Bill Text: NY S06476 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Directs state agencies to submit reports detailing their telework policies; permits input from employees anonymously; directs the department of civil service to compile reports and submit a single report to the legislature.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-03-11 - referred to labor [S06476 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S06476-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         6476--A
            Cal. No. 1207

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                     April 21, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sen. GONZALEZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Internet and Technology --
          reported favorably from said committee, ordered to  first  and  second
          report,  ordered  to  a  third reading, amended and ordered reprinted,
          retaining its place in the order of third reading

        AN ACT directing a state agency telework report

          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 "State agency telework report act".
     3    § 2. Legislative intent. The legislature takes notice of  the  growing
     4  practice  of  the use of telework as a future form of work away from the
     5  principal place of employment. Telecommuting is being used more and more
     6  by businesses as a way to save money for employers by reducing  contrib-
     7  utions  to  workers'  compensation premiums, allowing more freedom for a
     8  balance between  work  and  family  life  for  employees,  reducing  air
     9  pollution  and traffic congestion, reducing absenteeism, and accommodat-
    10  ing those who are disabled.
    11    Teleworking warrants further research to enable the state  to  move  a
    12  step  closer  to  using it as a way to save taxpayer's money, while also
    13  benefiting the state and its employees.
    14    § 3. Definitions. As used in this act, the following terms shall  have
    15  the following meanings:
    16    (a)  "State   agency" means any state department, board, bureau, divi-
    17  sion, commission, committee, public  authority,  public  benefit  corpo-
    18  ration,  council,  office, or other  governmental  entity  performing  a
    19  governmental or proprietary function for the state.
    20    (b) "Telework" means to perform normal and regular work functions on a
    21  workday that ordinarily would be performed at the state  agency's  offi-
    22  cial principal location or locations, at a different location.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07723-02-3
        S. 6476--A                          2

     1    § 4. State agency telework report.  (a) Each state agency shall submit
     2  a  report to the department of civil service by July 1, 2024 which shall
     3  contain the following:
     4    (i) Number of employees that teleworked in 2023;
     5    (ii) Job titles that teleworked in 2023;
     6    (iii) Number of days teleworked by anonymized employee in 2023;
     7    (iv) Number of days teleworked by job title in 2023;
     8    (v) Any benefits of telework remarked by the agency;
     9    (vi) Any disadvantages of telework remarked by the agency; and
    10    (vii) A copy of the agency's official telework policy, if any, includ-
    11  ing how employees and job titles are chosen for telework.
    12    In  addition,  each  state agency shall allow employees to anonymously
    13  submit their opinions of the  agency's  telecommuting  policy,  or  lack
    14  thereof,  which  the agencies shall include in the telework state agency
    15  report due to the department of civil service and which shall be  summa-
    16  rized  in  the  finalized  report  compiled  by  the department of civil
    17  service pursuant to subdivision (b) of this section.
    18    (b) On or before September 1, 2024 the  department  of  civil  service
    19  shall  provide  a  report  compiling all the agency telework reports and
    20  submit such compiled report to the  speaker  of  the  assembly  and  the
    21  temporary president of the senate.
    22    § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.