S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9063
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             February 6, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. STECK, McDONALD -- read once and referred to the
   Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse
 
 AN ACT to establish the "recovery ready workplace 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 "recovery ready workplace act".
   § 2. Legislative findings and purpose. The legislature finds that:
   1. Recovery ready workplace (RRW) programs have been initiated  around
 the  country as important interventions in the opioid use disorder (OUD)
 and substance use disorder (SUD) crisis.
   2. The goal of RRW programs is  to  provide  outreach,  training,  and
 certification  to  employers  in  cooperation with government officials,
 workers, labor unions, and communities to:
   (a) prevent initiation of new cases of misuse and addiction related to
 workplace injury and stress through primary prevention  of  exposure  to
 job hazards and stressors;
   (b)  support  employees  who  are  struggling  and retain employees by
 providing access to treatment and pathways to return to work;
   (c) provide healthy, gainful employment for people in recovery; and
   (d) reduce absenteeism,  presenteeism,  and  lost  productivity  among
 employees with substance use disorder.
   3.  Workers  with painful injuries have frequently been overprescribed
 opioids, resulting in as many as twenty-five percent of workers develop-
 ing opioid dependence and OUD or SUD.
   4. RRW programs address the prevention of addiction related  to  work-
 place injury and stress while also providing support for workers who are
 struggling and opportunities for people in recovery to reenter the work-
 force.
   5.  Between  2009  to 2015, an estimated 225,000 New York workers were
 lost from the labor market due to opioids. New  York's  economy  cumula-
 tively lost $179.4 billion dollars in real economic output, which trans-
 lates to the state's annual real GDP growth rate slowing by 0.8 percent-
 age points.

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD14118-01-4
 A. 9063                             2
 
   6.  Employers  who  establish  RRW  programs  have  saved money due to
 reduced absenteeism, healthier work environment,  greater  productivity,
 lower  healthcare  costs,  greater workplace safety, employee retention,
 and reduced recruitment and hiring costs.
   7.  Employees  in  recovery  save their employers an average of $8,500
 dollars annually, with $8,175 dollars attributable to avoiding turnover,
 replacement, and healthcare costs.
   8. There is an urgent need to establish resources  and  standards  for
 RRWs in New York state as a key component of the state's response to the
 opioid crisis.
   § 3. Purpose. The purpose of this act shall be to:
   1.  establish the criteria for employers to obtain certification as an
 RRW;
   2. protect the rights of employees;
   3. establish training, outreach, and certification resources;
   4. establish an advisory board within the New  York  state  office  of
 addiction services and supports; and
   5. establish incentives for employers.
   §  4. Definitions. For purposes of this act, the following terms shall
 have the following meanings:
   1. "Employer" shall have the same meaning as defined  in  section  one
 hundred  ninety  of  the labor law, and shall include any person, corpo-
 ration, limited liability company, or association employing any individ-
 ual in any occupation, industry, trade, business, or service.   "Employ-
 er" shall include a public employer.
   2. "Employee" means any person employed for hire by an employer in any
 employment and shall include public employees.
   3.  "Lived  experience" means having first-hand experience living with
 mental health and/or substance use disorder  and  the  associated  chal-
 lenges.
   4.  "Opioid  use  disorder"  or  "OUD"  means a problematic pattern of
 opioid use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress  and
 is a subset of SUD.
   5. "Member assistance program" means a labor union administered educa-
 tion  and assistance program that provides support to members struggling
 with mental health or substance use problems.
   6. "Primary prevention" means a public health strategy  that  aims  to
 prevent  disease  or  injury before it occurs by preventing exposures to
 hazards that can cause disease or injury, altering unhealthy  or  unsafe
 behaviors  that  can  lead  to  disease or injury, and addressing mental
 health issues that can affect physiological outcomes.
   7. "Public employee" means any person holding a position  by  appoint-
 ment or employment in the service of a public employer, except judges or
 justices of the unified court system and members of the legislature.
   8. "Public employer" shall mean:
   (a) the state of New York;
   (b)  a  county, city, town, village, or other political subdivision or
 civil division of the state;
   (c) a school district or any governmental entity  operating  a  public
 school, college, or university;
   (d) a public improvement or special district;
   (e) a public authority, commission, or public benefit corporation; and
   (f)  any other public corporation, agency, instrumentality, or unit of
 government which exercises governmental power  under  the  laws  of  the
 state.
 A. 9063                             3
 
