S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8381
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 25, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. FERNANDEZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed  to  be committed to the Committee on Alcoholism and Substance
   Use Disorders
 
 AN ACT to establish the "recovery ready workplace act"
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section  1.  Short title.  This act shall be known and may be cited as
 the "recovery ready workplace act".
   § 2. Legislative findings and purpose. The legislature finds that:
   1. Recovery ready workplace (RRW) programs have been initiated  around
 the  country as important interventions in the opioid use disorder (OUD)
 and substance use disorder (SUD) crisis.
   2. The goal of RRW programs is  to  provide  outreach,  training,  and
 certification  to  employers  in  cooperation with government officials,
 workers, labor unions, and communities to:
   (a) prevent initiation of new cases of misuse and addiction related to
 workplace injury and stress through primary prevention  of  exposure  to
 job hazards and stressors;
   (b)  support  employees  who  are  struggling  and retain employees by
 providing access to treatment and pathways to return to work;
   (c) provide healthy, gainful employment for people in recovery; and
   (d) reduce absenteeism,  presenteeism,  and  lost  productivity  among
 employees with substance use disorder.
   3.  Workers  with painful injuries have frequently been overprescribed
 opioids, resulting in as many as twenty-five percent of workers develop-
 ing opioid dependence and OUD or SUD.
   4. RRW programs address the prevention of addiction related  to  work-
 place injury and stress while also providing support for workers who are
 struggling and opportunities for people in recovery to reenter the work-
 force.
   5.  Between  2009  to 2015, an estimated 225,000 New York workers were
 lost from the labor market due to opioids. New  York's  economy  cumula-
 tively lost $179.4 billion dollars in real economic output, which trans-

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14118-01-4
              

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 lates to the state's annual real GDP growth rate slowing by 0.8 percent-
 age points.
   6.  Employers  who  establish  RRW  programs  have  saved money due to
 reduced absenteeism, healthier work environment,  greater  productivity,
 lower  healthcare  costs,  greater workplace safety, employee retention,
 and reduced recruitment and hiring costs.
   7. Employees in recovery save their employers  an  average  of  $8,500
 dollars annually, with $8,175 dollars attributable to avoiding turnover,
 replacement, and healthcare costs.
   8.  There  is  an urgent need to establish resources and standards for
 RRWs in New York state as a key component of the state's response to the
 opioid crisis.
   § 3. Purpose. The purpose of this act shall be to:
   1. establish the criteria for employers to obtain certification as  an
 RRW;
   2. protect the rights of employees;
   3. establish training, outreach, and certification resources;
   4.  establish  an  advisory  board within the New York state office of
 addiction services and supports; and
   5. establish incentives for employers.
   § 4. Definitions. For purposes of this act, the following terms  shall
 have the following meanings:
   1.  "Employer"  shall  have the same meaning as defined in section one
 hundred ninety of the labor law, and shall include  any  person,  corpo-
 ration, limited liability company, or association employing any individ-
 ual  in any occupation, industry, trade, business, or service.  "Employ-
 er" shall include a public employer.
   2. "Employee" means any person employed for hire by an employer in any
 employment and shall include public employees.
   3. "Lived experience" means having first-hand experience  living  with
 mental  health  and/or  substance  use disorder and the associated chal-
 lenges.
   4. "Opioid use disorder" or  "OUD"  means  a  problematic  pattern  of
 opioid  use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress and
 is a subset of SUD.
   5. "Member assistance program" means a labor union administered educa-
 tion and assistance program that provides support to members  struggling
 with mental health or substance use problems.
   6.  "Primary  prevention"  means a public health strategy that aims to
 prevent disease or injury before it occurs by  preventing  exposures  to
 hazards  that  can cause disease or injury, altering unhealthy or unsafe
 behaviors that can lead to disease  or  injury,  and  addressing  mental
 health issues that can affect physiological outcomes.
   7.  "Public  employee" means any person holding a position by appoint-
 ment or employment in the service of a public employer, except judges or
 justices of the unified court system and members of the legislature.
   8. "Public employer" shall mean:
   (a) the state of New York;
   (b) a county, city, town, village, or other political  subdivision  or
 civil division of the state;
   (c)  a  school  district or any governmental entity operating a public
 school, college, or university;
   (d) a public improvement or special district;
   (e) a public authority, commission, or public benefit corporation; and
 S. 8381                             3
 
