Bill Text: NY S05444 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Permits employees of public utility corporations or public utility companies access to certain restroom facilities without being a paying customer.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-11-17 - APPROVAL MEMO.29 [S05444 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S05444-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          5444

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                      March 6, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sen. SCARCELLA-SPANTON -- read twice and ordered printed,
          and when  printed  to  be  committed  to  the  Committee  on  Consumer
          Protection

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  general business law, in relation to permitting
          employees of public utilities access to  certain  restroom  facilities
          without being a paying customer

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

     1    Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section
     2  399-k to read as follows:
     3    § 399-k. Access to restroom facilities.  1. A place of  business  open
     4  to  the  general  public  for  the  sale of goods or services that has a
     5  toilet facility for its employees shall  allow  any  individual  who  is
     6  lawfully  on  the  premises of such place of business while performing a
     7  utility related service to use that toilet facility during normal  busi-
     8  ness  hours,  even  if  the place of business does not normally make the
     9  employee toilet facility available to the public, provided that  all  of
    10  the following conditions are met:
    11    a.  the  individual requesting the use of the employee toilet facility
    12  is an employee of a public utility company or a  public  utility  corpo-
    13  ration  as  defined  in  section two of the public service law, provided
    14  that the place of business may require the individual to present reason-
    15  able evidence that the individual is an employee of such public  utility
    16  entity;
    17    b.  two  or more employees of the place of business are working at the
    18  time the individual requests use of the employee toilet facility;
    19    c. the employee toilet facility  is  not  located  in  an  area  where
    20  providing  access  would  create an obvious health or safety risk to the
    21  requesting individual or create a security risk to the people, or  prop-
    22  erty within the place of business;

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07109-01-3
        S. 5444                             2

     1    d.  use  of  the toilet facility would not create an obvious health or
     2  safety risk to the requesting individual; and
     3    e.  a  public restroom is not immediately accessible to the requesting
     4  individual.
     5    2. A violation of the provisions of this section shall  be  punishable
     6  by  a  civil  penalty  not  to  exceed  five  hundred  dollars  for each
     7  violation.
     8    3. Businesses shall not be  liable for any injuries which result  from
     9  toilet facility use by utility workers.
    10    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.