STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5293
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 1, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. FERNANDEZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern-
ment Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to employee or prospec-
tive employee testing for the presence of tetrahydrocannabinols or
marihuana as a condition of employment
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 296 of the executive law is amended by adding a new
2 subdivision 23 to read as follows:
3 23. (a) Except as otherwise provided by law, it shall be an unlawful
4 discriminatory practice for an employer, labor organization, employment
5 agency, or agent thereof to require an employee or a prospective employ-
6 ee to submit to testing for the presence of any tetrahydrocannabinols or
7 marihuana in such employee's or prospective employee's system as a
8 condition of employment.
9 (b) The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to persons
10 working or applying to work:
11 (i) as police officers or peace officers, as those terms are defined
12 in subdivisions thirty-three and thirty-four of section 1.20 of the
13 criminal procedure law, respectively, or in a position with a law
14 enforcement or investigative function at the department of investi-
15 gation;
16 (ii) in any position requiring compliance with section two hundred
17 twenty-h of the labor law;
18 (iii) in any position requiring a commercial driver's license;
19 (iv) in any position requiring the supervision or care of children,
20 medical patients or vulnerable persons as defined in subdivision fifteen
21 of section four hundred eighty-eight of the social services law; or
22 (v) in any position with the potential to significantly impact the
23 health or safety of employees or members of the public.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03069-01-3
S. 5293 2
1 (c) The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to drug testing
2 required pursuant to:
3 (i) any regulation promulgated by the federal department of transpor-
4 tation that requires testing of an employee or a prospective employee in
5 accordance with 49 CFR 40 or any rule promulgated by the department of
6 transportation of this state adopting such regulation for purposes of
7 enforcing the requirements of that regulation with respect to intrastate
8 commerce;
9 (ii) any contract entered into between the federal government and an
10 employer or any grant of financial assistance from the federal govern-
11 ment to an employer that requires drug testing of employees or prospec-
12 tive employees as a condition of receiving the contract or grant;
13 (iii) any federal or state statute, regulation, or order that requires
14 drug testing of employees or prospective employees for purposes of safe-
15 ty or security; or
16 (iv) any person whose employer or prospective employer is a party to a
17 valid collective bargaining agreement that specifically addresses the
18 drug testing of such person.
19 (d) The division shall promulgate rules for the implementation of this
20 subdivision.
21 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
