A. 10392                            2
 
 rehired a claimant previously laid off and reduced  his  or  her  weekly
 hours  of  work from those previously worked, as the result of a plan by
 the employer to stabilize the work force by a  program  of  sharing  the
 work  remaining  after  a  reduction in total hours of work and a corre-
 sponding reduction in wages, provided the program requires not less than
 a twenty percent nor more than a sixty percent reduction  in  hours  and
 wages  among the work force. A claimant receiving supplemental unemploy-
 ment compensation benefits, as defined in section five hundred  one  (c)
 (17)  (D)  of  the internal revenue code of nineteen hundred fifty-four,
 shall not be eligible hereunder. Any employee who was otherwise eligible
 for benefits under this title but was denied benefits during the  period
 beginning  October first, two thousand one and ending on December first,
 two thousand one because more than five percent of his or her wages were
 derived from piece work, shall be entitled to make a  retroactive  claim
 for  such benefits provided such claim is filed within sixty days of the
 effective date of this sentence. ANY EMPLOYEE WHO WOULD BE ELIGIBLE  FOR
 BENEFITS  UNDER THE SHARED WORK PROGRAM DUE TO HIS OR HER REDUCED WEEKLY
 HOURS BUT WAS DENIED A CLAIM ON OR AFTER  MARCH  SEVENTH,  TWO  THOUSAND
 TWENTY,  OR  WHO  DID  NOT FILE A CLAIM, IS ELIGIBLE TO FILE A CLAIM FOR
 LOST HOURS WORK FOR EACH WEEK BEGINNING MARCH EIGHTH, TWO THOUSAND TWEN-
 TY, IF ELIGIBLE UNDER SECTION SIX HUNDRED FIVE-A OF THIS TITLE.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.