Bill Text: NY S03378 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to the rights and working conditions of emergency medical technicians employed by the New York city fire department; requires rest and meal breaks.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO CIVIL SERVICE AND PENSIONS [S03378 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S03378-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3378 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 6, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions AN ACT to amend the civil service law and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the rights and working conditions of emergency medical technicians employed by the New York city fire department The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The civil service law is amended by adding a new section 2 215 to read as follows: 3 § 215. Emergency medical technicians rights and working conditions. 4 1. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following 5 meanings unless otherwise specified: 6 (a) "Emergency medical technician" shall mean a person employed by the 7 fire department of the city of New York in a title whose duties are 8 those of an emergency medical technician or advanced emergency medical 9 technician, as those terms are defined in section three thousand one of 10 the public health law, or whose duties require the direct supervision of 11 such employees whose duties are those of an emergency medical technician 12 or advanced emergency medical technician. 13 (b) "Department" shall mean the fire department of the city of New 14 York. 15 2. (a) An emergency medical technician engaged in prehospital emergen- 16 cy medical services whose scheduled shift or hours worked is at least 17 four hours shall be authorized and permitted to take rest periods that, 18 to the extent practicable, shall be in the middle of each work period. 19 The duration of such authorized rest periods shall be based on the total 20 hours worked daily at the rate of ten minutes rest time for every four 21 hours worked. A rest period is not required for an emergency medical 22 technician whose total daily work time is less than four hours. Author- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD08634-01-9S. 3378 2 1 ized rest period time shall be counted as hours worked for which there 2 shall be no deduction from wages. 3 (b) During the authorized rest period provided for in this subdivi- 4 sion, an emergency medical technician shall be relieved of all duties 5 and the department shall relinquish control over the use of such time by 6 such emergency medical technician; provided, however, that an emergency 7 medical technician may be required to monitor pagers, radios, station 8 alert boxes, intercoms, cellular telephones, or other communication 9 methods during such time. 10 (c) (i) The department may interrupt a rest period and require an 11 emergency medical technician to terminate his or her rest period and 12 resume work in the event of an unforeseeable natural or man-made disas- 13 ter. 14 (ii) In the event that a rest period is interrupted pursuant to 15 subparagraph (i) of this paragraph or not provided to an emergency 16 medical technician for any other reason, such emergency medical techni- 17 cian shall be paid one hour of pay at his or her regular rate of compen- 18 sation for each workday during which a rest period is interrupted or not 19 provided, and shall be provided with an equivalent rest period as soon 20 as practicable thereafter during such emergency medical technician's 21 shift. 22 (iii) At the end of each pay period, an emergency medical technician 23 shall be furnished with an itemized statement of the total hours paid or 24 owed due to an interrupted rest period or rest period that was not 25 provided in accordance with this paragraph. This statement may be 26 included as part of the payroll statement issued for the pay period. 27 3. (a) An emergency medical technician engaged in prehospital emergen- 28 cy medical services for a work period of more than five hours per day 29 shall be provided a meal period of not less than thirty minutes, except 30 that if the total work period per day of the employee is no more than 31 six hours, the meal period may be waived by mutual consent of both the 32 department and the collective bargaining representative of the emergency 33 medical technician. 34 (b) During the meal period provided for in this subdivision, an emer- 35 gency medical technician shall be relieved of all duties and the depart- 36 ment shall relinquish control over the use of such time by such emergen- 37 cy medical technician, except that an emergency medical technician may 38 be required to monitor pagers, radios, station alert boxes, intercoms, 39 cellular telephones, or other communication methods during such time. 40 (c) (i) The department may interrupt a meal period and require an 41 emergency medical technician to terminate the meal period and resume 42 work in the event of an unforeseeable natural or man-made disaster. 43 (ii) In the event that a meal period is interrupted pursuant to 44 subparagraph (i) of this paragraph or not provided to an emergency 45 medical technician for any other reason, such emergency medical techni- 46 cian shall be paid one hour of pay at his or her regular rate of compen- 47 sation for each workday during which the meal period is interrupted or 48 not provided as scheduled, and shall be provided with an equivalent meal 49 period as soon as practicable thereafter during such emergency medical 50 technician's shift. 