S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                  5536--A
     Cal. No. 440
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 10, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens. COMRIE, BAILEY, BIAGGI, BRISPORT, CLEARE, JACKSON,
   KRUEGER, LIU, MYRIE, RAMOS,  SALAZAR,  SEPULVEDA  --  read  twice  and
   ordered  printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on
   Cities 1 -- recommitted to the Committee on  Cities  1  in  accordance
   with  Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- 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 to amend the administrative code of the  city  of  New  York,  in
   relation to enacting the "New York city teleworking expansion act"
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Short title.  This act shall be known and may be  cited  as
 the "New York city teleworking expansion act".
   §  2. Legislative findings.  The legislature hereby finds and declares
 that the health and safety of the population living in  and  around  the
 densely populated New York city metropolitan region is a matter of state
 concern, as is the economic vitality and the effectiveness of mass tran-
 sit in that region, all of which are threatened by the amount of traffic
 congestion  inside  of,  and  into,  New  York city, and the overcrowded
 buses, subways and railroads within the region.  Traffic  congestion  is
 particularly  harmful  to the mass transit bus systems run by the Metro-
 politan Transportation Authority,  creating  delays  and  hindering  the
 growth  of essential surface mass transportation systems, and the entire
 mass transit system  suffers  from  severe  overcrowding.  The  negative
 impact of traffic congestion in New York city on the health, economy and
 mass  transit systems of the downstate region, as well as the overcrowd-
 ing of the region's mass transit systems, were established  at  legisla-
 tive  hearings in the spring of 2007, as well as during the hearings and
 reports of the legislatively created New York  City  Traffic  Mitigation
 Commission.  During these hearings, it was established that a very large
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD03181-02-2
 S. 5536--A                          2
 
 number of New York city employees drive to work both from points  within
 New  York  city  and  without,  that  New  York city lacks a working and
 adequate telecommuting program for its employees, and that an  effective
 telecommuting  program  would  significantly  reduce  the number of such
 employees driving to work.  Likewise, a telecommuting  program  for  New
 York  city  employees would also allow employees who use mass transit to
 work from home, thereby alleviating  the  current  overcrowding  in  the
 region's  mass  transit  systems.  Such a program as established by this
 legislation would address the state's concern that the  health,  safety,
 economic vitality and mass transit operations of the downstate region be
 preserved and protected.
   §  3.  The  administrative  code of the city of New York is amended by
 adding a new section 12-141 to read as follows:
   § 12-141 TELEWORKING PROGRAMS. A.    AS  USED  IN  THIS  SECTION,  THE
 FOLLOWING TERMS SHALL HAVE THE FOLLOWING MEANINGS:
   1.  "CITY  AGENCY" SHALL MEAN A CITY, COUNTY, BOROUGH OR OTHER OFFICE,
 POSITION, ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT, DIVISION, BUREAU,  BOARD,  COMMIS-
 SION,  AUTHORITY,  CORPORATION, PUBLIC BENEFIT CORPORATION, COMMITTEE OR
 OTHER AGENCY OF GOVERNMENT, THE EXPENSES OF WHICH ARE PAID IN  WHOLE  OR
 IN  PART FROM THE CITY TREASURY, AND SHALL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO
 THE COUNCIL, THE OFFICES OF EACH ELECTED CITY  OFFICIAL,  THE  BOARD  OF
 EDUCATION,  COMMUNITY  BOARDS, THE HEALTH AND HOSPITALS CORPORATION, THE
 NEW YORK CITY INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY, THE OFFICES OF THE DISTRICT
 ATTORNEYS OF THE COUNTIES OF BRONX, KINGS, NEW YORK,  QUEENS  AND  RICH-
 MOND, AND OF THE SPECIAL NARCOTICS PROSECUTOR, THE NEW YORK CITY HOUSING
 AUTHORITY, AND THE NEW YORK CITY HOUSING DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION.
   2.  "TELEWORK" SHALL MEAN TO PERFORM NORMAL AND REGULAR WORK FUNCTIONS
 ON A WORKDAY THAT ORDINARILY WOULD BE PERFORMED AT THE AGENCY'S  PRINCI-
 PAL  LOCATION  AT  A DIFFERENT LOCATION, THEREBY ELIMINATING OR SUBSTAN-
 TIALLY REDUCING THE PHYSICAL COMMUTE TO AND FROM SUCH AGENCY'S PRINCIPAL
 LOCATION. PROVIDED, HOWEVER,  THAT  THE  DIFFERENT  LOCATION  SHALL  NOT
 CONFLICT WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF ANY APPLICABLE NEW YORK CITY RESIDENCY
 REQUIREMENTS.
   B. EACH AGENCY SHALL ESTABLISH A POLICY AND PROGRAM TO ALLOW EMPLOYEES
 TO  PERFORM  ALL OR A PORTION OF THEIR DUTIES THROUGH TELEWORKING TO THE
 MAXIMUM EXTENT POSSIBLE WITHOUT DIMINISHED  EMPLOYEE  PERFORMANCE.  EACH
 AGENCY  SHALL  DESIGNATE  A "TELEWORK COORDINATOR" TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR
 OVERSEEING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TELEWORKING  PROGRAMS.    ALL  EMPLOYEE
 PERFORMANCE STANDARDS SHALL BE REDUCED TO WRITING WITH CLEAR METRICS FOR
 EMPLOYEE  PRODUCTIVITY  SUCCESS  AND FAILURE VIA TELEWORKING.   PERIODIC
 EVALUATIONS SHALL BE  INCLUDED  IN  THE  TELEWORK  POLICY  AND  PROGRAM.
 PROVIDED,  HOWEVER, THAT THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION SHALL NOT SUPER-
 SEDE AN EXISTING TELEWORK POLICY AND  PROGRAM  THAT  IS  THE  RESULT  OF
 AGREEMENT  BETWEEN  AN  EMPLOYER  AND A RECOGNIZED OR CERTIFIED EMPLOYEE
 ORGANIZATION, UNLESS SUCH EXISTING TELEWORK POLICY AND PROGRAM  PROVIDES
 LESS  PROTECTION  THAN  PROVIDED  FOR UNDER THIS SECTION. NOTHING IN THE
 SECTION SHALL BE INTERPRETED  AS  DISCOURAGING  THE  USE  OF  COLLECTIVE
 BARGAINING  AS  THE  PRIMARY  TOOL  FOR DEVELOPING A TELEWORK POLICY AND
 PROGRAM.
   C. ELIGIBILITY FOR TELEWORKING SHALL BE  DETERMINED  BY  A  REASONABLE
 ASSESSMENT  OF  THE TASKS REQUIRED BY EACH TITLE OR TITLE CATEGORY, WITH
 RECOGNIZED OR CERTIFIED EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATION INPUT, AND APPLIED  FAIRLY
 ACROSS THE EMPLOYEES WITHIN SUCH TITLE OR CATEGORY.
   D.  NOTHING  IN THIS SECTION SHALL SUPERSEDE EXISTING LAW, REGULATION,
 OR PERSONNEL POLICIES APPLICABLE TO EMPLOYEES WITH INJURIES,  ILLNESSES,
 ENVIRONMENTAL  HEALTH CONDITIONS, OR DISABILITIES OR WITH THE REASONABLE
 S. 5536--A                          3
 
 APPLICATION OF EMPLOYEE EARNED LEAVE TIME INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
 SICK, COMPENSATORY, PAID OR UNPAID FAMILY LEAVE, OR VACATION.
   §  4.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
 have become a law.