Bill Text: NY A05299 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Directs the commissioner of labor to create and distribute to employers a poster, pamphlet, or other written materials regarding mental health and wellness of employees to be posted in the workplace; directs voluntary guidelines for employers to put in place strategies and programs to support the mental health and wellness of their employees.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-07 - reported referred to ways and means [A05299 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A05299-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          5299

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      March 7, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. GUNTHER -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Labor

        AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to workplace mental health

          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 two new sections 218-c
     2  and 218-d to read as follows:
     3    § 218-c. Posting of information regarding mental health awareness  and
     4  resources.  The  commissioner,  in consultation with the commissioner of
     5  the office of mental health, shall create and distribute to employers in
     6  this state a poster, pamphlet,  or  other  written  materials  regarding
     7  mental  health  and  wellness of employees. Such materials shall include
     8  information about  mental  health  issues  and  resources  available  to
     9  employees with possible mental health concerns including, but not limit-
    10  ed  to,  hotlines  and  websites  maintained by local, state or national
    11  organizations offering mental health services, and the rights of workers
    12  with psychiatric disabilities pursuant to the Americans  with  Disabili-
    13  ties  Act  (ADA).  Every  employer  shall post such poster, pamphlets or
    14  other written materials in his or her establishment or  place  of  busi-
    15  ness,  in  a  place accessible to his or her employees and in a visually
    16  conspicuous manner.   The  commissioner  shall  translate  such  poster,
    17  pamphlets, or other written materials into the six most common non-Engl-
    18  ish  languages spoken by individuals with limited-English proficiency in
    19  the state of New York.
    20    § 218-d. Workplace mental health.  The commissioner,  in  consultation
    21  with  the commissioner of the office of mental health, shall establish a
    22  framework and voluntary standards for addressing mental  health  in  the
    23  workplace to reduce mental health stigma, increase public, employee, and
    24  employer  awareness  of  mental  health  issues, and provide guidance to
    25  employers to put in place strategies and programs to support the  mental
    26  health and wellness of their employees. Such strategies and programs may

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04549-02-3
        A. 5299                             2

     1  include,  but not be limited to, an employer sponsored website or online
     2  portal for resources and guidelines included in  an  employee  handbook,
     3  posters,  written/digital  resources  for  workplace  mental health, and
     4  guidelines regarding best practices for businesses.
     5    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
     6  it shall have become a law.