Bill Text: NY S04292 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Sets limits on severance packages equal to three months salary for public at-will employees not subject to a collective bargaining agreement or union contract.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-12-06 - SIGNED CHAP.595 [S04292 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S04292-Introduced.html

---

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          4292
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                      March 6, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen.  COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Corporations,  Authorities
          and Commissions
        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  public  authorities law, in relation to setting
          limits on severance packages for public at-will employees
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "severance
     2  pay limitation act".
     3    § 2.  The public authorities law is amended by adding  a  new  section
     4  2854 to read as follows:
     5    § 2854. Severance packages. 1. For the purposes of this section:
     6    (a)  "at-will employee" shall mean an employee of any entity organized
     7  under this chapter.   Any employee  that  is  covered  by  a  collective
     8  bargaining  agreement  or  union  contract  shall  not  be considered an
     9  at-will employee for the purpose of this section.
    10    (b) "severance pay for an at-will employee" shall include benefits  or
    11  compensation with a quantifiable monetary value that are provided for an
    12  at-will employee upon termination of employment and shall not be consid-
    13  ered  part  of the at-will employee's annual wages and benefits. "Sever-
    14  ance pay for an at-will employee" shall not include payments for accumu-
    15  lated vacation, accumulated  sick  leave,  and  accumulated  sick  leave
    16  liquidated  to  cover  the  cost  of group term insurance or payments of
    17  periodic contributions by an employer toward premiums for  group  insur-
    18  ance policies.
    19    2.  Notwithstanding any other law, rule or regulation to the contrary,
    20  severance pay provided for an at-will employee leaving employment  shall
    21  not exceed an amount equivalent to their prior three months' salary.
    22    3.  Notwithstanding any other law, rule or regulation to the contrary,
    23  the severance pay for an at-will employee shall be excluded from retire-
    24  ment deductions and from any calculations of retirement benefits.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00384-01-9
        S. 4292                             2
     1    4. If a retired or terminated at-will  employee  dies  before  all  of
     2  their  severance pay has been disbursed, the balance due must be paid to
     3  a named beneficiary or, lacking one, to the decedent's estate.
     4    5.  No  collective  bargaining  agreement  or  union contract shall be
     5  altered by the provisions of this section.
     6    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.