Directs the commissioner of labor to create and distribute to employers written materials regarding mental health services and resources available to employees to be posted in the workplace; directs voluntary guidance for employers to put in place strategies and programs to support the mental health and wellness of their employees; provides that such guidance be in written and digital resources and in English or translated to an additional primary language or languages as applicable.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1860
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 17, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sens. BROUK, RAMOS -- read twice and ordered printed, and
when printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to workplace mental health
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The labor law is amended by adding a new section 201-i to
2 read as follows:
3 § 201-i. Workplace mental health awareness and resources. 1. Posting
4 of information regarding mental health awareness and resources.
5 a. The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of the
6 office of mental health, and the division of human rights, shall create
7 and distribute written materials regarding mental health services and
8 resources available to employees. Such materials shall include at mini-
9 mum, signs and symptoms of mental health concerns, hotlines, websites,
10 or other resources maintained by local, state or national organizations
11 offering mental health services, and resources for information about
12 federal, state, and local anti-discrimination laws for employees with
13 mental health related disabilities. Such written materials shall be
14 translated into at least the twelve most common non-English languages
15 spoken by individuals with limited-English proficiency in the state,
16 based on the data in the most recent American Community Survey published
17 by the United States Census Bureau.
18 b. Every employer in the state shall post such materials in a place
19 accessible to his or her employees and in a visually conspicuous manner.
20 Where a significant number of employees have identified as their primary
21 language a language for which such written materials have been trans-
22 lated by the department, such written materials shall be posted in both
23 English and such additional primary language or languages as applicable.
24 2. Voluntary guidance for addressing mental health in the workplace.
25 The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of the office of
26 mental health and the division of human rights, shall establish volun-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04549-01-3
S. 1860 2
1 tary guidance for employers to address mental health in the workplace.
2 Such guidance shall contain, at minimum, strategies and tools for
3 employers to reduce mental health stigma in the workplace, increase
4 awareness of the signs and symptoms of mental health concerns, create a
5 workplace environment inclusive of mental health related disabilities,
6 and promote mental health wellness and stress management in the work-
7 place. Such guidance shall provide both guidelines for best employer
8 practices as well as written and digital resources for employers to use
9 in the workplace at their option.
10 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
11 it shall have become a law.
