NY State Senate Bill 2023-S7996

Senate Bill S7996

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Prohibits discrimination against any individual with an actual or perceived status as a victim of domestic violence, a sex offense, or stalking

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Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Investigations And Government Operations Committee

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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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 04, 2024	referred to investigations and government operations

2023-S7996 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A8971
Current Committee:: Senate Investigations And Government Operations
Law Section:: Executive Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §296, Exec L; amd §201-g, Lab L

2023-S7996 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Prohibits discrimination against any individual with an actual or perceived status as a victim of domestic violence, a sex offense, or stalking; requires training on discrimination against individuals with an actual or perceived status as a victim of domestic violence, a sex offense, or stalking.

2023-S7996 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S7996

SPONSOR: PERSAUD
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the executive law and the labor law, in relation to
prohibiting discrimination against any individual with an actual or
perceived status as a victim of domestic violence, a sex offense, or
stalking

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of the bill is to strengthen existing workplace protections
for survivors of gender-based violence, by ensuring that broader catego-
ries of survivors are covered and that survivors have access to broad
and meaningful reasonable accommodations, beyond leave, to escape and
address abuse while maintaining their financial security. Because many
employers remain unaware of existing protections or often fail to
comply, putting survivors at risk, this bill also seeks to ensure that
employers are required to include these protections within their
mandated workplace policies and training to address current gaps in
awareness and compliance.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends subdivision 22 of section 296 of the execu-
tive law to include actual and perceived victims of sex offenses and
stalking, in addition to victims of domestic violence, who are already
covered. The amendments also afford covered victims standard reasonable
accommodations that are defined by the victim to address their specific
circumstances, instead of limiting available reasonable accommodations
to leave alone.

Section 2 of the bill amends section 201-g of the labor law to require
employers to include within their sexual harassment prevention policies
and training, guidance on legal protections for survivors of gender-
based violence under section 296 of the executive law. The bill would
further require the Department of Labor to revise its model sexual
harassment prevention policy and training to incorporate this same guid-
ance.

Section 3 of the bill sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Gender-based violence is pervasive and has significant impacts on survi-
vors' ability to maintain their employment. While New York State law
currently covers victims of domestic violence, it does not cover victims
of sex offenses, such as rape, or stalking. Survivors in these catego-
ries face similar workplace impacts and should be covered under the law.
A survivor of a sex offense or stalking, for example, often must seek
medical assistance, engage with law enforcement, obtain a protective
order, and engage in safety planning that requires drastic life changes
and can undermine the ability to maintain employment, absent additional
protections.

Moreover, while section 296 of the New York State Executive Law current-
ly affords victims of domestic violence reasonable accommodations in the
form of leave, this narrow interpretation of reasonable accommodation
fails to address the broad and pressing needs survivors face when trying
to escape abuse. As in other contexts such as disability and pregnancy,
where a reasonable accommodation may be needed, leave is only one of the
potential options an employee may need. However, leave, especially
unpaid leave, can also impose financial harm at a time when a survivor
wants and needs to continue working and earning their full income. Based
on discriminatory stereotypes of survivors, employers are known to push
employees to take leave to "deal with their situation" when in fact
other workplace adjustments would allow an employee to maintain employ-
ment in a way that better suits their needs.

In reality, survivors face a host of obstacles and barriers to maintain-
ing employment and escaping abuse that require other forms of accommo-
dations instead of leave. For example, survivors often need to change
their shift, request an adjustment to their hours, seek a transfer to a
different work location, and seek assistance to address PTSD. Workplace
adjustments, in lieu of leave, are often the most essential in helping
survivors maintain their employment while addressing the abuse while
helping survivors maintain their economic security and independence at a
time when they need it the most. As in other circumstances such as disa-
bility and pregnancy, survivors should be empowered to determine and
request the reasonable accommodation that addresses their specific
circumstances instead of being limited to leave alone.

Despite the existence of protections under section 296, many survivors
continue to face discrimination based on their status, are asked to
provide intrusive documentation not required under the law, denied
access to leave that they are entitled to, and are regularly retaliated
against after reporting their status. Because employers continue to be
undereducated about existing workplace protections for survivors, this
bill would advance employer awareness and compliance by requiring
employers to provide guidance on these protections in their sexual
harassment prevention policies and training and by requiring the Depart-
ment of Labor to incorporate such guidance in its model sexual harass-
ment preventing policy and training.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect January 1, 2025.

