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S03740 Summary:

BILL NOS03740A
 
SAME ASSAME AS A00521
 
SPONSORFERNANDEZ
 
COSPNSRJACKSON, MAY, RHOADS
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Add §32.40, Ment Hyg L
 
Establishes the "recovery ready workplace act" which provides for the certification of an employer to become a recovery ready workplace; defines terms; establishes the recovery-ready workplace program; provides criteria for employers to obtain certification as a recovery ready workplace; provides for employee involvement.
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S03740 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         3740--A
 
                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                    IN SENATE
 
                                    January 29, 2025
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  Sens.  FERNANDEZ, JACKSON, MAY, RHOADS -- read twice and
          ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on
          Alcoholism  and  Substance Use Disorders -- committee discharged, bill
          amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said  commit-
          tee

        AN  ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to establishing the
          "recovery ready workplace 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 "recovery ready workplace act".
     3    § 2. The mental hygiene law is amended by adding a new  section  32.40
     4  to read as follows:
     5  § 32.40 Recovery-ready workplace program.
     6    (a)  Definitions.  For  purposes  of this section, the following terms
     7  shall have the following meanings:
     8    1. "Employer" shall include any person, entity,  corporation,  limited
     9  liability  company, or association employing any individual in any occu-
    10  pation, industry, trade, business or service.
    11    2. "Employee" means any person employed for hire by an employer in any
    12  employment.
    13    3. "Lived experience" means having first-hand experience  living  with
    14  mental  health  and/or  substance  use disorder and the associated chal-
    15  lenges.
    16    4. "Opioid use disorder" or  "OUD"  means  a  problematic  pattern  of
    17  opioid  use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress and
    18  is a subset of SUD.
    19    5. "Member assistance program" means a labor union administered educa-
    20  tion and assistance program that provides support to members  struggling
    21  with mental health or substance use problems.
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00673-03-5

        S. 3740--A                          2
 
     1    6.  "Prevention"  means  a  way of preventing substance misuse through
     2  strategies to reduce the risk of injury and stress in the workplace  and
     3  address other factors that may increase the risk of substance misuse and
     4  through  training  and  education  to build a substance use disorder and
     5  recovery literacy.
     6    7.  "Recovery"  means  a  process  of change through which individuals
     7  improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive
     8  to reach their full potential.
     9    8. "Recovery ready workplace advisor" means a person who is an employ-
    10  ee of or contractor for a recovery ready  workplace  program  and  whose
    11  duties  include, but are not limited to, assisting employers through the
    12  process of becoming a certified recovery ready workplace.
    13    9. "Certified peer support advocate" means a  person  with  the  lived
    14  experience  of  recovery  from  a substance use disorder or co-occurring
    15  disorder and who is certified to provide  non-clinical,  strengths-based
    16  support  to  others  experiencing  similar  challenges.  "Certified peer
    17  support advocates" shall also be  known  as  "peer  specialists",  "peer
    18  recovery coaches", and "peer recovery support specialists".
    19    10.  "Recovery  ready workplace" or "RRW" means an established program
    20  to prevent exposure to workplace factors that could cause or  perpetuate
    21  a SUD while lowering barriers to seeking care, receiving care, and main-
    22  taining  recovery,  and  to  educate  its management team and workers on
    23  issues surrounding SUDs to reduce the stigma around such challenge.
    24    11. "Substance use disorder" or "SUD" means the recurrent use of alco-
    25  hol and/or drugs that causes clinically significant impairment,  includ-
    26  ing  health problems, disability, and failure to meet major responsibil-
    27  ities at work, school, or home.
    28    12. "Workplace" means any site where an employee performs any work-re-
    29  lated duty or duties in the scope and course of the  employee's  employ-
    30  ment, provided that such locations shall not include an employee's domi-
    31  cile,   permanent   or   temporary,   where  an  employee  performs  any
    32  work-related duty in the course of their employment.
    33    (b) The office, in consultation with the department  of  labor,  shall
    34  establish  a  recovery  ready  workplace  program to be administered and
    35  overseen by the office. At a minimum, the program shall:
    36    1. Develop a process through which employers may  apply  to  become  a
    37  recovery  ready  workplace participant or certified as recovery ready as
    38  set forth in this section;
    39    2. Develop an orientation process that includes training materials for
    40  employers that provides a baseline introduction to substance use  disor-
    41  der,  treatment,  and  recovery, including information on the science of
    42  addiction, stigma, substance use in the workforce, prevention  measures,
    43  available local resources, and the ways in which employers can amend and
    44  implement  recovery ready policies and practices to help their employees
    45  with substance use disorders;
    46    3. Provide consultation, guidance, technical assistance, training  and
    47  education, and other support to employers seeking to become participants
    48  or  certified  recovery  ready workplaces, as well as to current program
    49  participants and certified recovery ready employers;
    50    4. Conduct outreach to stakeholders, including employers that are  not
    51  engaged  in  the  program,  labor unions, and recovery support organiza-
    52  tions, to provide information regarding the program; and
    53    5. Establish  a  recovery  ready  workplace  program  webpage  on  the
    54  office's website that provides information on substance use in the work-
    55  place to employers, employees, and the general public.

