STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6328--B Cal. No. 530 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE April 14, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sens. RAMOS, BRESLIN, BROUK, CHU, CLEARE, COONEY, FERNAN- DEZ, GONZALEZ, GOUNARDES, HARCKHAM, HINCHEY, HOYLMAN-SIGAL, JACKSON, KAVANAGH, MANNION, MARTINEZ, MATTERA, MURRAY, PALUMBO, RIVERA, SALA- ZAR, SCARCELLA-SPANTON, SERRANO, SKOUFIS, WEBB -- 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 -- reported favorably from said committee, ordered to first and second report, ordered to a third reading, passed by Senate and delivered to the Assembly, recalled, vote reconsidered, restored to third reading, amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place in the order of third reading -- again amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place in the order of third reading AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to preventing the displace- ment of call center workers who provide call center services for the government in certain circumstances The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The labor law is amended by adding a new article 21-B to 2 read as follows: 3 ARTICLE 21-B 4 PROTECTION OF CALL CENTER WORKERS FROM DISPLACEMENT 5 Section 790. Definitions. 6 791. Terminated call center contract. 7 792. Entering into a call center contract. 8 793. Enforcement. 9 794. No conflict with collective bargaining agreements. 10 § 790. Definitions. As used in this article: 11 1. The term "call center" means a facility or other operation in which 12 employees receive phone calls or other communications, including elec- 13 tronic communications for the purpose of providing customer assistance 14 or for related services supportive of business processes. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06817-09-4S. 6328--B 2 1 2. The term "call center contract" means a contract with a govern- 2 mental body, or a subcontract with an entity that has a contract with a 3 governmental body, pursuant to which the contractor furnishes call 4 center services for the benefit of the governmental body. 5 3. The term "governmental body" means the state of New York or any 6 political subdivision thereof, and any public authority or public bene- 7 fit corporation in the state of New York. 8 4. The term "call center employee" means any person employed to 9 perform call center services who has been regularly assigned to such 10 work for a call center contractor on a full or part-time basis for at 11 least ninety days, except for (a) persons whose work for a call center 12 is managerial or supervisory; and (b) persons regularly scheduled to 13 work fewer than four hours per week for the call center. 14 5. The term "entity" means a person, partnership, proprietorship, 15 association, limited liability company, trust, corporation, firm, joint 16 venture or enterprise of any kind. 17 6. The term "call center contractor" means an entity (a) that is a 18 party to a call center contract, and (b) provides call center services 19 for the benefit of a governmental body, and (c) employs call center 20 employees or engages a subcontractor or other entity to perform such 21 call center services and that entity employs call center employees. 22 7. The term "terminating call center contractor" means an entity that 23 has provided services as a call center contractor pursuant to a call 24 center contract which is being terminated. 25 8. The term "former call center contractor" means an entity that 26 provided services as a call center contractor pursuant to a call center 27 contract which has been terminated, and after termination of that 28 contractor, a successor call center contractor has performed some or all 29 of the same services pursuant to a call center contract. 30 9. The term "successor call center contractor" means an entity that, 31 pursuant to a call center service contract, succeeds to the performance 32 of call center services previously performed by a terminating call 33 center contractor. 34 § 791. Terminated call center contract. 1. No less than thirty calen- 35 dar days before termination of a call center contract in circumstances 36 where a successor call center contractor will undertake to provide 37 services that were the subject of the terminating contract, the termi- 38 nating call center contractor shall provide to the successor call center 39 contractor a full and accurate list containing the name, address, date 40 of hire and employment classification of each call center employee whose 41 work includes providing call center services that were the subject of 42 the terminating contract. The terminating call center contractor shall 43 simultaneously post the list in a notice to the call center employees 44 that also sets forth the rights provided by this article. The posting 45 shall be in a manner or location reasonably calculated to be seen by 46 affected employees. The posting may be electronic, provided that if it 47 is electronic, it must be directed to each affected employee individual- 48 ly and may not be a general posting on a website. Such notice shall also 49 be provided to the employees' collective bargaining representative, if 50 any. 51 2. Upon termination of a call service contract in circumstances in 52 which services provided under that contract will be performed by a 53 successor call center contractor, the successor call center contractor 54 shall retain those call center employees who performed such services for 55 the former call center contractor immediately prior to termination of 56 that contract. It shall be considered a material term of the callS. 6328--B 3 1 center contract that such employees shall be retained for a ninety-day 2 transition employment period. 3 3. If the successor call center contractor is obligated to retain call 4 center employees pursuant to subdivision two of this section, but deter- 5 mines that fewer call center employees are required to perform the 6 services that are the subject of the contract than had been required to 7 perform such services by the former call center contractor, the succes- 8 sor call center contractor shall fill the positions that it determines 9 are needed with the call center employees with the greatest seniority 10 within job classification; provided, that during the ninety-day transi- 11 tion period, the successor call center contractor shall maintain a pref- 12 erential hiring list of those call center employees not retained, and 13 those on the preferential hiring list shall be given a right of first 14 refusal to any jobs within their classifications that become available 15 during that period. Upon determining which employees shall be retained 16 for the ninety-day transition period, the successor call center contrac- 17 tor shall provide a list of such employees to the contracting govern- 18 mental body. 19 4. Except as provided in subdivision three of this section, during the 20 ninety-day transition period, the successor call center contractor shall 21 not discharge without cause a call center employee retained pursuant to 22 this article. 