STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4550
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 17, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sen. SANDERS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the civil rights law, in relation to electronic mail
monitoring of employees
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The civil rights law is amended by adding a new section
2 52-a to read as follows:
3 § 52-a. Employers engaged in electronic monitoring; prior notice
4 required. 1. For purposes of this section, employer means any individ-
5 ual, corporation, partnership, firm, or association with a place of
6 business in the state.
7 2. (a) Any employer who monitors or otherwise intercepts electronic
8 mail or transmissions, by an employee by any electronic device or
9 system, shall give prior written notice upon hiring to all employees who
10 are subject to electronic mail monitoring. The notice required by this
11 subdivision shall be in writing, in an electronic record, or in another
12 electronic form and acknowledged by the employee either in writing or
13 electronically.
14 (b) For purposes of written notice required by paragraph (a) of this
15 subdivision, an employee shall be advised that any and all electronic
16 mail or transmissions by an employee by any electronic device or system,
17 may be subject to monitoring at any and all times and by any lawful
18 means.
19 3. The attorney general may enforce the provisions of this section.
20 Any employer found to be in violation of this section shall be subject
21 to a maximum civil penalty of one thousand dollars for each offense.
22 4. The provisions of this section shall not apply to processes that
23 are designed to manage the type or volume of incoming or outgoing elec-
24 tronic mail that are not targeted to monitor or intercept the electronic
25 mail of a particular individual, and that are performed solely for the
26 purpose of computer system maintenance and/or protection.
27 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
28 it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02027-01-7