        S. 3740--A                          3
 
     1    (c)  The  office  of addiction services and supports, shall promulgate
     2  regulations establishing the criteria by which an  employer  can  obtain
     3  certification  as a RRW. Such criteria shall include, but not be limited
     4  to, the following:
     5    1. a signed letter of interest from the employer to become a RRW;
     6    2. issuance of a written declaration to employees;
     7    3. collaboration with employees and, if any, the collective bargaining
     8  agent  or  the bona fide labor organization which has established itself
     9  and/or its affiliates as the collective  bargaining  representative  for
    10  persons employed by such employer, recovery community organizations, and
    11  government  officials  in  establishing a RRW and the development of the
    12  proposed recovery ready workplace program in writing;
    13    4. proactively identifying and addressing the  primary  prevention  of
    14  workplace  hazards  and sources of stress at work associated with opioid
    15  and other  substance  misuse,  including  prescription  medications  and
    16  through self-medication;
    17    5. establishing availability of naloxone onsite and training personnel
    18  on  its administration and other first aid measures that reduce the risk
    19  of death as a result of an overdose;
    20    6. supporting and providing information to injured workers on  how  to
    21  avoid opioid and other substance misuse;
    22    7.  providing  training  and  orientation  to supervisors, management,
    23  employees, and union officials;
    24    8. providing resources and information to employees;
    25    9. connecting with a recovery community organization within six months
    26  of certification;
    27    10. assessing and addressing workplace culture issues by:
    28    (A) encouraging all qualified applicants, including persons in  recov-
    29  ery;
    30    (B)  having  programs  and practices that promote and support employee
    31  health, wellness, and work-life balance, such  as  but  not  limited  to
    32  member assistance programs; and
    33    (C)  supporting  employees who seek treatment and who require residen-
    34  tial or outpatient treatment and  related  disability  leave,  including
    35  planning for return to work;
    36    11.  offering  health benefits that provide comprehensive coverage for
    37  SUDs, including medications for OUD and SUD, aftercare, and counseling;
    38    12. evaluating and improving,  as  needed,  access  to  treatment  and
    39  recovery  resources  and ensure mental health and substance use benefits
    40  are equal to those for physical health as required by paragraph five  of
    41  subsection  one  of  section  three  thousand two hundred twenty-one and
    42  subsections (g) and (h) of section four thousand three hundred three  of
    43  the insurance law, and the federal mental health parity addiction equity
    44  act;
    45    13.  providing work accommodations for employees in recovery to attend
    46  treatment and recovery services and providing reasonable  work  accommo-
    47  dations  to  support  workers in recovery in compliance with federal and
    48  state law; and
    49    14. ensuring employer RRW policies include confidentiality  provisions
    50  to maintain confidentiality of employees accessing services.
    51    (d) 1. An employer shall develop the plan to become certified as a RRW
    52  in  cooperation  with  the  collective bargaining agent or the bona fide
    53  labor organization which has established itself and/or its affiliates as
    54  the collective bargaining representative for persons  employed  by  such
    55  employer,  if  any,  or with meaningful participation of employees where
    56  there is no collective bargaining representative, for all aspects of the

        S. 3740--A                          4
 
     1  plan, and such plan shall be tailored to the specific industry and  work
     2  place or workplaces of the employer.
     3    2.  Employers  shall  be  encouraged  to  establish  multi-stakeholder
     4  committees, subcommittees, or task forces to help develop RRW  programs.
     5  Where there is a collective bargaining agent or a bona fide labor organ-
     6  ization  which  has  established  itself  and/or  its  affiliates as the
     7  collective  bargaining  representative  for  persons  employed  by  such
     8  employer, such collective bargaining representative shall select employ-
     9  ees to be members of such committee.
    10    3.  To the extent that any individual voluntarily self-discloses lived
    11  experience with SUD or recovery, a RRW committee, subcommittee, or  task
    12  force  shall invite representatives with lived experience to participate
    13  in the development and the annual review of the RRW  plan,  while  main-
    14  taining confidentiality.
    15    4.  The employer shall update its drug and alcohol policies in writing
    16  within one year of certification.  The employer shall make such policies
    17  available to all employees,  shall  review  such  policies  annually  in
    18  consultation  with  the  employers' RRW committee, and shall update such
    19  policies as necessary, except as described in subdivision  (c)  of  this
    20  section.
    21    5.  Employer  policies  related  to  accessing  treatment and recovery
    22  resources shall be evaluated and improved,  as  necessary,  including  a
    23  review  of  mental health and substance use benefits to assess parity to
    24  those for physical health in conformance with federal, state, and  local
    25  laws.
    26    (e)  The provisions of this section shall not be construed to diminish
    27  or alter the rights or benefits of any employee pursuant  to  any  other
    28  law, regulation, or collective bargaining agreement.
    29    § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    30  it shall have become a law.
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