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S01826 Summary:

S01826 Actions:

S01826 Committee Votes:

S01826 Floor Votes:

S01826 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         1826--C
            Cal. No. 225
 
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                    IN SENATE
 
                                    January 16, 2019
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  Sens. KENNEDY, ADDABBO, BAILEY, BENJAMIN, BIAGGI, BOYLE,
          BRESLIN,  BROOKS,  CARLUCCI,  COMRIE,  GALLIVAN,  GAUGHRAN,  GIANARIS,
          GOUNARDES,  HARCKHAM,  HOYLMAN,  JACKSON,  KAMINSKY, KAPLAN, KAVANAGH,
          KRUEGER, LANZA, LIU, MARTINEZ, MAY, MAYER, METZGER, MONTGOMERY, MYRIE,
          PARKER, PERSAUD, RAMOS, SALAZAR, SANDERS,  SAVINO,  SERRANO,  SKOUFIS,
          STAVISKY  --  read  twice  and ordered printed, and when printed to be
          committed to the Committee on  Labor  --  committee  discharged,  bill
          amended,  ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
          tee -- reported favorably from said committee  and  committed  to  the
          Committee  on  Finance  -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to  said  committee  --  reported
          favorably  from  said  committee,  ordered to first and second report,
          amended on second report, ordered  to  a  third  reading,  and  to  be
          reprinted  as amended, retaining its place in the order of third read-
          ing
 
        AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to  enacting  the  "New  York
          call center jobs 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 "New York call center jobs act".
     3    §  2.  The  labor law is amended by adding a new article 21 to read as
     4  follows:
     5                                 ARTICLE 21
     6                        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.
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02106-08-9
        S. 1826--C                          2
 
     1          776. Regulations.
     2    § 770. Definitions. As used in this article:
     3    1.  The term "call center" means a facility or other operation whereby
     4  employees receive phone calls or other electronic communication for  the
     5  purpose of providing customer assistance or other service.
     6    2.  (a) The term "call center employer" means any business entity that
     7  employs fifty or more employees, excluding part-time employees; or fifty
     8  or more employees that in the aggregate work at  least  fifteen  hundred
     9  hours  per week, excluding overtime hours, for the purpose of staffing a
    10  call center.
    11    (b) The term "part-time employee" means an employee  who  is  employed
    12  for  an  average  of  fewer  than  twenty hours per week or who has been
    13  employed for fewer than six of the twelve months preceding the  date  on
    14  which notice is required under this article.
    15    § 771. List of relocated call centers.  1. A call center employer that
    16  intends to relocate a call center from New York state to a foreign coun-
    17  try or any other state, or reduce call volume handled at call centers in
    18  New  York  state by at least thirty percent, measured as the call volume
    19  of the previous calendar month compared  to  the  average  monthly  call
    20  volume of the previous twelve months, and intends to relocate such oper-
    21  ations  from  New  York  state  to a foreign country or any other state,
    22  shall notify the commissioner at least  one  hundred  days  before  such
    23  relocation.
    24    2.  A  call  center  employer  that  violates  subdivision one of this
    25  section shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed  ten  thousand
    26  dollars for each day of such violation, except that the commissioner may
    27  reduce such amount for just cause shown.
    28    3.  The  commissioner  shall compile an annual list of all call center
    29  employers that relocate or reduce call volume  pursuant  to  subdivision
    30  one of this section, and such list shall be made available to the public
    31  and  shall  prominently  display  a link to the list on the department's
    32  website.
    33    4. The commissioner shall make the list created pursuant  to  subdivi-
    34  sion three of this section, available to the public and shall prominent-
    35  ly display a link to the list on the department's website.
    36    §  772.  Grants,  guaranteed  loans  and  tax  benefits.  1. Except as
    37  provided in subdivision three of this section  and  notwithstanding  any
    38  other  provision of law, a call center employer that appears on the list
    39  described in section seven hundred seventy-one of this article shall  be
    40  ineligible  for  any  direct  or indirect state grants, state guaranteed
    41  loans, tax benefits or other financial governmental support for a period
    42  of five years from the date such list is published.
    43    2. Except as  provided  in  subdivision  three  of  this  section  and
    44  notwithstanding  any other provision of law, a call center employer that
    45  appears on the list described in section seven  hundred  seventy-one  of
    46  this  article  shall remit the unamortized value of any grant or guaran-
    47  teed loans, or any tax benefits or other  governmental  support  it  has
    48  previously  received  in  the  past  five  years. The provisions of this
    49  subdivision shall apply to grants, loans,  tax  benefits  and  financial
    50  governmental  assistance  that is entered into on or after the effective
    51  date of this article. Nothing in this subdivision  shall  be  deemed  to
    52  prevent  the  call  center  employer from receiving any grant to provide
    53  training or other employment assistance to individuals who are  selected
    54  as  being  in particular need of training or other employment assistance
    55  due to the transfer or relocation of the call center employer's facility
    56  or operating units.
        S. 1826--C                          3
 
     1    3. The commissioner,  in  consultation  with  the  appropriate  agency
     2  providing  a  loan  or  grant,  may waive the requirement provided under
     3  subdivision two of this section if the call center employer demonstrates
     4  that such requirement would:
     5    (a) threaten state or national security;
     6    (b) result in substantial job loss in the state of New York; or
     7    (c) harm the environment.
     8    §  773.  Procurement  contracts.  The  head of each state agency shall
     9  ensure that all state-business-related contracts  for  call  center  and
    10  customer  service work be performed by state contractors or other agents
    11  or subcontractors entirely within the state of New York. State  contrac-
    12  tors who currently perform such work outside the state of New York shall
    13  have  two  years  following the effective date of this article to comply
    14  with this section; provided, that if any such contractors which  perform
    15  work outside this state adds customer service employees who will perform
    16  work  on  such  contracts,  those  new  employees  shall  immediately be
    17  employed within the state of New York, except that businesses subject to
    18  a contract agreed to prior to the effective date of  this  article  with
    19  terms extending beyond a date greater than two years after the effective
    20  date of this article shall be subject to the provisions of this subdivi-
    21  sion at the next point in which the contract is subject to renewal.
    22    §  774. State benefits for workers. No provision of this article shall
    23  be construed to permit withholding or denial of payments,  compensation,
    24  or  benefits  under  any  other  state law, including but not limited to
    25  state unemployment compensation, disability payments or worker  retrain-
    26  ing  or readjustment funds, to workers employed by call center employers
    27  that relocate to a foreign country.
    28    § 775. No private right of action. Nothing set forth in  this  article
    29  shall  be  construed as creating, establishing, or authorizing a private
    30  cause of action by an aggrieved person against a  call  center  employer
    31  who  has violated, or is alleged to have violated, any provision of this
    32  article.
    33    § 776. Regulations. The commissioner shall promulgate such  rules  and
    34  regulations  as shall be necessary and proper to effectuate the purposes
    35  and provisions of this article.
    36    § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    37  it shall have become a law.