Establishes the "no severance ultimatums act", which prevents employers from giving coercive ultimatums to employees or former employees relating to severance agreements.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6480A
SPONSOR: Bronson TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the labor law, in relation to establishing the "no
severance ultimatums act"
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To ensure that all New Yorkers are provided protections' when reviewing
severance agreements, including providing ample time to review such
agreements.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one would set forth the title.
Section two would add a new section 215-d to the Labor Law which would:
prohibit severance ultimatums including requirements that employers
provide notification of the right for an employee or former employee to
consult an attorney regarding the agreement; provide at least 21 days
for an employee to review agreement; allow an employee to revoke an
agreement within 7 days of execution of the contract; and allow an
agreement to be signed in less than 21 days so long as it is knowingly
and voluntarily done, and without fraud on the part of the employer.
Section three would establish the effective date.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):
A print amendment clarifies that the consideration period or time to
review agreement is 21 calendar days and makes additional technical
changes to ensure the intent of the sponsor is effectuated.
JUSTIFICATION:
Under the federal Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA), part of
the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act, an employer is
required to provide a 21-day attorney review period in any severance
agreement offered to an employee who is age 40 or older. The agreement
must also contain a 7-day revocation period. However, there are current-
ly no statutory protections, in either New York State or federal law,
for those under the age of 40 being offered severance agreements. In
these instances, employers can force an employee or former employee into
considering an agreement on the spot, with no additional time to review
it themselves or with legal counsel.
Several other states have sought to address this gap in policy, though
none as comprehensively as in this proposal. In 2020, Illinois provides
21-day consideration periods with a 7-day revocation period but only if
the agreement contains promises of confidentiality related to alleged
unlawful employment practices. More recently, California implemented a
5-day minimum severance consideration period-to workers. This bill would
seek to extend the protections from the OWEPA to all employees of the
state, regardless of age.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024: A8986-A referred to Labor
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None to the State.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6480--A
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 5, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BRONSON, SHIMSKY, GLICK, TAYLOR, COLTON, JACOBSON
-- read once and referred to the Committee on Labor -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to establishing the "no
severance ultimatums act"
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "no severance ultimatums act".
3 § 2. The labor law is amended by adding a new section 215-d to read as
4 follows:
5 § 215-d. Prohibition against coercive severance ultimatums. 1. Defi-
6 nitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall
7 have the following meanings:
8 (a) "Employee" shall have the same meaning as set forth in section one
9 hundred ninety of this chapter.
10 (b) "Employer" shall:
11 (i) have the same meaning as set forth in section one hundred ninety
12 of this chapter; and
13 (ii) include governmental agencies.
14 (c) "Severance agreement" shall mean an agreement offered by an
15 employer to an employee upon separation of employment and related to
16 such separation that requires such employee to release waivable claims
17 against their employer.
18 2. Severance ultimatums. Any employer offering an employee or former
19 employee a severance agreement shall notify such employee that:
20 (a) Such employee has the right to consult an attorney regarding such
21 agreement;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00738-04-5
A. 6480--A 2
1 (b) Such employee shall be provided with a consideration period of not
2 less than twenty-one calendar days within which to consider the agree-
3 ment;
4 (c) Such employee may revoke such agreement within seven calendar days
5 of the execution of such agreement, and the agreement shall not become
6 effective or enforceable until such revocation period has expired; and
7 (d) Such employee may sign such agreement prior to the end of the
8 consideration period set forth in paragraph (b) of this subdivision, as
9 long as such employee's decision to shorten such consideration period is
10 knowing, voluntary, and not induced by the employer through fraud,
11 misrepresentation, or a threat to withdraw or alter such consideration
12 period prior to the expiration of such consideration period, or by
13 providing different terms to such employee if such employee signs such
14 agreement prior to the expiration of such consideration period.
15 3. The provisions of this section may be waived by any severance
16 agreement that specifically acknowledges the provisions of this section
17 and negotiated pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement.
18 4. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, any severance agree-
19 ment shall be deemed void and unenforceable if it violates the
20 provisions of subdivision two of this section.
21 5. Nothing herein shall be deemed in any way to limit, restrict, or
22 impair any law, rule, or regulation from providing greater protections
23 than provided for in this section.
24 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
