Bill Text: NY A02589 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to flexible working arrangements; provides that employees may submit a request for flexible working arrangements in good faith; requires the employer to notify the employee of the decision; prohibits employers from retaliating against employees for exercising rights under the section.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - referred to labor [A02589 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A02589-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          2589

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 19, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M. of A. ROZIC, BARRETT, GOTTFRIED, RODRIGUEZ, L. ROSEN-
          THAL, SEAWRIGHT, SIMON, REYES -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A.  COOK,
          GLICK,  PERRY, J. RIVERA -- read once and referred to the Committee on
          Labor

        AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to flexible working  arrange-
          ments

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

     1    Section 1. The labor law is amended by adding a  new  section  171  to
     2  read as follows:
     3    §  171.  Flexible  working  arrangement.  1.  Definitions.  a. For the
     4  purposes of this section,  "flexible  working  arrangement"  shall  mean
     5  intermediate  or  long-term  changes  in  the employee's regular working
     6  arrangements, including but not limited to, changes  in  the  number  of
     7  days  or  hours  worked,  changes in the time the employee arrives at or
     8  departs from work, work from home,  or  job-sharing.  "Flexible  working
     9  arrangement"  shall  not include vacation, routine scheduling of shifts,
    10  or another form of employee leave.
    11    b. For the purposes of this section, "inconsistent with business oper-
    12  ations" shall mean a determination by the employer based on the  follow-
    13  ing  considerations:  (i)  the burden on an employer of undue additional
    14  costs; (ii) a legitimate or practical detrimental  effect  on  aggregate
    15  employee morale unrelated to discrimination or other unlawful employment
    16  practices;  (iii)  a  legitimate  or practical detrimental effect on the
    17  ability of an employer to  meet  consumer  demand;  (iv)  a  significant
    18  inability  to  reorganize work among existing staff; (v) a legitimate or
    19  practical inability to recruit  additional  staff;  (vi)  a  significant
    20  detrimental impact on business quality or business performance; (vii) an
    21  insufficiency  of work during the periods the employee proposes to work;
    22  (viii) planned structural changes to the business; and  (ix)  any  other
    23  reasons as specified by the commissioner.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03178-01-1
        A. 2589                             2

     1    2.  a.  An  employee  may  request a flexible working arrangement that
     2  meets the needs of both the employer and employee.  The  employer  shall
     3  consider  and respond to such request pursuant to the provisions of this
     4  section.
     5    b.  The  employer  shall respond to the request for a flexible working
     6  arrangement from the employee, and shall consider the employee's request
     7  for a flexible working arrangement and whether the request or a  similar
     8  arrangement  could  be granted in a manner that is not inconsistent with
     9  its business operations or its legal or  contractual  obligations.    An
    10  employer  may  establish  reasonable  standards  to  determine the time,
    11  place, and manner in which the employer shall discuss the request pursu-
    12  ant to this subdivision.
    13    c. The employer shall notify the employee of  the  decision  regarding
    14  the  request  in  a reasonably timely manner, but in no cases shall such
    15  decision be provided later than forty-five days from receipt of  such  a
    16  request.  If  the  request  was submitted in writing, the employer shall
    17  state any complete or partial denial of the request in  writing,  citing
    18  the reason as to denying the request.
    19    3. This section shall not diminish any employment rights or agreements
    20  pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement. An employer may institute
    21  a  flexible  working  arrangement  policy  that is more generous than is
    22  provided by this section.
    23    4. An employer shall not retaliate against an employee exercising  his
    24  or her rights under this section.
    25    5.  Nothing  in this section shall affect any legal rights an employer
    26  or employee may have under applicable law to create, terminate, or modi-
    27  fy a flexible working arrangement.
    28    6. Nothing in this section shall require an  employer  to  accept  the
    29  flexible work arrangement of the employee.
    30    7.  a.  The  commissioner  may bring an action against an employer for
    31  failure to adhere to the provisions of this section,  including  injunc-
    32  tive relief to enjoin future conduct.
    33    b.  Any  employer  who  violates  the provisions of this section shall
    34  forfeit to the people of the state a sum of  five  hundred  dollars  for
    35  each  violation, to be recovered by the commissioner in any legal action
    36  taken pursuant to this subdivision.
    37    8. The commissioner shall promulgate rules  and  regulations  for  the
    38  implementation of this section.
    39    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
    40  it shall have become a law.