STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                         567--C
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                       (Prefiled)
                                     January 9, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  M.  of  A. L. ROSENTHAL, COLTON, PAULIN, ARROYO, BARRON,
          CARROLL, STECK, WALKER, RAMOS, ABINANTI, HYNDMAN,  JEAN-PIERRE,  DICK-
          ENS,  PEOPLES-STOKES,  SEAWRIGHT, RYAN, ORTIZ, DE LA ROSA, FAHY, BENE-
          DETTO, GLICK, PERRY, D'URSO, RAIA,  GARBARINO,  DINOWITZ,  RICHARDSON,
          OTIS,  GOTTFRIED,  ROZIC,  CUSICK,  SIMON,  WOERNER, MOSLEY, BUCHWALD,
          WALLACE, AUBRY,  BICHOTTE,  QUART,  GALEF,  STIRPE,  LUPARDO,  CRESPO,
          SANTABARBARA,   WILLIAMS,  M. L. MILLER,  WEPRIN,  B. MILLER,  TAYLOR,
          NORRIS, DAVILA, EPSTEIN, NIOU, REYES, BURKE, BRAUNSTEIN, FALL, ZEBROW-
          SKI, STERN, SIMOTAS, BRONSON, LiPETRI, REILLY, HUNTER, SMITH, COOK  --
          Multi-Sponsored  by  --  M.  of  A.    DenDEKKER, ENGLEBRIGHT, HEVESI,
          LENTOL, LIFTON, McDONOUGH, RODRIGUEZ, THIELE, WRIGHT -- read once  and
          referred  to  the Committee on Ways and Means -- committee discharged,
          bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended  and  recommitted  to  said
          committee  --  again  reported  from  said  committee with amendments,
          ordered reprinted as amended and  recommitted  to  said  committee  --
          again  reported from said committee with amendments, ordered reprinted
          as amended and recommitted to said committee
        AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to  enacting  the  "New  York
          call center jobs 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 "New York call center jobs act".
     3    §  2.  The  labor law is amended by adding a new article 21 to read as
     4  follows:
     5                                 ARTICLE 21
     6                        NEW YORK CALL CENTER JOBS ACT
     7  Section 770. Definitions.
     8          771. List of relocated call centers.
     9          772. Grants, guaranteed loans and tax benefits.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01837-06-9

        A. 567--C                           2
     1          773. Procurement contracts.
     2          774. State benefits for workers.
     3          775. No private right of action.
     4          776. Regulations.
     5    § 770. Definitions. As used in this article:
     6    1.  The term "call center" means a facility or other operation whereby
     7  employees receive phone calls or other electronic communication for  the
     8  purpose of providing customer assistance or other service.
     9    2.  (a) The term "call center employer" means any business entity that
    10  employs fifty or more employees, excluding part-time employees; or fifty
    11  or more employees that in the aggregate work at  least  fifteen  hundred
    12  hours  per week, excluding overtime hours, for the purpose of staffing a
    13  call center.
    14    (b) The term "part-time employee" means an employee  who  is  employed
    15  for  an  average  of  fewer  than  twenty hours per week or who has been
    16  employed for fewer than six of the twelve months preceding the  date  on
    17  which notice is required under this article.
    18    § 771. List of relocated call centers.  1. A call center employer that
    19  intends to relocate a call center from New York state to a foreign coun-
    20  try or any other state, or reduce call volume handled at call centers in
    21  New  York  state by at least thirty percent, measured as the call volume
    22  of the previous calendar month compared  to  the  average  monthly  call
    23  volume of the previous twelve months, and intends to relocate such oper-
    24  ations  from  New  York  state  to a foreign country or any other state,
    25  shall notify the commissioner at least  one  hundred  days  before  such
    26  relocation.
    27    2.  A  call  center  employer  that  violates  subdivision one of this
    28  section shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed  ten  thousand
    29  dollars for each day of such violation, except that the commissioner may
    30  reduce such amount for just cause shown.
