Bill Text: NY A10842 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires employers to provide a reasonable accommodation to employees who have children who are unable to return to a childcare provider as a result of a pandemic and is unable to maintain their normal work schedule.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-07-24 - referred to governmental operations [A10842 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A10842-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10842

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      July 24, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Steck, Fahy,
          Gottfried,  Dinowitz)  --  read  once and referred to the Committee on
          Governmental Operations

        AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to requiring employers to
          provide a reasonable accommodation to employees who have children  who
          are unable to return to a childcare provider as a result of a pandemic

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

     1    Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new section  296-e
     2  to read as follows:
     3    § 296-e. Reasonable accommodation for employees during a pandemic.  1.
     4  (a) An employer shall make reasonable accommodations for an employee (i)
     5  whose  child  was enrolled in a day care program, a before or after-care
     6  program, or a school that shut down or closed, changed its  schedule  or
     7  reduced the hours of on-location operation because of a pandemic such as
     8  COVID-19  when such employee, with reasonable efforts, has not been able
     9  to obtain replacement services, or (ii) when such services were provided
    10  by a caregiver or childcare provider who  has  an  underlying  condition
    11  that puts them at-risk for severe illness due to COVID-19 including, but
    12  not limited to chronic pulmonary, lung, liver, or kidney disease, moder-
    13  ate-to-severe  asthma,  diabetes,  hemoglobin  disorders,  serious heart
    14  conditions, severe obesity, the individual is immunocompromised or other
    15  condition certified as substantially similar by a  physician  and  as  a
    16  result  is  no longer willing to provide such services, or (iii) who has
    17  an underlying condition as described in subparagraph (ii) of this  para-
    18  graph.
    19    (b)  Accommodations  under  this section shall include, in addition to
    20  any set forth in subdivision twenty-one-e of section two  hundred  nine-
    21  ty-two  of this article; flexible work hours, part-time or modified work
    22  schedules; altering the times when certain work functions are performed;
    23  telecommuting; working from home; changing policies;  the  provision  of
    24  childcare  as  a  substitute  for  day, before or after-care programs at
    25  school or other childcare facility which shall  comply  with  guidelines
    26  issued  by  the  centers  for  disease  control  and prevention and be a

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD16988-03-0
        A. 10842                            2

     1  program approved by the county  health  department,  provided,  however,
     2  that no employer shall be required to make an accommodation that repres-
     3  ents an undue hardship on such employer.
     4    (c)  The  employer and employee shall engage in an interactive process
     5  to determine the appropriate reasonable accommodation due the employee.
     6    (d) Enforcement of this section shall be  pursuant  to  provisions  of
     7  this  chapter. A prevailing plaintiff shall recover all attorneys' fees,
     8  expert witness fees, costs, and disbursements incurred in prosecuting  a
     9  proceeding or case under this section, whether enforcement is before the
    10  division of human rights or in a court of competent jurisdiction.
    11    2.  If  any clause, sentence, paragraph or part of this section or the
    12  application thereof to any  person  or  circumstances,  shall,  for  any
    13  reason,  be adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid,
    14  such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate  the  remainder  of
    15  this section.
    16    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.