S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
357--A
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
(PREFILED)
January 9, 2013
___________
Introduced by Sens. GALLIVAN, YOUNG -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor -- recom-
mitted to the Committee on Labor in accordance with Senate Rule 6,
sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to disqualification for bene-
fits and refusal of employment
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 593 of the labor law, as amended
2 by chapter 415 of the laws of 1983, the opening paragraph as amended by
3 section 15 of part O of chapter 57 of the laws of 2013, paragraph (a) as
4 added by chapter 589 of the laws of 1998 and paragraphs (d) and (e) as
5 amended by chapter 35 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as
6 follows:
7 2. Refusal of employment. No days of total unemployment shall be
8 deemed to occur beginning with the day on which a claimant, without good
9 cause, refuses to accept an offer of employment for which he or she is
10 reasonably fitted by training and experience, including employment not
11 subject to this article, until he or she has subsequently worked in
12 employment and earned remuneration at least equal to ten times his or
13 her weekly benefit rate. Except that claimants who are not subject to a
14 recall date or who do not obtain employment through a union hiring hall
15 and who are still unemployed after receiving ten weeks of benefits shall
16 be required to accept any employment proffered that such claimants are
17 capable of performing, provided that such employment would result in a
18 wage not less than SUCH CLAIMANT'S HIGH CALENDAR QUARTER WAGES RECEIVED
19 IN THE BASE PERIOD; OR WOULD RESULT IN A WAGE GREATER THAN eighty
20 percent of such claimant's high calendar quarter wages received in the
21 base period and not substantially less than the prevailing wage for
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02125-02-4
S. 357--A 2
1 similar work in the locality as provided for in paragraph (d) of this
2 subdivision. No refusal to accept employment shall be deemed without
3 good cause nor shall it disqualify any claimant otherwise eligible to
4 receive benefits if:
5 (a) a refusal to accept employment which would interfere with a claim-
6 ant's right to join or retain membership in any labor organization or
7 otherwise interfere with or violate the terms of a collective bargaining
8 agreement shall be with good cause; OR
9 (b) there is a strike, lockout, or other industrial controversy in the
10 establishment in which the employment is offered; or
11 (c) the employment is at an unreasonable distance from his residence,
12 or travel to and from the place of employment involves expense substan-
13 tially greater than that required in his former employment unless the
14 expense be provided for; or
15 (d) THE WAGES AND COMPENSATION ARE LESS THAN SUCH CLAIMANT'S HIGH
16 CALENDAR QUARTER WAGES AND COMPENSATION RECEIVED, the wages or compen-
17 sation [or hours or conditions] offered are substantially less favorable
18 to the claimant than those prevailing for similar work in the locality,
19 or are such as tend to depress wages [or working conditions]; OR
20 (E) THE HOURS OR CONDITIONS OFFERED ARE SUBSTANTIALLY LESS FAVORABLE
21 TO THE CLAIMANT THAN THOSE PREVAILING FOR SIMILAR WORK IN THE LOCALITY,
22 OR ARE SUCH AS TEND TO DEPRESS WORKING CONDITIONS; or
23 [(e)] (F) the claimant is seeking part-time work as provided in subdi-
24 vision five of section five hundred ninety-six of this title and the
25 offer of employment is not comparable to his or her part-time work as
26 defined in such subdivision.
27 S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.