Bill Text: NY S04402 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Relates to decreasing the length of the suspension period applicable to certain individuals who lose their jobs due to a labor dispute, such as a strike, and who seek to obtain unemployment insurance benefits; decreases the suspension period from two consecutive weeks to one week; provides that the waiting period and suspension period shall be served concurrently.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 22-3)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-05-06 - RECOMMIT, ENACTING CLAUSE STRICKEN [S04402 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S04402-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         4402--A

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    February 8, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sens. KENNEDY, BRESLIN, BRISPORT, BROUK, CLEARE, FERNAN-
          DEZ, GONZALEZ, HARCKHAM,  HINCHEY,  HOYLMAN-SIGAL,  JACKSON,  MATTERA,
          MURRAY,  MYRIE,  PALUMBO,  RAMOS, SALAZAR, SCARCELLA-SPANTON, SKOUFIS,
          STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and  when  printed  to  be
          committed to the Committee on Labor -- recommitted 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 decreasing the  length  of
          the  suspension period applicable to certain striking workers who seek
          to obtain unemployment insurance benefits

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

     1    Section  1.  Subdivisions  1 and 3 of section 592 of the labor law, as
     2  amended by chapter 20 of the laws  of  2020,  are  amended  to  read  as
     3  follows:
     4    1. Industrial controversy. (a) The accumulation of benefit rights by a
     5  claimant  shall  be suspended during a period of [two consecutive weeks]
     6  one week beginning with the day after such claimant lost  [his  or  her]
     7  their  employment  because  of  a strike or other industrial controversy
     8  except for lockouts, including  concerted  activity  not  authorized  or
     9  sanctioned by the recognized or certified bargaining agent of the claim-
    10  ant, and other concerted activity conducted in violation of any existing
    11  collective  bargaining  agreement,  in the establishment in which [he or
    12  she] such claimant was employed, except that benefit rights may be accu-
    13  mulated before the expiration of such [two] one  week  period  beginning
    14  with  the  day  after  such  strike  or other industrial controversy was
    15  terminated.
    16    (b) Benefits shall not be suspended under this section if:
    17    (i) The employer hires a permanent replacement worker for the  employ-
    18  ee's  position.  A  replacement worker shall be presumed to be permanent

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01295-02-4
        S. 4402--A                          2

     1  unless the employer certifies in writing that the employee will be  able
     2  to return to [his or her] such employee's prior position upon conclusion
     3  of  the  strike, in the event the strike terminates prior to the conclu-
     4  sion  of  the employee's eligibility for benefit rights under this chap-
     5  ter. In the event the employer does not permit such  return  after  such
     6  certification,  the  employee  shall be entitled to recover any benefits
     7  lost as a result of the [two] one week suspension of benefits,  and  the
     8  department may impose a penalty upon the employer of up to seven hundred
     9  fifty  dollars  per  employee  per  week  of  benefits lost. The penalty
    10  collected shall be paid into the  unemployment  insurance  control  fund
    11  established  pursuant  to section five hundred fifty-two-b of this arti-
    12  cle; or
    13    (ii) The commissioner determines that the claimant:
    14    (A) is not employed by an employer that is involved in the  industrial
    15  controversy that caused [his or her] such claimant's unemployment and is
    16  not participating in the industrial controversy; or
    17    (B) is not in a bargaining unit involved in the industrial controversy
    18  that caused [his or her] such claimant's unemployment and is not partic-
    19  ipating in the industrial controversy.
    20    3.  Terms  of suspension. [No] The waiting period [may] and suspension
    21  period shall be served [during a suspension period] concurrently.
    22    The suspension of accumulation of benefit rights shall not  be  termi-
    23  nated  by subsequent employment of the claimant irrespective of when the
    24  claim is filed except as provided in subdivision one of this section and
    25  shall not be confined to a single benefit year.
    26    A "week" as used in subdivision one of this section  means  any  seven
    27  consecutive calendar days.
    28    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.