Bill Text: NY S03346 | 2011-2012 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Enacts the "New York city teleworking expansion act"; provides that each agency shall establish a policy and program to allow employees to perform all or a portion of their duties through teleworking to the maximum extent possible without diminished employee performance; defines the term "telework" to mean to perform normal and regular work functions on a workday that ordinarily would be performed at the agency's principal location at a different location, thereby eliminating or substantially reducing the physical commute to and from such agency's principal location.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-02-17 - REFERRED TO CITIES [S03346 Detail]

Download: New_York-2011-S03346-Introduced.html

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                           S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
                                         3346
                              2011-2012 Regular Sessions
                                   I N  S E N A T E
                                   February 17, 2011
                                      ___________
       Introduced  by  Sen.  KRUGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
         printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities
       AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the  city  of  New  York,  in
         relation to enacting the "New York city teleworking expansion act"
         THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
       BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
    1    Section 1. Short title.  This act shall be known and may be  cited  as
    2  the "New York city teleworking expansion act".
    3    S  2. Legislative findings.  The legislature hereby finds and declares
    4  that the health and safety of the population living in  and  around  the
    5  densely populated New York city metropolitan region is a matter of state
    6  concern, as is the economic vitality and the effectiveness of mass tran-
    7  sit in that region, all of which are threatened by the amount of traffic
    8  congestion  inside  of,  and  into,  New  York city, and the overcrowded
    9  buses, subways and railroads within the region.  Traffic  congestion  is
   10  particularly  harmful  to the mass transit bus systems run by the Metro-
   11  politan Transportation Authority,  creating  delays  and  hindering  the
   12  growth  of essential surface mass transportation systems, and the entire
   13  mass transit system  suffers  from  severe  overcrowding.  The  negative
   14  impact of traffic congestion in New York city on the health, economy and
   15  mass  transit systems of the downstate region, as well as the overcrowd-
   16  ing of the region's mass transit systems, were established  at  legisla-
   17  tive  hearings in the spring of 2007, as well as during the hearings and
   18  reports of the legislatively created New York  City  Traffic  Mitigation
   19  Commission.  During these hearings, it was established that a very large
   20  number of New York city employees drive to work both from points  within
   21  New  York  city  and  without,  that  New  York city lacks a working and
   22  adequate telecommuting program for its employees, and that an  effective
   23  telecommuting  program  would  significantly  reduce  the number of such
   24  employees driving to work.  Likewise, a telecommuting  program  for  New
   25  York  city  employees would also allow employees who use mass transit to
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD01328-01-1
       S. 3346                             2
    1  work from home, thereby alleviating  the  current  overcrowding  in  the
    2  region's  mass  transit  systems.  Such a program as established by this
    3  legislation would accomplish the state's concern that the health,  safe-
    4  ty,  economic  vitality  and  mass  transit  operations of the downstate
    5  region be preserved and protected.
    6    S 3. The administrative code of the city of New  York  is  amended  by
    7  adding a new section 12-140 to read as follows:
    8    S 12-140 TELEWORKING PROGRAMS. A. EACH AGENCY SHALL ESTABLISH A POLICY
    9  AND  PROGRAM  TO  ALLOW  EMPLOYEES  TO PERFORM ALL OR A PORTION OF THEIR
   10  DUTIES THROUGH TELEWORKING TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT POSSIBLE WITHOUT DIMIN-
   11  ISHED EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE. EACH  AGENCY  SHALL  DESIGNATE  A  "TELEWORK
   12  COORDINATOR"  TO  BE  RESPONSIBLE  FOR  OVERSEEING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
   13  TELEWORKING PROGRAMS.
   14    B. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, THE TERM "TELEWORK" SHALL MEAN TO
   15  PERFORM NORMAL AND REGULAR WORK FUNCTIONS ON A WORKDAY  THAT  ORDINARILY
   16  WOULD  BE  PERFORMED  AT  THE AGENCY'S PRINCIPAL LOCATION AT A DIFFERENT
   17  LOCATION, THEREBY ELIMINATING OR  SUBSTANTIALLY  REDUCING  THE  PHYSICAL
   18  COMMUTE TO AND FROM SUCH AGENCY'S PRINCIPAL LOCATION.
   19    S  4.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
   20  have become a law.