Bill Text: NY A00450 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Requires employers of retail, food service or cleaning employees to give such employees 7 days' notice of their work schedule and a month's notice of the minimum hours of work; provides a private right of action to employees who are aggrieved by certain violations of such provisions.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - referred to labor [A00450 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A00450-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           450

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 6, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  ROZIC,  EPSTEIN,  D. ROSENTHAL,  DE LA ROSA,
          L. ROSENTHAL, DARLING, CRUZ, FERNANDEZ, QUART,  STECK  --  Multi-Spon-
          sored by -- M. of A.  SIMON -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Labor

        AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to employee work schedules

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Article 5 of the labor law is amended by adding a new title
     2  2 to read as follows:
     3                                   TITLE 2
     4                            SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
     5  Section 171. Definitions.
     6          172. Advanced notice requirements.
     7          173. Exchange of shifts.
     8          174. Prohibited acts.
     9          175. Exceptions.
    10          176. Enforcement.
    11    § 171. Definitions. As used in this title:
    12    1. "Employer" shall mean any person,  corporation,  limited  liability
    13  company,  limited  liability  partnership  or association employing five
    14  hundred or more full-time employees nationwide or a proportional  number
    15  of  part-time  employees,  who  employs  a retail employee, food service
    16  employee or cleaning employee.
    17    2. "Employee" shall mean an individual employed as a retail  employee,
    18  food service employee or cleaning employee by an employer.
    19    3.  "Retail employee" shall mean any employee primarily engaged in the
    20  sale of items at a retail store engaged in the sale of items to  consum-
    21  ers.
    22    4.  "Food  service employee" shall mean any employee primarily engaged
    23  in the service of food or beverage to guests, patrons  or  customers  in

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02748-01-1

        A. 450                              2

     1  the  hotel  or  restaurant  industry, including but not limited to, wait
     2  staff, bartenders, captains and  busing  personnel;  and  who  regularly
     3  receives tips from such guests, patrons or customers.
     4    5.  "Cleaning  employee"  shall mean any employee primarily engaged in
     5  activities involving cleaning in a commercial context at a commercial or
     6  residential setting including, but  not  limited  to,  janitors,  maids,
     7  housekeeping cleaners and building cleaners.
     8    §  172. Advanced notice requirements. 1. On or before the first day of
     9  employment of a retail  employee,  food  service  employee  or  cleaning
    10  employee,  the  employer  or  its  designee shall provide notice to such
    11  employee in writing of the employee's  work  schedule  and  the  minimum
    12  number  of  hours the employee will be assigned on a monthly basis. Upon
    13  the provisions of such notice to such an employee, the employer  or  its
    14  designee  shall  obtain  from  the  employee  a signed and dated written
    15  acknowledgement, in English and in the primary language of the employee,
    16  of receipt of the notice, which the employer shall preserve and maintain
    17  for a period of six years.
    18    2. On or before the seventh day  after  the  effective  date  of  this
    19  section  and  every seven days thereafter, each employer or its designee
    20  shall provide each employee with the days that  the  employee  has  been
    21  assigned to work and the hours of work on those days in writing.  Sched-
    22  uling  notices  shall  additionally  be posted in a conspicuous place in
    23  every workplace of the employer  and  may  be  requested  by  electronic
    24  means.
    25    3.  The  provisions  of this section shall not apply during any period
    26  where regular operations of the employer are suspended as  a  result  of
    27  events beyond the employer's control.
    28    § 173. Exchange of shifts. Any employees who work for the same employ-
    29  er  in the same or substantially similar line of work may mutually agree
    30  to exchange work schedules between the two employees. For any change  of
    31  schedule as a result of this section, the employer shall not be required
    32  to  provide  any  notice  to any other employees pursuant to section one
    33  hundred seventy-two of this title.
    34    § 174. Prohibited acts. It shall be unlawful for any employer to:
    35    1. interfere with, restrain or deny the exercise  of,  or  attempt  to
    36  exercise  any  rights  provided to an employee by the provisions of this
    37  title;
    38    2. discharge, threaten to  discharge,  demote,  suspend,  reduce  work
    39  hours of or take any other adverse employment action against any employ-
    40  ee  who  exercises  or  attempts to exercise any rights provided by this
    41  title; or
    42    3. discharge or discriminate in any other manner against an individual
    43  because such individual has filed any charge, instituted any proceeding,
    44  provided any information in connection with an investigation, or  testi-
    45  fied  or  is  about  to  testify  in  any  proceeding as a result of the
    46  provisions of this title.
    47    § 175. Exceptions. Nothing in this title shall be construed as prohib-
    48  iting or conflicting with any provision of law, obligation or collective
    49  bargaining agreement that imposes increased levels  of  protections  for
    50  employees.
    51    §  176. Enforcement. 1. For each violation of this title by an employ-
    52  er, the department may assess  a  civil  penalty  not  to  exceed  fifty
    53  dollars.
    54    2.  In  addition to any penalty assessed by the department pursuant to
    55  subdivision one of this section, any employee, who is not provided  with
    56  the  notice  required by subdivision one of section one hundred seventy-

        A. 450                              3

     1  two of this title on his or her first day of employment,  shall  have  a
     2  private right of action against his or her employer for damages equal to
     3  fifty  dollars  for  each  work  day, after the first day of employment,
     4  during  which  the employee is not provided with the required notice, in
     5  an amount in the aggregate not to exceed  five  thousand  dollars,  plus
     6  court costs and attorney's fees.
     7    3.  In  addition to any penalty assessed by the department pursuant to
     8  subdivision one of this section, any employee, who during any  month  is
     9  not  scheduled to work the minimum hours of work for the month as stated
    10  in the notice provided to such employee pursuant to subdivision  one  of
    11  section  one  hundred  seventy-two  of  this title, shall have a private
    12  right of action against his or her employer for  damages  equal  to  the
    13  employee's  hourly  pay  rate multiplied by the number of hours which is
    14  the result of subtracting the hours the employee actually worked  during
    15  the month from such employee's stated minimum hours of work for a month,
    16  plus court costs and attorney's fees.
    17    §  2.  Severability.  If  any clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or
    18  part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of  competent  jurisdic-
    19  tion  to  be invalid, this judgment shall not affect, impair, or invali-
    20  date the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in  its  operation  to
    21  the  clause,  sentence, paragraph, section, or part of this act directly
    22  involved in the controversy  in  which  the  judgment  shall  have  been
    23  rendered.
    24    §  3.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
    25  have become a law.
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