2023-S7996 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7996
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              January 4, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. PERSAUD -- 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 and the  labor  law,  in  relation  to
   prohibiting  discrimination  against  any individual with an actual or
   perceived status as a victim of domestic violence, a sex  offense,  or
   stalking

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision 22 of section 296  of  the  executive  law,  as
 added by chapter 176 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   22. (a) It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employ-
 er  or licensing agency, because of any individual's ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED
 status as a victim of domestic violence, A SEX OFFENSE, OR  STALKING  to
 refuse  to  hire  or  employ  or  license or to bar or to discharge from
 employment such individual or to discriminate against such individual in
 compensation or in terms, conditions or privileges of employment.
   (b) It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer or
 employment agency to print or circulate or cause to be printed or circu-
 lated any statement, advertisement or publication, or to use any form of
 application for employment or to make any  inquiry  in  connection  with
 prospective  employment  which  expresses,  directly  or indirectly, any
 limitation, specification or discrimination as to AN ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED
 status as a victim of domestic violence, A SEX OFFENSE, OR STALKING,  or
 any intent to make any such limitation, specification or discrimination;
 provided,  however,  that  no  provision  of  this  subdivision shall be
 construed to prohibit the employer from making any inquiry or  obtaining
 information  for the purpose of providing assistance to, or a reasonable
 accommodation in accordance with the provisions of this subdivision  to,
 a victim of domestic violence, A SEX OFFENSE, OR STALKING.
   (c)(1) It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer
 to  refuse  to  provide a reasonable accommodation to an employee who is
 known by the employer to be a victim of domestic violence,  [limited  to
 those  accommodations  set  forth in subparagraph two of this paragraph,

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

                                                            LBD13565-02-4
 S. 7996                             2

 when such employee must be absent from work for a  reasonable  time,]  A
 SEX  OFFENSE,  OR  STALKING, WHERE SUCH ACCOMMODATIONS WOULD ENABLE SUCH
 EMPLOYEE TO SATISFY THE  ESSENTIAL  REQUISITES  OF  A  JOB  unless  such
 [absence]  REQUESTED ACCOMMODATIONS would cause an undue hardship to the
 employer as set forth in subparagraph three of this paragraph, provided,
 however that the employer may require an employee to charge any time off
 pursuant to this section against any leave with pay ordinarily  granted,
 where  available, unless otherwise provided for in a collective bargain-
 ing agreement or existing employee handbook  or  policy,  and  any  such
 absence  that  cannot be charged may be treated as leave without pay. An
 employee who must be absent from work in  accordance  with  subparagraph
 two  of  this  paragraph  shall  be  entitled to the continuation of any
 health insurance coverage provided by the employer, to which the employ-
 ee is otherwise entitled during any such absence.
   (2) An employer is required to provide a reasonable  accommodation  to
 an  employee  who  is  a victim of domestic violence [who must be absent
 from work for a reasonable time], A SEX OFFENSE, OR STALKING in  accord-
 ance  with  the  provisions  of subparagraph one of this paragraph, SUCH
 REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION MAY INCLUDE,  BUT  SHALL  NOT  BE  LIMITED  TO,
 ABSENCE  FROM  WORK FOR A REASONABLE TIME FOR REASONS INCLUDING, BUT NOT
 limited to, the following:
   (i) Seeking medical attention for injuries caused by domestic violence
 including for a child who is  a  victim  of  domestic  violence,  A  SEX
 OFFENSE,  OR STALKING, provided that the employee is not the perpetrator
 [of the domestic violence] against the child; or
   (ii) Obtaining services from a domestic violence shelter, program,  or
 rape crisis center as a result of domestic violence; or
   (iii)  Obtaining  psychological  counseling  related to an incident or
 incidents of domestic violence, A SEX OFFENSE,  OR  STALKING,  including
 for  a  child  who is a victim [of domestic violence], provided that the
 employee is not the perpetrator [of the domestic violence]  against  the
 child; or
   (iv)  Participating  in  safety  planning  and taking other actions to
 increase safety from  future  incidents  of  domestic  violence,  A  SEX
 OFFENSE, OR STALKING, including temporary or permanent relocation; or
   (v)  Obtaining  legal  services,  assisting  in the prosecution of the
 offense, or appearing in court in relation to the incident or  incidents
 of domestic violence, A SEX OFFENSE, OR STALKING.
   (3) An employer is required to provide a reasonable accommodation [for
 an  employee's  absence]  in  accordance with the provisions of subpara-
 graphs one and two of this paragraph unless the employer can demonstrate
 that the employee's absence would constitute an undue  hardship  to  the
 employer.  A determination of whether such an absence will constitute an
 undue hardship shall include consideration of factors such as:
   (i) The overall size of  the  business,  program  or  enterprise  with
 respect  to  the number of employees, number and type of facilities, and
 size of budget; and
   (ii) The type of operation in which the business,  program  or  enter-
 prise  is  engaged, including the composition and structure of the work-
 force.
   (4) IT SHALL BE AN UNLAWFUL DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICE FOR AN EMPLOYER TO
 REFUSE TO OR OTHERWISE FAIL TO ENGAGE IN COOPERATIVE DIALOGUE  WITHIN  A
 REASONABLE TIME WITH AN EMPLOYEE WHO HAS REQUESTED A REASONABLE ACCOMMO-
 DATION UNDER THIS SECTION.
   (5)  An  employee  who must be absent from work in accordance with the
 provisions of subparagraph one  of  this  paragraph  shall  provide  the
 S. 7996                             3
 
