Senate Bill S1958

2021-2022 Legislative Session

Clarifies that workers shall not be punished or subjected to discipline by employers for lawful absences

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Archive: Last Bill Status Via A8092 - Passed Senate


  • Introduced
    • In Committee Assembly
    • In Committee Senate
    • On Floor Calendar Assembly
    • On Floor Calendar Senate
    • Passed Assembly
    • Passed Senate
  • Delivered to Governor
  • Signed By Governor

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Bill Amendments

2021-S1958 - Details

Law Section:
Executive Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §215, Lab L

2021-S1958 - Summary

Clarifies that workers shall not be punished or subjected to discipline by employers for lawful absences.

2021-S1958 - Sponsor Memo

2021-S1958 - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1958
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 16, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. KRUEGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern-
   ment Operations
 
 AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to clarifying that  work-
   ers  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:
 
   Section   1.  Legislative  intent.  Too  often,  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  policies, workers are
 assessed points (sometimes referred to as "demerits"  or  "occurrences")
 for  each  absence - regardless of the reason - and those points subject
 them to discipline, often including  termination.  Employers  ignore  or
 interfere  with these rights due to ambiguities in the law and their own
 policies and practices. By punishing workers for any absence,  including
 absences  protected by law, absence control policies frequently threaten
 public health and family economic security, and undermine New York state
 workplace rights.    According to A Better  Balance,  which  released  a
 report  detailing  legal concerns with "no-fault" attendance policies in
 June 2020, some of the nation's largest 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. After surveying  the  policies  of
 sixty-six  U.S. employers impacting approximately eighteen million work-
 ers, A Better Balance found that more than 80% of those policies  failed
 to make clear that employees would not receive points for disability-re-
 lated  absences;  many  provided incomplete or misleading information to
 workers regarding their right to time off under the federal  Family  and
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

2021-S1958A (ACTIVE) - Details

Law Section:
Executive Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §215, Lab L

2021-S1958A (ACTIVE) - Summary

Clarifies that workers shall not be punished or subjected to discipline by employers for lawful absences.

2021-S1958A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2021-S1958A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  1958--A
     Cal. No. 384
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 16, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. KRUEGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern-
   ment Operations -- recommitted to the Committee on Investigations  and
   Government  Operations  in  accordance  with  Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 --
   reported favorably from said committee, ordered to  first  and  second
   report,  ordered to a third reading, passed by Senate and delivered to
   the Assembly, recalled, vote reconsidered, restored to third  reading,
   amended  and  ordered  reprinted,  retaining its place in the order of
   third reading
 
 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:
 
   Section  1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 215 of the labor
 law, as amended by chapter 564 of the laws of 2010,  the  closing  para-
 graph  as  added  by  chapter  126  of  the  laws of 2019, is amended as
 follows:
   (a) No employer or his or her agent, or the officer or  agent  of  any
 corporation,  partnership,  or  limited  liability company, or any other
 person, shall discharge, threaten, penalize,  or  in  any  other  manner
 discriminate or retaliate against any employee (i) because such employee
 has  made  a complaint to his or her employer, or to the commissioner or
 his or her authorized representative, or to the attorney general or  any
 other  person, that the employer has engaged in conduct that the employ-
 ee, reasonably and in good faith, believes  violates  any  provision  of
 this  chapter, or any order issued by the commissioner (ii) because such
 employer or person believes that such employee has made a  complaint  to
 his  or  her  employer,  or to the commissioner or his or her authorized
 representative, or to the attorney general, or to any other person  that
 the  employer  has  violated any provision of this chapter, or any order
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

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