This bill increases short-term disability benefits for New York workers. It phases in higher weekly benefit rates (from 50% to 67% of average weekly wage) and extends maximum leave duration (from 8 to 12 weeks) over several years, starting in 2018. The changes apply to employees needing short-term disability leave due to illness or injury, directly affecting both workers and their employers who provide these benefits. The bill maintains a cap based on the state average weekly wage and allows the superintendent of financial services to delay increases if needed.
Requires public employers who opt out of providing paid family leave benefits to provide parental leave in the alternative at the same pay rate and amount of time as paid family leave.
S 897 requires employers to provide nursing employees with a designated room for expressing breast milk that includes a sink or basin specifically for washing breast pump attachments, upon the employee's request. This amendment to New York's labor law (section 206-c) updates existing requirements for workplace accommodations by adding this specific provision for equipment cleaning. The bill directly affects nursing employees in workplaces who need to express milk, ensuring their designated space includes necessary facilities for hygiene. Employers must provide this sink in a room that is private, well-lit, near work areas, and not a restroom. The bill amends existing law and was referred to the Labor committee on January 8, 2025.
Directs the commissioner of labor and the commissioner of health to conduct a labor market study of the home care and hospice workforce; establishes a temporary labor task force for home care and hospice services and occupations to examine and make recommendations regarding competitive labor market factors, reimbursement, programs and other state policy actions necessary to support recruitment and retention of the home care and hospice workforce in the broader, competitive health labor market.
Ensures that construction and fabrication done off of a public work site for specific use only in a public work project be compensated at the prevailing wage rate.
Establishes the New York state fast food franchisor accountability act to hold fast food restaurants jointly liable for violations of certain laws, orders, rules and regulations relating to employment and worker safety.
Requires the department of labor create and maintain a list of available careers and job openings for veterans in the state of New York and provide such list to the department of veterans' services; requires such list to be placed on the department of veterans' services website.
This bill requires subsidiaries of major New York transportation authorities (including MTA, NYCT, and upstate agencies like Niagara Frontier and Rochester-Genesee) and their employee unions to use binding arbitration for unresolved contract negotiations. If talks fail to reach agreement, the dispute must be referred to a three-member panel: one appointed by the employer, one by the union, and a neutral chair selected jointly. Both sides share the cost of the neutral member, and the process must conclude within 12 days. The bill directly affects transportation workers and their unions represented under these authorities, aiming to resolve labor disputes without strikes or work stoppages.
Provides a credit against unemployment fund contributions for employers who employ persons in a recovery program by the office of addiction services and supports.
This bill allows workers to file or reopen workers' compensation claims for disability caused by a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis if those claims were previously denied or missed filing deadlines due to time limits. It permits claims to be filed within one year of the law's effective date and requires the workers' compensation board to reconsider and re-determine previously denied claims for COVID-19 disability. The law takes effect immediately but expires after two years. It directly affects workers who missed filing windows or had claims rejected under prior time-related rules.
