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A09809 Summary:

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A09809 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
            S. 6918                                                  A. 9809
 
                SENATE - ASSEMBLY
 
                                     April 11, 2012
                                       ___________
 
        IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sen. KENNEDY -- read twice and ordered print-
          ed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor
 
        IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by M. of A. JEFFRIES -- read once and referred
          to the Committee on Labor
 
        AN  ACT  to  amend  the labor law, in relation to enacting the "save New
          York call center jobs act of 2012"
 

          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 "save New York call center jobs act of 2012".
     3    § 2. The labor law is amended by adding a new article 21  to  read  as
     4  follows:
     5                                 ARTICLE 21
     6                     SAVE 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    § 770. Definitions. As used in this article:

    14    1.  The term "call center" means a facility or other operation whereby
    15  employees receive telephone calls or other electronic communication  for
    16  the purpose of providing customer assistance or other service.
    17    2.  (a)  The  term  "employer"  means any business entity that employs
    18  fifty or more employees, excluding part-time employees; or fifty or more
    19  employees that in the aggregate work at least fifteen hundred hours  per
    20  week,  excluding  overtime  hours,  for  the  purpose of staffing a call
    21  center.
    22    (b) The term "part-time employee" means an employee  who  is  employed
    23  for  an  average  of  fewer  than  twenty hours per week or who has been
    24  employed for fewer than six of the twelve months preceding the  date  on

    25  which notice is required under this article.
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD14936-02-2
        S. 6918                             2                            A. 9809
 
     1    § 771. List of relocated call centers.  1. A call center employer that
     2  intends  to relocate a call center, or one or more facilities or operat-
     3  ing units within a call center comprising at least thirty percent of the
     4  call center's, or operating unit's, total volume when  measured  against
     5  the  previous twelve month average call volume of operations or substan-

     6  tially similar operations, from New York  state  to  a  foreign  country
     7  shall  notify  the  commissioner  at  least one hundred days before such
     8  relocation.
     9    2. A call center  employer  that  violates  subdivision  one  of  this
    10  section  shall  be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand
    11  dollars for each day of such violation, except that the commissioner may
    12  reduce such amount for just cause shown.
    13    3. The commissioner shall compile a semiannual list of all call center
    14  employers that relocate a call center, or  one  or  more  facilities  or
    15  operating  units within a call center comprising at least thirty percent
    16  of the call center's total volume of operations, from New York state  to
    17  a foreign country.

    18    4. The commissioner shall distribute the list required in this section
    19  to all agencies in the state.
    20    §  772.  Grants,  guaranteed  loans  and  tax  benefits.  1. Except as
    21  provided in subdivision three of this section  and  notwithstanding  any
    22  other  provision of law, a call center employer that appears on the list
    23  described in section seven hundred seventy-one of this article shall  be
    24  ineligible  for  any  direct  or indirect state grants, state guaranteed
    25  loans, tax benefits or other financial governmental support for a period
    26  of five years from the date such list is published.
    27    2. Except as  provided  in  subdivision  three  of  this  section  and
    28  notwithstanding  any other provision of law, a call center employer that

    29  appears on the list described in section seven  hundred  seventy-one  of
    30  this  article  shall remit the unamortized value of any grant or guaran-
    31  teed loans, or any tax benefits or other  governmental  support  it  has
    32  previously received to the commissioner. The provisions of this subdivi-
    33  sion  shall  apply  to grants, loans, tax benefits and financial govern-
    34  mental assistance that is received on or after  the  effective  date  of
    35  this article.
    36    3.  The  commissioner,  in  consultation  with  the appropriate agency
    37  providing a loan or grant, may  waive  the  requirement  provided  under
    38  subdivision  two  of this section if the employer demonstrates that such
    39  requirement would:
    40    (a) threaten state or national security;

    41    (b) result in substantial job loss in the state of New York; or
    42    (c) harm the environment.
    43    § 773. Procurement contracts. The head  of  each  state  agency  shall
    44  ensure  that all state-business-related call center and customer service
    45  work be performed by state contractors or other agents or subcontractors
    46  entirely within the state of New York. State contractors  who  currently
    47  perform  such  work  outside  the state of New York shall have two years
    48  following the effective  date  of  this  article  to  comply  with  this
    49  section;  provided,  that  if  any  such  contractors which perform work
    50  outside this state adds customer service employees who will perform work
    51  on such contracts, those new employees  shall  immediately  be  employed

    52  within the state of New York.
    53    §  774. State benefits for workers. No provision of this article shall
    54  be construed to permit withholding or denial of payments,  compensation,
    55  or  benefits  under  any  other  state law, including but not limited to
    56  state unemployment compensation, disability payments or worker  retrain-
        S. 6918                             3                            A. 9809
 
     1  ing  or  readjustment funds, to workers employed by employers that relo-
     2  cate to a foreign country.
     3    §  775.  No private right of action. Nothing set forth in this article
     4  shall be construed as creating, establishing, or authorizing  a  private
     5  cause  of  action  by  an  aggrieved  person against an employer who has

     6  violated, or is alleged to have violated, any provision of this article.
     7    § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
     8  it shall have become a law.