 employer  with  reasonable  advance  notice  of  the employee's absence,
 unless such advance notice is not feasible.
   [(5)]  (6) An employee who must be absent from work in accordance with
 the provisions of subparagraph one of  this  paragraph  and  who  cannot
 feasibly  give  reasonable  advance  notice of the absence in accordance
 with subparagraph four of this paragraph must, within a reasonable  time
 after  the  absence,  provide  a  certification  to  the  employer  when
 requested by the employer. ANY PERSON REQUIRED BY  SUBPARAGRAPH  ONE  OF
 THIS  PARAGRAPH  TO  MAKE  REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION MAY REQUIRE A PERSON
 REQUESTING  REASONABLE  ACCOMMODATION  PURSUANT  TO  THIS  PARAGRAPH  TO
 PROVIDE  CERTIFICATION THAT THE PERSON IS A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE,
 A SEX OFFENSE, OR STALKING. Such certification shall be in the form of:
   (i) A police [report] OR COURT RECORD indicating that the employee  or
 his  or  her  child was a victim of domestic violence, A SEX OFFENSE, OR
 STALKING;
   (ii) [A court order protecting or separating the employee  or  his  or
 her child from the perpetrator of an act of domestic violence;
   (iii)] Other CORROBORATING EVIDENCE, INCLUDING evidence from the court
 or prosecuting attorney [that the employee appeared in court]; [or]
   [(iv)]  (III)  Documentation  from  a  medical professional, [domestic
 violence] VICTIM SERVICES PROVIDER OR advocate,  health  care  provider,
 CULTURAL OR RELIGIOUS PROVIDER, or counselor that the employee or his or
 her child was [undergoing counseling or treatment for physical or mental
 injuries  or abuse resulting in victimization from] OBTAINING ASSISTANCE
 FOR an act of domestic violence, A SEX OFFENSE, OR STALKING; OR
   (IV) DOCUMENTATION FROM AN ATTORNEY OR ANY OTHER PROFESSIONAL  SERVICE
 PROVIDER  FROM WHOM THE INDIVIDUAL SEEKING A REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION OR
 CHILD HAS SOUGHT ASSISTANCE  IN  ADDRESSING  DOMESTIC  VIOLENCE,  A  SEX
 OFFENSE, OR STALKING.
   [(6)]  (7)  Where  an  employee  has  a  physical or mental disability
 resulting from an incident or series of incidents of domestic  violence,
 A  SEX  OFFENSE, OR STALKING, such employee shall be treated in the same
 manner as an  employee  with  any  other  disability,  pursuant  to  the
 provisions of this section which provide that discrimination and refusal
 to provide reasonable accommodation of disability are unlawful discrimi-
 natory practices.
   (d)  To the extent allowed by law, employers shall maintain the confi-
 dentiality of any information AND DOCUMENTATION regarding an  employee's
 status as a victim of domestic violence, A SEX OFFENSE, OR STALKING.
   § 2. The section heading, paragraph b of subdivision 1 and paragraph c
 of  subdivision 2 of section 201-g of the labor law, the section heading
 and paragraph c of subdivision 2 as added by section 1 of subpart  E  of
 part KK of chapter 57 of the laws of 2018 and paragraph b of subdivision
 1 as amended by chapter 160 of the laws of 2019, are amended and two new
 subdivisions 5 and 6 are added to read as follows:
   Prevention  of  sexual harassment AND RESPONDING TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE,
 SEX OFFENSES, AND STALKING.
   b. Every employer shall adopt the model sexual  harassment  prevention
 policy  promulgated  pursuant  to this subdivision or establish a sexual
 harassment prevention policy to prevent sexual harassment that equals or
 exceeds the minimum standards provided by such model  sexual  harassment
 prevention policy, WHICH, ON AND AFTER JANUARY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWEN-
 TY-FIVE, SHALL INCLUDE GUIDANCE ON WORKPLACE PROTRACTIONS FOR VICTIMS OF
 DOMESTIC  VIOLENCE, SEX OFFENSES, AND STALKING.  Such [sexual harassment
 prevention] policy shall be provided to  all  employees  in  writing  as
 required  by  subdivision  two-a  of  this  section.  Such model [sexual
 S. 7996                             4