   (f) any other public corporation, agency, instrumentality, or unit  of
 government  which  exercises  governmental  power  under the laws of the
 state.
   9.  "Recovery"  means  a  process  of change through which individuals
 improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive
 to reach their full potential.
   10. "Recovery ready workplace  advisor"  means  a  person  who  is  an
 employee  of  or  contractor  for a recovery ready workplace program and
 whose duties include,  but  are  not  limited  to,  assisting  employers
 through the process of becoming a certified recovery ready workplace;
   11.  "Certified  peer  support advocate" means a person with the lived
 experience of recovery from a substance  use  disorder  or  co-occurring
 disorder  and  who is certified to provide non-clinical, strengths-based
 support to  others  experiencing  similar  challenges.  "Certified  peer
 support  advocates"  shall  also  be  known as "peer specialists", "peer
 recovery coaches", and "peer recovery support specialists".
   12. "Recovery ready workplace" or "RRW" means an  established  program
 to  prevent exposure to workplace factors that could cause or perpetuate
 a SUD while lowering barriers to seeking care, receiving care, and main-
 taining recovery, and to educate its  management  team  and  workers  on
 issues surrounding SUDs to reduce the stigma around such challenge.
   13. "Substance use disorder" or "SUD" means the recurrent use of alco-
 hol  and/or drugs that causes clinically significant impairment, includ-
 ing health problems, disability, and failure to meet major  responsibil-
 ities at work, school, or home.
   14.  "Workplace"  means  any office, warehouse, building, or any other
 location outside of an  employee's  residence  or  other  work-from-home
 location, whether permanent or temporary, where an employee performs any
 work-related  duty  or  duties in the scope and course of the employee's
 employment. For purposes of this act, employees may have more  than  one
 workplace.
   §  5.  Criteria  for  employers  to obtain certification as a recovery
 ready workplace. The office of addiction services  and  supports,  shall
 promulgate  regulations  establishing  the criteria by which an employer
 can obtain certification as a RRW. Such criteria shall include, but  not
 be limited to, the following:
   1. a signed letter of interest from the employer to become a RRW;
   2. issuance of a written declaration to employees;
   3. collaboration with employees, collective bargaining agents or labor
 unions,  recovery  community  organizations, and government officials in
 establishing a RRW and the development of the  proposed  recovery  ready
 workplace program in writing;
   4.  proactively  identifying  and addressing the primary prevention of
 workplace hazards and sources of stress at work associated  with  opioid
 and  other  substance  misuse,  including  prescription  medications and
 through self-medication;
   5. establishing availability of naloxone onsite and training personnel
 on its administration and other first aid measures that reduce the  risk
 of death as a result of an overdose;
   6.  supporting  and providing information to injured workers on how to
 avoid opioid and other substance misuse and seek alternative pain treat-
 ments;
   7. providing training  and  orientation  to  supervisors,  management,
 employees, and union officials;
   8. providing resources and information to employees;
 S. 8381                             4
 
   9. connecting with a recovery community organization within six months
 of certification;
   10. assessing and addressing workplace culture issues by:
   (a)  encouraging all qualified applicants, including persons in recov-
 ery;
   (b) having programs and practices that promote  and  support  employee
 health,  wellness,  and  work-life  balance,  such as but not limited to
 labor union based member assistance programs; and
   (c) supporting employees who seek treatment and who  require  residen-
 tial  or  outpatient  treatment  and related disability leave, including
 planning for return to work;
   11. offering health benefits that provide comprehensive  coverage  for
 SUDs, including medications for OUD and SUD, aftercare, and counseling;
   12.  evaluating  and  improving,  as  needed,  access to treatment and
 recovery resources and ensure mental health and substance  use  benefits
 are  equal  to  those  for physical health as required by paragraph 5 of
 subsection 1 of section 3221 and subsections (g) and (h) of section 4303
 of the insurance law, and the federal  mental  health  parity  addiction
 equity act;
   13.  providing work accommodations for employees in recovery to attend
 treatment and recovery services and providing reasonable  work  accommo-
 dations  to  support  workers in recovery in compliance with federal and
 state law; and
   14. ensuring employer RRW policies include confidentiality  provisions
 to maintain confidentiality of employees accessing services.
   §  6.  Employee  involvement. 1. An employer shall develop the plan to
 become certified as an RRW in cooperation with the collective bargaining
 representative, if any, or with meaningful  participation  of  employees
 where  there is no collective bargaining representative, for all aspects
 of the plan, and such plan shall be tailored to  the  specific  industry
 and work sites of the employer.
   2.  Employers  shall  be  encouraged  to  establish  multi-stakeholder
 committees, subcommittees, or task forces to help develop RRW  programs.
 Where  there is a collective bargaining agent, the collective bargaining
 representative shall select employees to be members of such committee.
   3. To the extent that any individual voluntarily self-discloses  lived
 experience  with SUD or recovery, a RRW committee, subcommittee, or task
 force shall invite representatives with lived experience to  participate
 in  the  development  and the annual review of the RRW plan, while main-
 taining confidentiality.
   4. The employer shall update its drug and alcohol policies in  writing
 within one year of certification.  The employer shall make such policies
 available  to  all  employees,  shall  review  such policies annually in
 consultation with the employers' RRW committee, and  shall  update  such
 policies  as  necessary,  except  as  described in subdivision 5 of this
 section.
   5. Employer policies  related  to  accessing  treatment  and  recovery
 resources  shall  be  evaluated  and improved, as necessary, including a
 review of mental health and substance use benefits to assess  parity  to
 those  for physical health in conformance with federal, state, and local
 laws.
   § 7. No diminishment of employee rights. The provisions  of  this  act
 shall  not  be construed to diminish the rights of any employee pursuant
 to any other law, regulation, or collective bargaining agreement.
   § 8. Certifying body. 1. A certifying body shall be established within
 the office of addiction services and supports.
 S. 8381                             5
 
   2. Such certifying body shall include an advisory board with  multiple
 state  agency  and  stakeholder  involvement,  to  be established by the
 office of addiction services and supports, which shall  include  employ-
 ers, labor unions, recovery community organizations, community represen-
 tatives,  local and county officials, and persons in recovery. The advi-
 sory board shall assist in  the  development  of  regulations,  outreach
 materials,  and  program  evaluation  and  shall  work with employers to
 ensure that public notification has been provided to the community about
 such employer's certification as a RRW.
   § 9. Incentives. 1. The office  of  addiction  services  and  supports
 shall develop a pilot program to provide stipends to employees in recov-
 ery to cover expenses for transportation, including to and from work and
 treatment, and auxiliary recovery services during work hours.
   2. The office of addiction services and supports shall develop a pilot
 program  to reimburse employers for providing traineeships to workers in
 recovery and shall promulgate rules and regulations to include places of
 employment as  eligible  locations  for  reimbursing  organizations  who
 deploy peer services.
   § 10. This act shall take effect immediately.