Bill Text: NY A01217 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Relates to safe staffing for public employees of institutional settings by setting maximum overtime levels.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to consumer affairs and protection [A01217 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A01217-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          1217

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 13, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of A. WEPRIN, DeSTEFANO -- read once and referred to
          the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection

        AN ACT to amend the civil service law, in relation to safe staffing  for
          public employees of institutional settings

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Legislative intent. It is in the interest and the responsi-
     2  bility of the state and local governments to provide for a safe,  stable
     3  and  humane environment for residents and staff of the custodial facili-
     4  ties within the state of New York. The maintenance of  order,  security,
     5  safety  and  care for all in custodial facilities currently falls upon a
     6  workforce stretched beyond its  limits.  Recruitment  and  retention  of
     7  staff  is  at  a  crisis  at all levels and in all facilities within the
     8  state. Double and triple shifts are the norm, creating unsafe conditions
     9  for residents and staff. Therefore, it is in the interest of  the  state
    10  to set maximum overtime levels to ensure staff safety and a humane envi-
    11  ronment for residents of custodial facilities.
    12    §  2.  The civil service law is amended by adding a new section 137 to
    13  read as follows:
    14    § 137. Safe staffing for public employees of  institutional  settings.
    15  1. This section shall apply to and cover the following facilities:
    16    (a) Correctional facilities, as defined by subdivision four of section
    17  two of the correction law.
    18    (b)  Local  correctional facilities, as defined by subdivision sixteen
    19  of section two of the correction law.
    20    (c) Facilities regulated by the office of mental  health  pursuant  to
    21  section 7.17 of the mental hygiene law.
    22    (d)  Juvenile  offender and adolescent offender facilities pursuant to
    23  section five hundred eight of the executive law.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01226-01-3

        A. 1217                             2

     1    (e) Facilities regulated by the office for people  with  developmental
     2  disabilities pursuant to title fourteen of the New York codes, rules and
     3  regulations.
     4    2.  (a)  Except  during  a declared state of emergency, defined as the
     5  event of riots, prison breaks or  other  similar  emergencies,  or  with
     6  twenty-four  hour  notice  to  the  head  of  the  facility's collective
     7  bargaining unit, a facility shall  not  mandate  or  otherwise  require,
     8  directly  or  indirectly, an employee to work or be on duty in excess of
     9  any one of the following:
    10    (i) The scheduled work shift or duty period;
    11    (ii) Seventeen hours in a twenty-four hour period, including time  for
    12  meal breaks; or
    13    (iii) Eighty hours in a consecutive fourteen-day period.
    14    (b)  For  purposes  of  this  subdivision, "mandate" means any request
    15  which, if refused or declined by the employee, may result in  discharge,
    16  discipline,  loss of promotion, or other adverse employment consequence.
    17  Nothing in this section is intended to prohibit an employee from  volun-
    18  tarily working overtime.
    19    (c)  Except  during a declared state of emergency, as defined in para-
    20  graph (a) of this subdivision:
    21    (i) No employee shall work or be on duty more than seventeen hours  in
    22  any twenty-four hour period.
    23    (ii)  Any  employee  working  seventeen  hours in any twenty-four hour
    24  period must have at least eight consecutive hours off duty before  being
    25  required to return to duty.
    26    (iii)  No  employee  shall be required to work or be on duty more than
    27  seven consecutive days without at least one consecutive twenty-four hour
    28  period off duty within that time.
    29    3. A work shift schedule or overtime program established pursuant to a
    30  collective bargaining agreement negotiated on behalf of  the  healthcare
    31  employees  by  a  bona fide labor organization may provide for mandatory
    32  on-duty hours in excess of that permitted under this  section,  provided
    33  adequate measures are included in the agreement to ensure against exces-
    34  sive fatigue on the part of the affected employees.
    35    4.  The  administrators of a facility covered under this section shall
    36  file a report on a quarterly basis to the executive officer, legislative
    37  body of the political subdivision of such facility and the head of  such
    38  facility's  collective  bargaining  units,  who shall, upon review, make
    39  such reports available to the public  on  the  facility's  or  governing
    40  agency's website. Such quarterly report shall include the following:
    41    (a) Information on current staffing levels by position or title;
    42    (b) Staff resignations and retirements;
    43    (c)  Number  of full-time equivalent positions that have been budgeted
    44  for;
    45    (d) Waiting lists for individuals eligible to receive care in a  resi-
    46  dential setting;
    47    (e) Steps taken to recruit staff for new or vacant positions;
    48    (f) Assaults and injuries to staff, including but not limited to sexu-
    49  al  assaults; and staff on medically monitored or indefinite sick leave;
    50  and
    51    (g) Additional  information  for  correctional  facilities,  including
    52  classification  of  inmates by facility and information on manned posts,
    53  permanent facility posts, and temporary posts.
    54    5. The provisions of this section are intended as a  remedial  measure
    55  to  ensure staff safety and a humane environment for residents of custo-
    56  dial facilities, and shall not be construed to  diminish  or  waive  any

        A. 1217                             3

     1  rights of any employee pursuant to any other law, regulation, or collec-
     2  tive bargaining agreement.
     3    §  3.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
     4  have become a law.
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