 harassment prevention] policy shall be publicly available and posted  on
 the websites of both the department and the division of human rights.
   c. Every employer shall utilize the model sexual harassment prevention
 training  program  pursuant  to this subdivision or establish a training
 program for employees  to  prevent  sexual  harassment  that  equals  or
 exceeds  the  minimum  standards  provided  by such model training. Such
 sexual harassment prevention training shall be provided to all employees
 on an annual basis. ON AND AFTER JANUARY  FIRST,  TWO  THOUSAND  TWENTY-
 FIVE,  ANY  SUCH  TRAINING  PROGRAM  SHALL INCLUDE GUIDANCE ON WORKPLACE
 PROTECTIONS FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, SEX OFFENSES,  AND  STALK-
 ING.
   5.  ON  AND AFTER JANUARY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE, THE DEPART-
 MENT, IN CONSULTATION WITH THE DIVISION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND  THE  OFFICE
 FOR  THE  PREVENTION  OF  DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, SHALL ENSURE THAT THE MODEL
 SEXUAL HARASSMENT PREVENTION GUIDANCE  DOCUMENT  AND  SEXUAL  HARASSMENT
 PREVENTION POLICY INCLUDES GUIDANCE ON WORKPLACE PROTECTIONS FOR VICTIMS
 OF  DOMESTIC  VIOLENCE,  SEX  OFFENSES, AND STALKING, INCLUDING LANGUAGE
 THAT: (I) PROHIBITS DISCRIMINATION BY AN EMPLOYER OR  EMPLOYMENT  AGENCY
 BECAUSE  OF  AN  EMPLOYEE OR PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYEES STATUS AS A VICTIM OF
 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, A SEX OFFENSE OR STALKING IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBDIVI-
 SION TWENTY-TWO OF SECTION TWO HUNDRED NINETY-SIX OF THE EXECUTIVE  LAW;
 AND  (II)  PROHIBITS  THE REFUSAL OF AN EMPLOYER TO PROVIDE A REASONABLE
 ACCOMMODATION TO AN EMPLOYEE KNOWN TO THE EMPLOYER TO  BE  A  VICTIM  OF
 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, A SEX OFFENSE OR STALKING IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBDIVI-
 SION TWENTY-TWO OF SECTION TWO HUNDRED NINETY-SIX OF THE EXECUTIVE LAW.
   6.  ON  AND  AFTER JANUARY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE, THE ANNUAL
 MODEL SEXUAL HARASSMENT TRAINING PROGRAM, MANDATED BY SUBDIVISION TWO OF
 THIS SECTION, SHALL INCLUDE: (I) AN EXPLANATION OF DISCRIMINATION ON THE
 BASIS OF ONE'S STATUS AS A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, A SEX OFFENSE OR
 STALKING CONSISTENT WITH GUIDANCE ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT IN  CONSULTA-
 TION  WITH THE DIVISION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND OFFICE FOR THE PREVENTION OF
 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE; (II) EXAMPLES OF CONDUCT THAT WOULD CONSTITUTE UNLAW-
 FUL DISCRIMINATION BECAUSE OF ONE'S  STATUS  AS  A  VICTIM  OF  DOMESTIC
 VIOLENCE,  A  SEX  OFFENSE OR STALKING; (III) INFORMATION CONCERNING THE
 STATE STATUTORY PROVISIONS CONCERNING DISCRIMINATION  BECAUSE  OF  ONE'S
 STATUS  AS  A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, A SEX OFFENSE OR STALKING AND
 REMEDIES AVAILABLE TO VICTIMS OF SUCH DISCRIMINATION; AND (IV)  INFORMA-
 TION  CONCERNING  EMPLOYEES'  RIGHTS OF REDRESS AND ALL AVAILABLE FORUMS
 FOR ADJUDICATING COMPLAINTS.
   § 3. This act shall take effect January 1, 2025.  Effective immediate-
 ly, the addition, amendment and/or repeal  of  any  rule  or  regulation
 necessary  for  the implementation of this act on its effective date are
 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.

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