51 (iii) At the end of each pay period, an emergency medical technician 52 shall be furnished with an itemized statement of the total hours paid or 53 owed due to an interrupted meal period or a meal period that was not 54 provided in accordance with this paragraph. This statement may be 55 included as part of the payroll statement issued for the pay period.S. 3378 3 1 4. An emergency medical technician who, for purposes of awaiting 2 dispatch, is stationed at a location within one thousand feet of a fire- 3 house in use by the department may choose the firehouse as an alternate 4 location for performing his or her duties while awaiting dispatch. 5 § 2. The administrative code of the city of New York is amended by 6 adding a new section 12-140 to read as follows: 7 § 12-140 Emergency medical technicians rights and working conditions. 8 a. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following 9 meanings unless otherwise specified: 10 (1) "Emergency medical technician" shall mean a person employed by the 11 fire department of the city of New York in a title whose duties are 12 those of an emergency medical technician or advanced emergency medical 13 technician, as those terms are defined in section three thousand one of 14 the public health law, or whose duties require the direct supervision of 15 such employees whose duties are those of an emergency medical technician 16 or advanced emergency medical technician. 17 (2) "Department" shall mean the fire department of the city of New 18 York. 19 b. (1) An emergency medical technician engaged in prehospital emergen- 20 cy medical services whose scheduled shift or hours worked is at least 21 four hours shall be authorized and permitted to take rest periods that, 22 to the extent practicable, shall be in the middle of each work period. 23 The duration of such authorized rest periods shall be based on the total 24 hours worked daily at the rate of ten minutes rest time for every four 25 hours worked. A rest period is not required for an emergency medical 26 technician whose total daily work time is less than four hours. Author- 27 ized rest period time shall be counted as hours worked for which there 28 shall be no deduction from wages. 29 (2) During the authorized rest period provided for in this subdivi- 30 sion, an emergency medical technician shall be relieved of all duties 31 and the department shall relinquish control over the use of such time by 32 such emergency medical technician, provided, however, that an emergency 33 medical technician may be required to monitor pagers, radios, station 34 alert boxes, intercoms, cellular telephones, or other communication 35 methods during such time. 36 (3) (i) The department may interrupt a rest period and require an 37 emergency medical technician to terminate his or her rest period and 38 resume work in the event of an unforeseeable natural or man-made disas- 39 ter. 40 (ii) In the event that a rest period is interrupted pursuant to 41 subparagraph (i) of this paragraph or not provided to an emergency 42 medical technician for any other reason, such emergency medical techni- 43 cian shall be paid one hour of pay at his or her regular rate of compen- 44 sation for each workday during which a rest period is interrupted or not 45 provided, and shall be provided with an equivalent rest period as soon 46 as practicable thereafter during such emergency medical technician's 47 shift. 48 (iii) At the end of each pay period, an emergency medical technician 49 shall be furnished with an itemized statement of the total hours paid or 50 owed due to an interrupted rest period or rest period that was not 51 provided in accordance with this paragraph. This statement may be 52 included as part of the payroll statement issued for the pay period. 53 c. (1) An emergency medical technician engaged in prehospital emergen- 54 cy medical services for a work period of more than five hours per day 55 shall be provided a meal period of not less than thirty minutes, except 56 that if the total work period per day of the employee is no more thanS. 3378 4 1 six hours, the meal period may be waived by mutual consent of both the 2 department and the collective bargaining representative of the emergency 3 medical technician. 4 (2) During the meal period provided for in this subdivision, an emer- 5 gency medical technician shall be relieved of all duties and the depart- 6 ment shall relinquish control over the use of such time by such emergen- 7 cy medical technician, except that an emergency medical technician may 8 be required to monitor pagers, radios, station alert boxes, intercoms, 9 cellular telephones, or other communication methods during such time. 10 (3) (i) The department may interrupt a meal period and require an 11 emergency medical technician to terminate the meal period and resume 12 work in the event of an unforeseeable natural or man-made disaster. 13 (ii) In the event that a meal period is interrupted pursuant to 14 subparagraph (i) of this paragraph or not provided to an emergency 15 medical technician for any other reason, such emergency medical techni- 16 cian shall be paid one hour of pay at his or her regular rate of compen- 17 sation for each workday during which the meal period is interrupted or 18 not provided as scheduled, and shall be provided with an equivalent meal 19 period as soon as practicable thereafter during such emergency medical 20 technician's shift. 21 (iii) At the end of each pay period, an emergency medical technician 22 shall be furnished with an itemized statement of the total hours paid or 23 owed due to an interrupted meal period or a meal period that was not 24 provided in accordance with this paragraph. This statement may be 25 included as part of the payroll statement issued for the pay period. 26 d. An emergency medical technician who, for purposes of awaiting 27 dispatch, is stationed at a location within one thousand feet of a fire- 28 house in use by the department may choose the firehouse as an alternate 29 location for performing his or her duties while awaiting dispatch. 30 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.