23 5. At the end of the ninety-day transition period, the successor call 24 center contractor shall perform a written performance evaluation for 25 each call center employee retained pursuant to this article. If such 26 employee's performance during the ninety-day transition period is satis- 27 factory, the successor call center contractor shall offer such employee 28 continued employment. 29 6. If the successor call center contractor engages a subcontractor or 30 other entity to perform call center services provided for in a successor 31 call center contract, that successor call center contractor shall 32 require the subcontractor or other entity to adhere to all of the obli- 33 gations of this article. 34 § 792. Entering into a call center contract. 1. Whenever a govern- 35 mental body shall undertake to procure call center services using a call 36 center contractor, the governmental body shall ensure that the call 37 center contract with such entity includes the obligations pursuant to 38 this article, including, where applicable, the call center contractor's 39 obligation to retain call center employees of the former call center 40 contractor. The obligation to retain the terminating call center 41 contractor's employees shall be considered a material term of the call 42 center contract and included in the call center contract irrespective of 43 whether the terminating call center contractor's contract included the 44 obligations pursuant to this article. Such obligations shall be set 45 forth in requests for proposals or other solicitations and, in any 46 event, shall be included in each call center contract. Whether or not 47 the provisions are included in such contract, the obligations under this 48 article shall apply to the successor call center contractor whenever 49 such contractor begins performance on a successor call center contract 50 on or after the effective date of this article. 51 2. A governmental body intending to enter into a call center service 52 contract, in circumstances in which such services had theretofore been 53 performed by call center employees pursuant to a call center contract, 54 shall require any entity seeking to enter into such contract to demon- 55 strate that it will establish the worksite for its performance in a 56 location which is reasonably accessible to the employees who have beenS. 6328--B 4 1 performing such services prior to the solicitation of bids for a succes- 2 sor call center contract. For the purposes of this section, a worksite 3 shall be considered reasonably accessible if it is 10 miles or less from 4 the location of the affected employees' worksite where such employees 5 performed work-related duties in the course of their employment for the 6 former call center contractor, provided that any worksite shall not 7 include an employee's domicile, permanent or temporary, where an employ- 8 ee performs any work-related duty in the course of their employment. The 9 requirements of this subdivision shall not apply to successor call 10 center contractors that intend for the work-related duties of the 11 affected call center employees previously employed by the former call 12 center contractor to be performed remotely. 13 § 793. Enforcement. 1. If a given governmental body finds that the 14 successor call center contractor has committed a material breach of 15 contract by not retaining the affected call center employees employed by 16 the former call center contractor for the ninety-day transition period 17 pursuant to this article within thirty days of the termination of the 18 former contract, such governmental body shall notify the successor call 19 center contractor of such breach of contract, and the successor call 20 center contractor shall have a period of thirty days to cure such 21 breach. Such thirty-day cure period shall commence upon the successor 22 call center contractor's receipt of such notification. If such breach 23 is not rectified within such period, the given governmental body shall 24 notify the state comptroller and terminate the contract with the succes- 25 sor call center contractor, unless such governmental body determines 26 that it is in the best interest of the state to maintain such contract. 27 Additionally, if the breach is not rectified within the thirty-day cure 28 period, the governmental body shall deduct amounts sufficient to remit 29 to the affected call center employees from payment owed to the successor 30 call center contractor and submit a voucher to the state comptroller for 31 such amount to remit to the affected call center employees. The state 32 comptroller may approve such funds as payable to call center employees 33 affected by the successor call center contractor's failure to retain 34 such employees. 35 2. The governmental body shall pay directly to any affected employee 36 the certified amount or amounts shown to be due to such affected employ- 37 ee in any estimate or voucher, thereby discharging the obligation of 38 the contractor or subcontractor to the person receiving such payment to 39 the extent of the amount thereof. 40 § 794. No conflict with collective bargaining agreements. The 41 provisions of this article shall not apply to any: 42 1. Successor call center contractor that, on or before the effective 43 date of a termination of a call center contract, agrees to assume, or to 44 be bound by, the collective bargaining agreement of the former call 45 center contractor, provided that the collective bargaining agreement 46 provides terms and conditions for the discharge or laying off of employ- 47 ees that are at least as protective of employee rights as those pursuant 48 to this article; and 49 2. Successor call center contractor whose call center employees will 50 be accreted to a bargaining unit with a pre-existing collective bargain- 51 ing agreement, provided that the collective bargaining agreement 52 provides terms and conditions for the discharge or laying off of employ- 53 ees that are at least as protective of employee rights as those pursuant 54 to this article; and 55 3. Former call center contractor that obtains a written commitment 56 from a successor call center contractor that the successor call centerS. 6328--B 5 1 contractor's call center employees will be covered by a collective 2 bargaining agreement that provides terms and conditions for the 3 discharge or laying off of employees that are at least as protective of 4 employee rights as those pursuant to this article. 5 § 2. Severability. If any provision of this law or the application 6 thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity 7 shall not affect other provisions of the law which can be given effect 8 without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the 9 provisions of this article shall be severable. 10 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.