    31    3.  The  commissioner  shall compile an annual list of all call center
    32  employers that relocate or reduce call volume  pursuant  to  subdivision
    33  one of this section, and such list shall be made available to the public
    34  and  shall  prominently  display  a link to the list on the department's
    35  website.
    36    4. The commissioner shall make the list created pursuant  to  subdivi-
    37  sion three of this section, available to the public and shall prominent-
    38  ly display a link to the list on the department's website.
    39    §  772.  Grants,  guaranteed  loans  and  tax  benefits.  1. Except as
    40  provided in subdivision three of this section  and  notwithstanding  any
    41  other  provision of law, a call center employer that appears on the list
    42  described in section seven hundred seventy-one of this article shall  be
    43  ineligible  for  any  direct  or indirect state grants, state guaranteed
    44  loans, tax benefits or other financial governmental support for a period
    45  of five years from the date such list is published.
    46    2. Except as  provided  in  subdivision  three  of  this  section  and
    47  notwithstanding  any other provision of law, a call center employer that
    48  appears on the list described in section seven  hundred  seventy-one  of
    49  this  article  shall remit the unamortized value of any grant or guaran-
    50  teed loans, or any tax benefits or other  governmental  support  it  has
    51  previously  received  in  the  past  five  years. The provisions of this
    52  subdivision shall apply to grants, loans,  tax  benefits  and  financial
    53  governmental  assistance  that is entered into on or after the effective
    54  date of this article. Nothing in this subdivision  shall  be  deemed  to
    55  prevent  the  call  center  employer from receiving any grant to provide
    56  training or other employment assistance to individuals who are  selected

        A. 567--C                           3
     1  as  being  in particular need of training or other employment assistance
     2  due to the transfer or relocation of the call center employer's facility
     3  or operating units.
     4    3.  The  commissioner,  in  consultation  with  the appropriate agency
     5  providing a loan or grant, may  waive  the  requirement  provided  under
     6  subdivision two of this section if the call center employer demonstrates
     7  that such requirement would:
     8    (a) threaten state or national security;
     9    (b) result in substantial job loss in the state of New York; or
    10    (c) harm the environment.
    11    §  773.  Procurement  contracts.  The  head of each state agency shall
    12  ensure that all state-business-related contracts  for  call  center  and
    13  customer  service work be performed by state contractors or other agents
    14  or subcontractors entirely within the state of New York. State  contrac-
    15  tors who currently perform such work outside the state of New York shall
    16  have  two  years  following the effective date of this article to comply
    17  with this section; provided, that if any such contractors which  perform
    18  work outside this state adds customer service employees who will perform
    19  work  on  such  contracts,  those  new  employees  shall  immediately be
    20  employed within the state of New York, except that businesses subject to
    21  a contract agreed to prior to the effective date of  this  article  with
    22  terms extending beyond a date greater than two years after the effective
    23  date of this article shall be subject to the provisions of this subdivi-
    24  sion at the next point in which the contract is subject to renewal.
    25    §  774. State benefits for workers. No provision of this article shall
    26  be construed to permit withholding or denial of payments,  compensation,
    27  or  benefits  under  any  other  state law, including but not limited to
    28  state unemployment compensation, disability payments or worker  retrain-
    29  ing  or readjustment funds, to workers employed by call center employers
    30  that relocate to a foreign country.
    31    § 775. No private right of action. Nothing set forth in  this  article
    32  shall  be  construed as creating, establishing, or authorizing a private
    33  cause of action by an aggrieved person against a  call  center  employer
    34  who  has violated, or is alleged to have violated, any provision of this
    35  article.
    36    § 776. Regulations. The commissioner shall promulgate such  rules  and
    37  regulations  as shall be necessary and proper to effectuate the purposes
    38  and provisions of this article.
    39    § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    40  it shall have become a law.