Requires employers to pay a severance pay equal to one week of pay for each full year of employment to employees when there is a plant closing, relocation, or mass layoff.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8377
IN SENATE
May 19, 2020
___________
Introduced by Sen. MAYER -- 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 requiring employers to pay
severance to employees when there is a plant closing, relocation, or
mass layoff
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The section heading of section 860-g of the labor law, as
2 added by chapter 475 of the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
3 Violation; liability; severance.
4 § 2. Section 860-g of the labor law is amended by adding a new subdi-
5 vision 9 to read as follows:
6 9. Whenever there is a plant closing, relocation, or mass layoff under
7 this article, the employer shall pay severance to each employee entitled
8 to notice who lost his or her employment equal to one week of pay for
9 each full year of employment. An employer who fails to give notice as
10 required by paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section eight hundred
11 sixty-b of this article before ordering a mass layoff, relocation, or
12 employment loss shall pay each such employee an additional four weeks of
13 severance pay. The rate of severance pay provided by the employer pursu-
14 ant to this section shall be the average regular rate of compensation
15 received by the employee during the last three years of employment with
16 the employer, or the employee's final regular rate of compensation,
17 whichever is higher. Severance under this subdivision shall be regarded
18 as compensation due to an employee for back pay and losses associated
19 with the termination of the employment relationship, and earned in full
20 upon the termination of the employment relationship, notwithstanding the
21 calculation of the amount of the payment with reference to the employ-
22 ee's length of service. The employer shall pay the severance pay
23 required pursuant to this subdivision or the severance pay required by a
24 collective bargaining agreement or for any other reason, whichever is
25 greater. The severance provided for an employee by this subdivision
26 shall be reduced by any back pay paid to the employee pursuant to
27 subsection 5 of section 2104 of the federal Worker Adjustment and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15474-01-0
S. 8377 2
1 Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. Sec. 2104 et seq.), because of a
2 violation of subsection 3 of section 2102 of such act (29 U.S.C. Sec.
3 2102 et seq.). No waiver of the right to severance provided pursuant to
4 this subdivision shall be effective without approval of the waiver by
5 the commissioner or a court of competent jurisdiction.
6 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
