Epstein, Rosenthal D, Rosenthal L, Darling, Cruz, Steck, De Los Santos
MLTSPNSR
Simon
Add Art 5 Title 2 §§171 - 176, Lab L
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.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A737
SPONSOR: Rozic (MS) TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the labor law, in relation to employee work schedules
PURPOSE:
This bill amends the Labor Law by adding a new Title 2 to Article 5 to
create a responsibility upon certain employers to provide employees with
consistent and predictable work schedules.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 creates a new Title 2 to Article 5 of the Labor Law and
includes six subsections pursuant to the new Title.
Section 171 defines "employer," "employee," "retail employee," "food
service employee" and "cleaning employee" for purposes of the Title.
Section 172 creates advanced notice requirements whereby an employer
covered by the Title must provide notice of the minimum number of hours
the employee will be assigned on a monthly basis, as well as provide
seven days notice to an employee as to their scheduled shift;
Section 172 also includes posting requirements within covered establish-
ments. Section 173 permits similarly situated employees to exchange work
shifts. Section 174 sets forth prohibitions upon employers covered by
the Title from interfering with the provisions of the Title and/or
retaliating against employees exercising rights covered by the Title.
Section 175 sets forth exceptions to the Title.
Section 176 sets forth enforcement powers of the Department of Labor, as
well as private causes of action by employees in relation to some
provisions of the Title.
Section 2 addresses severability of the Title. Section 3 sets forth the
effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
This bill increases the ability of low-wage earners to plan important
aspects of their lives, pertaining especially to the provision of
healthcare, childcare and other essential family needs. Employers
routinely construct work schedules that vary from week to week, as to
the days of the week worked and total hours scheduled. Too often, work
schedules provided at the last minute, result in the inability of
employees to effectively manage childcare and healthcare needs, result-
ing in both increased absenteeism from work and in missing important
medical appointments. Some are also confronted with work schedules that
set forth less hours than expected, further hampering their ability to
effectively provide for themselves and their families.
This bill increases workers' predictability of income by providing
notice of the minimum hours an employee is expected to be scheduled
during a given month. This bill also alleviates scheduling concerns by
giving employees seven days notice of expected work shifts, as well as
allowing covered employees to exchange shifts with similarly situated
colleagues. While the Department of Labor holds the power to wage a
penalty for each violation of this Title, employees are further provided
with a private cause of action to enforce provisions relative to monthly
expected hours statements.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022: A450 (Rozic) - Labor
2021: A450 (Rozic) - Labor
2020: A315 (Rozic) - Labor
2019: A315 (Rozic) - Labor
2018: A01323 (Rozic) - Labor
2017: A01323 (Rozic) - Labor
2016: A09274 (Rozic) - Labor
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act will take effect ninety days after it becomes law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
737
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 11, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ROZIC, EPSTEIN, D. ROSENTHAL, L. ROSENTHAL,
DARLING, CRUZ, STECK, DE LOS SANTOS -- Multi-Sponsored 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
24 the hotel or restaurant industry, including but not limited to, wait
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00471-01-3
A. 737 2
1 staff, bartenders, captains and busing personnel; and who regularly
2 receives tips from such guests, patrons or customers.
3 5. "Cleaning employee" shall mean any employee primarily engaged in
4 activities involving cleaning in a commercial context at a commercial or
5 residential setting including, but not limited to, janitors, maids,
6 housekeeping cleaners and building cleaners.
7 § 172. Advanced notice requirements. 1. On or before the first day of
8 employment of a retail employee, food service employee or cleaning
9 employee, the employer or its designee shall provide notice to such
10 employee in writing of the employee's work schedule and the minimum
11 number of hours the employee will be assigned on a monthly basis. Upon
12 the provisions of such notice to such an employee, the employer or its
13 designee shall obtain from the employee a signed and dated written
14 acknowledgement, in English and in the primary language of the employee,
15 of receipt of the notice, which the employer shall preserve and maintain
16 for a period of six years.
17 2. On or before the seventh day after the effective date of this
18 section and every seven days thereafter, each employer or its designee
19 shall provide each employee with the days that the employee has been
20 assigned to work and the hours of work on those days in writing. Sched-
21 uling notices shall additionally be posted in a conspicuous place in
22 every workplace of the employer and may be requested by electronic
23 means.
24 3. The provisions of this section shall not apply during any period
25 where regular operations of the employer are suspended as a result of
26 events beyond the employer's control.
27 § 173. Exchange of shifts. Any employees who work for the same employ-
28 er in the same or substantially similar line of work may mutually agree
29 to exchange work schedules between the two employees. For any change of
30 schedule as a result of this section, the employer shall not be required
31 to provide any notice to any other employees pursuant to section one
32 hundred seventy-two of this title.
33 § 174. Prohibited acts. It shall be unlawful for any employer to:
34 1. interfere with, restrain or deny the exercise of, or attempt to
35 exercise any rights provided to an employee by the provisions of this
36 title;
37 2. discharge, threaten to discharge, demote, suspend, reduce work
38 hours of or take any other adverse employment action against any employ-
39 ee who exercises or attempts to exercise any rights provided by this
40 title; or
41 3. discharge or discriminate in any other manner against an individual
42 because such individual has filed any charge, instituted any proceeding,
43 provided any information in connection with an investigation, or testi-
44 fied or is about to testify in any proceeding as a result of the
45 provisions of this title.
46 § 175. Exceptions. Nothing in this title shall be construed as prohib-
47 iting or conflicting with any provision of law, obligation or collective
48 bargaining agreement that imposes increased levels of protections for
49 employees.
50 § 176. Enforcement. 1. For each violation of this title by an employ-
51 er, the department may assess a civil penalty not to exceed fifty
52 dollars.
53 2. In addition to any penalty assessed by the department pursuant to
54 subdivision one of this section, any employee, who is not provided with
55 the notice required by subdivision one of section one hundred seventy-
56 two of this title on his or her first day of employment, shall have a
A. 737 3
1 private right of action against his or her employer for damages equal to
2 fifty dollars for each work day, after the first day of employment,
3 during which the employee is not provided with the required notice, in
4 an amount in the aggregate not to exceed five thousand dollars, plus
5 court costs and attorney's fees.
6 3. In addition to any penalty assessed by the department pursuant to
7 subdivision one of this section, any employee, who during any month is
8 not scheduled to work the minimum hours of work for the month as stated
9 in the notice provided to such employee pursuant to subdivision one of
10 section one hundred seventy-two of this title, shall have a private
11 right of action against his or her employer for damages equal to the
12 employee's hourly pay rate multiplied by the number of hours which is
13 the result of subtracting the hours the employee actually worked during
14 the month from such employee's stated minimum hours of work for a month,
15 plus court costs and attorney's fees.
16 § 2. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or
17 part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdic-
18 tion to be invalid, this judgment shall not affect, impair, or invali-
19 date the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to
20 the clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part of this act directly
21 involved in the controversy in which the judgment shall have been
22 rendered.
23 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
24 have become a law.
