Bill Text: NY A05299 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended
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-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5299--A 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 -- recommitted to the Committee on Labor in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee 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 be 8 designed to eliminate stigma and misinformation about mental illness, 9 improve employers' and employees' understanding of mental disorders and 10 the existence of effective treatment, and provide information regarding 11 available resources and how to access them, including but not limited 12 to, the 9-8-8 suicide prevention and behavioral health crisis hotline 13 and other state or federal hotlines, websites maintained by local, 14 state, or national organizations offering mental health services, and 15 the rights of workers with psychiatric disabilities pursuant to the 16 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Every employer shall post such 17 poster, pamphlets, or other written materials in such employer's estab- 18 lishment or place of business, in a place accessible to his or her 19 employees and in a visually conspicuous manner. 20 § 218-d. Workplace mental health. The commissioner, in consultation 21 with the commissioner of the office of mental health, shall establish a 22 voluntary framework and 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 for EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD04549-03-4A. 5299--A 2 1 employers on strategies and programs to support the mental health and 2 wellness of their employees. Such strategies and programs may include, 3 but not be limited to, an employer sponsored website or online portal 4 for resources and guidelines included in an employee handbook, posters, 5 written/digital resources for workplace mental health, and guidelines 6 regarding best practices for businesses. 7 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 8 it shall have become a law.
