STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1826--B 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 16, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sens. KENNEDY, ADDABBO, BAILEY, BENJAMIN, BIAGGI, BOYLE, BRESLIN, BROOKS, COMRIE, GALLIVAN, GAUGHRAN, GIANARIS, GOUNARDES, HARCKHAM, HOYLMAN, JACKSON, KAMINSKY, KAPLAN, KAVANAGH, KRUEGER, LANZA, LIU, MARTINEZ, MAY, MAYER, METZGER, MONTGOMERY, MYRIE, PARKER, PERSAUD, RAMOS, SALAZAR, SANDERS, SAVINO, SERRANO, SKOUFIS, STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- reported favorably from said committee and committed to the Committee on Finance -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to enacting the "New York call center jobs act" The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "New York call center jobs act". 3 § 2. The labor law is amended by adding a new article 21 to read as 4 follows: 5 ARTICLE 21 6 NEW YORK CALL CENTER JOBS ACT 7 Section 770. Definitions. 8 771. List of relocated call centers. 9 772. Grants, guaranteed loans and tax benefits. 10 773. Procurement contracts. 11 774. State benefits for workers. 12 775. No private right of action. 13 776. Regulations. 14 § 770. Definitions. As used in this article: EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02106-07-9S. 1826--B 2 1 1. The term "call center" means a facility or other operation whereby 2 employees receive phone calls or other electronic communication for the 3 purpose of providing customer assistance or other service. 4 2. (a) The term "call center employer" means any business entity that 5 employs fifty or more employees, excluding part-time employees; or fifty 6 or more employees that in the aggregate work at least fifteen hundred 7 hours per week, excluding overtime hours, for the purpose of staffing a 8 call center. 9 (b) The term "part-time employee" means an employee who is employed 10 for an average of fewer than twenty hours per week or who has been 11 employed for fewer than six of the twelve months preceding the date on 12 which notice is required under this article. 13 § 771. List of relocated call centers. 1. A call center employer that 14 intends to relocate a call center from New York state to a foreign coun- 15 try or any other state, or reduce call volume handled at call centers in 16 New York state by at least thirty percent, measured as the call volume 17 of the previous calendar month compared to the average monthly call 18 volume of the previous twelve months, and intends to relocate such oper- 19 ations from New York state to a foreign country or any other state, 20 shall notify the commissioner at least one hundred days before such 21 relocation. 22 2. A call center employer that violates subdivision one of this 23 section shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand 24 dollars for each day of such violation, except that the commissioner may 25 reduce such amount for just cause shown. 26 3. The commissioner shall compile an annual list of all call center 27 employers that relocate or reduce call volume pursuant to subdivision 28 one of this section, and such list shall be made available to the public 29 and shall prominently display a link to the list on the department's 30 website. 31 4. The commissioner shall make the list created pursuant to subdivi- 32 sion three of this section, available to the public and shall prominent- 33 ly display a link to the list on the department's website. 34 § 772. Grants, guaranteed loans and tax benefits. 1. Except as 35 provided in subdivision three of this section and notwithstanding any 36 other provision of law, a call center employer that appears on the list 37 described in section seven hundred seventy-one of this article shall be 38 ineligible for any direct or indirect state grants, state guaranteed 39 loans, tax benefits or other financial governmental support for a period 40 of five years from the date such list is published. 41 2. Except as provided in subdivision three of this section and 42 notwithstanding any other provision of law, a call center employer that 43 appears on the list described in section seven hundred seventy-one of 44 this article shall remit the unamortized value of any grant or guaran- 45 teed loans, or any tax benefits or other governmental support it has 46 previously received in the past five years. The provisions of this 47 subdivision shall apply to grants, loans, tax benefits and financial 48 governmental assistance that is received on or after the effective date 49 of this article. Nothing in this subdivision shall be deemed to prevent 50 the call center employer from receiving any grant to provide training or 51 other employment assistance to individuals who are selected as being in 52 particular need of training or other employment assistance due to the 53 transfer or relocation of the call center employer's facility or operat- 54 ing units. 55 3. The commissioner, in consultation with the appropriate agency 56 providing a loan or grant, may waive the requirement provided underS. 1826--B 3 1 subdivision two of this section if the call center employer demonstrates 2 that such requirement would: 3 (a) threaten state or national security; 4 (b) result in substantial job loss in the state of New York; or 5 (c) harm the environment. 6 § 773. Procurement contracts. The head of each state agency shall 7 ensure that all state-business-related contracts for call center and 8 customer service work be performed by state contractors or other agents 9 or subcontractors entirely within the state of New York. State contrac- 10 tors who currently perform such work outside the state of New York shall 11 have two years following the effective date of this article to comply 12 with this section; provided, that if any such contractors which perform 13 work outside this state adds customer service employees who will perform 14 work on such contracts, those new employees shall immediately be 15 employed within the state of New York, except that businesses subject to 16 a contract agreed to prior to the effective date of this article with 17 terms extending beyond a date greater than two years after the effective 18 date of this article shall be subject to the provisions of this subdivi- 19 sion at the next point in which the contract is subject to renewal. 20 § 774. State benefits for workers. No provision of this article shall 21 be construed to permit withholding or denial of payments, compensation, 22 or benefits under any other state law, including but not limited to 23 state unemployment compensation, disability payments or worker retrain- 24 ing or readjustment funds, to workers employed by call center employers 25 that relocate to a foreign country. 26 § 775. No private right of action. Nothing set forth in this article 27 shall be construed as creating, establishing, or authorizing a private 28 cause of action by an aggrieved person against a call center employer 29 who has violated, or is alleged to have violated, any provision of this 30 article. 31 § 776. Regulations. The commissioner shall promulgate such rules and 32 regulations as shall be necessary and proper to effectuate the purposes 33 and provisions of this article. 34 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 35 it shall have become a law.