Enacts the "standing is tiring (sit) act"; requires employers to provide suitable seats to all employees where the nature of such employees' work reasonably permits seated work; prohibits employers from artificially designing a work space to require standing; requires the department of labor to determine whether the nature of work reasonably permits seated work; creates a private right of action for employees whose employer does not provide seats.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7519
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
November 15, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sen. MAY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to enacting the "standing is
tiring (sit) act"
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "standing
2 is tiring (sit) act".
3 § 2. The labor law is amended by adding a new section 203-f to read as
4 follows:
5 § 203-f. Employee right to sit. 1. An employer shall be required to
6 provide suitable seats to all employees where the nature of such employ-
7 ees' work reasonably permits seated work.
8 2. An employer shall be prohibited from designing a work space to
9 require standing where such work space could reasonably be designed to
10 permit seated work.
11 3. The department shall promulgate rules and/or regulations for deter-
12 mining whether the nature of an employee's work reasonably permits seat-
13 ed work under subdivision one of this section, based on the totality of
14 the circumstances for each employee, including, but not limited to,
15 whether:
16 (a) an employee's tasks can be performed from a chair;
17 (b) seating an employee would interfere with job performance; and
18 (c) the physical layout of a work space is conducive to seating.
19 4. An employee shall have a private right of action for damages
20 against any employer who fails to provide suitable seating to such
21 employee in violation of subdivision one of this section.
22 § 3. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
23 law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13544-01-1
