Directs the department of labor to study the impact of long COVID on employees and on the labor market; directs the department of labor to issue a report of its findings and recommendations to the governor, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary president of the senate and to publish such report on its website within one year.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
898
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 9, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor
AN ACT in relation to directing the department of labor to study the
impact of long COVID on employees and on the labor market
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. 1. As used in this section, the following terms shall have
2 the following definitions:
3 a. "long COVID" means symptoms that persist after the acute COVID-19
4 infection has resolved.
5 b. "labor organizations" means any labor union or any organization of
6 any kind, or any agency or employee representation committee, associ-
7 ation, group or plan, in which employees participate and which exists
8 for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concern-
9 ing grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment
10 or conditions of work.
11 2. The department of labor, in consultation with the division of human
12 rights, the state comptroller and the department of taxation and finance
13 is hereby authorized and directed to conduct a comprehensive study for
14 the purpose of monitoring the long-term labor impacts of the COVID-19
15 virus. The purpose of the study shall be to:
16 a. identify the number of full-time equivalent workers currently not
17 working due to long COVID, including those working at reduced hours and
18 the cost to the state of these absences;
19 b. identify the average amount of time off or reduced hours for people
20 with long COVID;
21 c. identify whether and to what extent discrimination and other barri-
22 ers affect the employment rate for persons with long COVID;
23 d. provide specific data and analysis on the findings from paragraphs
24 a, b and c of this subdivision as such findings relate to racial,
25 gender, ethnic and sexual orientation characteristics;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03664-01-3
S. 898 2
1 e. review current protocols for workplace accommodations for long
2 COVID;
3 f. review applications, approvals, and rejections for any disability
4 or health related public benefits administered by the state among long
5 COVID patients;
6 g. determine what changes, if any, should be made to state policies
7 affecting the employment of people with long COVID; and
8 h. recommend any legislation, rules or regulations it deems necessary
9 to improve the employment rate and expand employment opportunities for
10 people with long COVID.
11 3. The department of labor shall consult with multidisciplinary
12 experts in the fields of virology, immunology, COVID-19 and labor, disa-
13 bility access, labor organizations, and health care professionals or
14 other experts who serve and are representative of the diversity of New
15 Yorkers in medically underserved areas of the state or areas of the
16 state with disproportionately high occurrences of COVID-19.
17 4. The department of labor shall issue a report of its findings and
18 recommendations to the governor, the speaker of the assembly and the
19 temporary president of the senate and shall publish such report on its
20 website within one year after the effective date of this act. The
21 commissioner of labor, within their legal authority, may use the recom-
22 mendations and findings to develop guidance and other actions relating
23 to best practices, and shall disseminate information relating to that
24 guidance and other actions to employers.
25 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
