Bill Text: NY A03654 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to decreasing the length of the suspension period applicable to certain individuals who lose their jobs due to a labor dispute, such as a strike, and who seek to obtain unemployment insurance benefits; decreases the suspension period from two consecutive weeks to one week; provides that the waiting period and suspension period shall be served concurrently.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 50-13)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-29 - referred to labor [A03654 Detail]

Download: New_York-2025-A03654-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          3654

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 29, 2025
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. BRONSON, SEPTIMO, MAMDANI, SANTABARBARA, BURDICK,
          JACOBSON,  GALLAGHER,  MORINELLO,  RAMOS,  LUNSFORD,  RIVERA,  STIRPE,
          JENSEN, GRAY, SAYEGH, FORREST, CONRAD, McMAHON,  STECK,  RAGA,  CLARK,
          CHANG,  REYES,  DE LOS SANTOS, SHIMSKY, GIBBS, SIMONE, WOERNER, BORES,
          BRABENEC, SHRESTHA,  R. CARROLL,  LEE,  SEAWRIGHT,  DURSO,  DeSTEFANO,
          HEVESI,  STERN,  ALVAREZ,  TAPIA,  ROSENTHAL,  CRUZ,  PAULIN, EPSTEIN,
          DINOWITZ, REILLY, KIM, WEPRIN, GALLAHAN, BENDETT, MEEKS,  GONZALEZ-RO-
          JAS,  GLICK, KELLES, EACHUS, GANDOLFO, DAVILA, COLTON, ROZIC, MIKULIN,
          MITAYNES, SMITH, BENEDETTO -- read once and referred to the  Committee
          on Labor

        AN  ACT  to amend the labor law, in relation to decreasing the length of
          the suspension period applicable to certain striking workers who  seek
          to obtain unemployment insurance benefits

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

     1    Section 1. Subdivisions 1 and 3 of section 592 of the  labor  law,  as
     2  amended  by  chapter  20  of  the  laws  of 2020, are amended to read as
     3  follows:
     4    1. Industrial controversy. (a) The accumulation of benefit rights by a
     5  claimant shall be suspended during a period of [two  consecutive  weeks]
     6  one  week  beginning  with the day after such claimant lost [his or her]
     7  their employment because of a strike  or  other  industrial  controversy
     8  except  for  lockouts,  including  concerted  activity not authorized or
     9  sanctioned by the recognized or certified bargaining agent of the claim-
    10  ant, and other concerted activity conducted in violation of any existing
    11  collective bargaining agreement, in the establishment in  which  [he  or
    12  she] such claimant was employed, except that benefit rights may be accu-
    13  mulated  before  the  expiration of such [two] one week period beginning
    14  with the day after such  strike  or  other  industrial  controversy  was
    15  terminated.
    16    (b) Benefits shall not be suspended under this section if:

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07531-01-5
        A. 3654                             2

     1    (i)  The employer hires a permanent replacement worker for the employ-
     2  ee's position. A replacement worker shall be presumed  to  be  permanent
     3  unless  the employer certifies in writing that the employee will be able
     4  to return to [his or her] such employee's prior position upon conclusion
     5  of  the  strike, in the event the strike terminates prior to the conclu-
     6  sion of the employee's eligibility for benefit rights under  this  chap-
     7  ter.  In  the  event the employer does not permit such return after such
     8  certification, the employee shall be entitled to  recover  any  benefits
     9  lost  as  a result of the [two] one week suspension of benefits, and the
    10  department may impose a penalty upon the employer of up to seven hundred
    11  fifty dollars per employee  per  week  of  benefits  lost.  The  penalty
    12  collected  shall  be  paid  into the unemployment insurance control fund
    13  established pursuant to section five hundred fifty-two-b of  this  arti-
    14  cle; or
    15    (ii) The commissioner determines that the claimant:
    16    (A)  is not employed by an employer that is involved in the industrial
    17  controversy that caused [his or her] such claimant's unemployment and is
    18  not participating in the industrial controversy; or
    19    (B) is not in a bargaining unit involved in the industrial controversy
    20  that caused [his or her] such claimant's unemployment and is not partic-
    21  ipating in the industrial controversy.
    22    3. Terms of suspension. [No] The waiting period [may]  and  suspension
    23  period shall be served [during a suspension period] concurrently.
    24    The  suspension  of accumulation of benefit rights shall not be termi-
    25  nated by subsequent employment of the claimant irrespective of when  the
    26  claim is filed except as provided in subdivision one of this section and
    27  shall not be confined to a single benefit year.
    28    A  "week"  as  used in subdivision one of this section means any seven
    29  consecutive calendar days.
    30    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.