Bill Text: NY S00244 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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

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Bill Title: Relates to human trafficking awareness and training; requires employees of lodging facilities to have training in the recognition of a human trafficking victim; requires the division of criminal justice services, the office of temporary and disability assistance and the New York state interagency task force on human trafficking to approve a human trafficking recognition training program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Passed) 2022-07-20 - SIGNED CHAP.393 [S00244 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S00244-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           244

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 6, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sens. MAYER, BIAGGI, BROOKS, JACKSON, LIU, MYRIE -- read
          twice and ordered printed, and when printed to  be  committed  to  the
          Committee on Consumer Protection

        AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to human traffick-
          ing awareness and training for certain lodging facility employees

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

     1    Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section
     2  205 to read as follows:
     3    § 205. Human trafficking awareness and training. 1.  Human trafficking
     4  recognition training program.  a. For purposes of this section, "lodging
     5  facility" shall mean any inn, hotel, motel, motor court or other  estab-
     6  lishment  that provides lodging to transient guests. Such term shall not
     7  include an establishment treated as a dwelling unit for the purposes  of
     8  any  state or local law or regulation or an establishment located within
     9  a building that has five or less rooms for rent  or  hire  and  that  is
    10  actually  occupied  as  a residence by the proprietor of such establish-
    11  ment.
    12    b. Every lodging facility shall require all employees who  are  likely
    13  to  interact  or  come into contact with guests to undergo a human traf-
    14  ficking recognition training program to provide training in the recogni-
    15  tion of a human trafficking victim as defined in  section  four  hundred
    16  eighty-three-aa  of the social services law. Such training program shall
    17  be established or approved by the division of criminal justice  services
    18  and  the  office  of temporary and disability assistance in consultation
    19  with the New York state interagency task force on human trafficking. The
    20  training program may be developed by a  federal,  state,  or  non-profit
    21  organization,  and may be incorporated as part of the lodging facility's
    22  existing training programs  or  may  be  provided  by  organizations  or
    23  providers  identified  by  the  commissioner of the division of criminal

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01846-01-1
        S. 244                              2

     1  justice services or the commissioner of  the  office  of  temporary  and
     2  disability  assistance,  provided  that the training includes all of the
     3  requirements of this section. Established or approved training  programs
     4  may  be  made  available  through methods including, but not limited to,
     5  in-person instruction, electronic and  video  communication,  or  online
     6  programs.
     7    c.  Any  human trafficking recognition training program established or
     8  approved by the division of criminal justice services and the office  of
     9  temporary  and  disability  assistance in consultation with the New York
    10  state interagency task force on human trafficking as  required  in  this
    11  section shall address no less than the following issues:
    12    (i) the nature of human trafficking;
    13    (ii) how human trafficking is defined in law;
    14    (iii) how to identify victims of human trafficking;
    15    (iv) relief and recovery options for survivors; and
    16    (v) social and legal services available to victims.
    17    d.  The  commissioner of the division of criminal justice services and
    18  the commissioner of the office of temporary  and  disability  assistance
    19  shall make available a list of established or approved human trafficking
    20  recognition programs for use by a lodging facility.
    21    e. All new employees required to receive human trafficking recognition
    22  training shall receive such training within their first month of employ-
    23  ment.
    24    f. The training shall take place on the premises of the lodging facil-
    25  ity and shall be considered compensable time.
    26    2. Record keeping requirements of human trafficking recognition train-
    27  ing.  Every keeper of each lodging facility shall maintain records indi-
    28  cating that each employee required to undergo an established or approved
    29  human trafficking recognition training program pursuant to this  section
    30  has  completed such training.  Such records shall be kept on file by the
    31  lodging facility for the period during which the employee is employed by
    32  the lodging facility and for one year after such employment ends.
    33    § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
    34  have  become  a  law;  provided however, paragraph d of subdivision 1 of
    35  section 205 of the general business law, as added by section one of this
    36  act shall take effect immediately; provided further that all  applicable
    37  current  employees  of  a lodging facility on the effective date of this
    38  act shall receive human trafficking  recognition  training  within  four
    39  months of the effective date of this act.