Assembly Bill A3654

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   3654
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             January 29, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. BRONSON, SEPTIMO, MAMDANI, SANTABARBARA, BURDICK,
   JACOBSON,  GALLAGHER,  MORINELLO,  RAMOS,  LUNSFORD,  RIVERA,  STIRPE,
   JENSEN, GRAY, SAYEGH, FORREST, CONRAD, McMAHON,  STECK,  RAGA,  CLARK,
   CHANG,  REYES,  DE LOS SANTOS, SHIMSKY, GIBBS, SIMONE, WOERNER, BORES,
   BRABENEC, SHRESTHA,  R. CARROLL,  LEE,  SEAWRIGHT,  DURSO,  DeSTEFANO,
   HEVESI,  STERN,  ALVAREZ,  TAPIA,  ROSENTHAL,  CRUZ,  PAULIN, EPSTEIN,
   DINOWITZ, REILLY, KIM, WEPRIN, GALLAHAN, BENDETT, MEEKS,  GONZALEZ-RO-
   JAS,  GLICK, KELLES, EACHUS, GANDOLFO, DAVILA, COLTON, ROZIC, MIKULIN,
   MITAYNES, SMITH, BENEDETTO -- read once and referred to the  Committee
   on Labor
 
 AN  ACT  to amend the labor law, in relation to decreasing the length of
   the suspension period applicable to certain striking workers who  seek
   to obtain unemployment insurance benefits
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivisions 1 and 3 of section 592 of the  labor  law,  as
 amended  by  chapter  20  of  the  laws  of 2020, are amended to read as
 follows:
   1. Industrial controversy. (a) The accumulation of benefit rights by a
 claimant shall be suspended during a period of [two  consecutive  weeks]
 ONE  WEEK  beginning  with the day after such claimant lost [his or her]
 THEIR employment because of a strike  or  other  industrial  controversy
 except  for  lockouts,  including  concerted  activity not authorized or
 sanctioned by the recognized or certified bargaining agent of the claim-
 ant, and other concerted activity conducted in violation of any existing
 collective bargaining agreement, in the establishment in  which  [he  or
 she] SUCH CLAIMANT was employed, except that benefit rights may be accu-
 mulated  before  the  expiration of such [two] ONE week period beginning
 with the day after such  strike  or  other  industrial  controversy  was
 terminated.
   (b) Benefits shall not be suspended under this section if:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD07531-01-5
              

 A. 3654                             2
 
   (i)  The employer hires a permanent replacement worker for the employ-
 ee's position. A replacement worker shall be presumed  to  be  permanent
 unless  the employer certifies in writing that the employee will be able
 to return to [his or her] SUCH EMPLOYEE'S prior position upon conclusion
 of  the  strike, in the event the strike terminates prior to the conclu-
 sion of the employee's eligibility for benefit rights under  this  chap-
 ter.  In  the  event the employer does not permit such return after such
 certification, the employee shall be entitled to  recover  any  benefits
 lost  as  a result of the [two] ONE week suspension of benefits, and the
 department may impose a penalty upon the employer of up to seven hundred
 fifty dollars per employee  per  week  of  benefits  lost.  The  penalty
 collected  shall  be  paid  into the unemployment insurance control fund
 established pursuant to section five hundred fifty-two-b of  this  arti-
 cle; or
   (ii) The commissioner determines that the claimant:
   (A)  is not employed by an employer that is involved in the industrial
 controversy that caused [his or her] SUCH CLAIMANT'S unemployment and is
 not participating in the industrial controversy; or
   (B) is not in a bargaining unit involved in the industrial controversy
 that caused [his or her] SUCH CLAIMANT'S unemployment and is not partic-
 ipating in the industrial controversy.
   3. Terms of suspension. [No] THE waiting period [may]  AND  SUSPENSION
 PERIOD SHALL be served [during a suspension period] CONCURRENTLY.
   The  suspension  of accumulation of benefit rights shall not be termi-
 nated by subsequent employment of the claimant irrespective of when  the
 claim is filed except as provided in subdivision one OF THIS SECTION and
 shall not be confined to a single benefit year.
   A  "week"  as  used in subdivision one of this section means any seven
 consecutive calendar days.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.