   9.  "Recovery"  means  a  process  of change through which individuals
 improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive
 to reach their full potential.
   10.  "Recovery  ready  workplace  advisor"  means  a  person who is an
 employee of or contractor for a recovery  ready  workplace  program  and
 whose  duties  include,  but  are  not  limited  to, assisting employers
 through the process of becoming a certified recovery ready workplace;
   11. "Certified peer support advocate" means a person  with  the  lived
 experience  of  recovery  from  a substance use disorder or co-occurring
 disorder and who is certified to provide  non-clinical,  strengths-based
 support  to  others  experiencing  similar  challenges.  "Certified peer
 support advocates" shall also be  known  as  "peer  specialists",  "peer
 recovery coaches", and "peer recovery support specialists".
   12.  "Recovery  ready workplace" or "RRW" means an established program
 to prevent exposure to workplace factors that could cause or  perpetuate
 a SUD while lowering barriers to seeking care, receiving care, and main-
 taining  recovery,  and  to  educate  its management team and workers on
 issues surrounding SUDs to reduce the stigma around such challenge.
   13. "Substance use disorder" or "SUD" means the recurrent use of alco-
 hol and/or drugs that causes clinically significant impairment,  includ-
 ing  health problems, disability, and failure to meet major responsibil-
 ities at work, school, or home.
   14. "Workplace" means any office, warehouse, building,  or  any  other
 location  outside  of  an  employee's  residence or other work-from-home
 location, whether permanent or temporary, where an employee performs any
 work-related duty or duties in the scope and course  of  the  employee's
 employment.  For  purposes of this act, employees may have more than one
 workplace.
   § 5. Criteria for employers to  obtain  certification  as  a  recovery
 ready  workplace.  The  office of addiction services and supports, shall
 promulgate regulations establishing the criteria by  which  an  employer
 can  obtain certification as a RRW. Such criteria shall include, but not
 be limited to, the following:
   1. a signed letter of interest from the employer to become a RRW;
   2. issuance of a written declaration to employees;
   3. collaboration with employees, collective bargaining agents or labor
 unions, recovery community organizations, and  government  officials  in
 establishing  a  RRW  and the development of the proposed recovery ready
 workplace program in writing;
   4. proactively identifying and addressing the  primary  prevention  of
 workplace  hazards  and sources of stress at work associated with opioid
 and other  substance  misuse,  including  prescription  medications  and
 through self-medication;
   5. establishing availability of naloxone onsite and training personnel
 on  its administration and other first aid measures that reduce the risk
 of death as a result of an overdose;
   6. supporting and providing information to injured workers on  how  to
 avoid opioid and other substance misuse and seek alternative pain treat-
 ments;
   7.  providing  training  and  orientation  to supervisors, management,
 employees, and union officials;
   8. providing resources and information to employees;
   9. connecting with a recovery community organization within six months
 of certification;
   10. assessing and addressing workplace culture issues by:
 A. 9063                             4
 
   (a) encouraging all qualified applicants, including persons in  recov-
 ery;
   (b)  having  programs  and practices that promote and support employee
 health, wellness, and work-life balance, such  as  but  not  limited  to
 labor union based member assistance programs; and
   (c)  supporting  employees who seek treatment and who require residen-
 tial or outpatient treatment and  related  disability  leave,  including
 planning for return to work;
   11.  offering  health benefits that provide comprehensive coverage for
 SUDs, including medications for OUD and SUD, aftercare, and counseling;
   12. evaluating and improving,  as  needed,  access  to  treatment  and
 recovery  resources  and ensure mental health and substance use benefits
 are equal to those for physical health as required  by  paragraph  5  of
 subsection 1 of section 3221 and subsections (g) and (h) of section 4303
 of  the  insurance  law,  and the federal mental health parity addiction
 equity act;
   13. providing work accommodations for employees in recovery to  attend
 treatment  and  recovery services and providing reasonable work accommo-
 dations to support workers in recovery in compliance  with  federal  and
 state law; and
   14.  ensuring employer RRW policies include confidentiality provisions
 to maintain confidentiality of employees accessing services.
   § 6. Employee involvement. 1. An employer shall develop  the  plan  to
 become certified as an RRW in cooperation with the collective bargaining
 representative,  if  any,  or with meaningful participation of employees
 where there is no collective bargaining representative, for all  aspects
 of  the  plan,  and such plan shall be tailored to the specific industry
 and work sites of the employer.
   2.  Employers  shall  be  encouraged  to  establish  multi-stakeholder
 committees,  subcommittees, or task forces to help develop RRW programs.
 Where there is a collective bargaining agent, the collective  bargaining
 representative shall select employees to be members of such committee.
   3.  To the extent that any individual voluntarily self-discloses lived
 experience with SUD or recovery, a RRW committee, subcommittee, or  task
 force  shall invite representatives with lived experience to participate
 in the development and the annual review of the RRW  plan,  while  main-
 taining confidentiality.
   4.  The employer shall update its drug and alcohol policies in writing
 within one year of certification.  The employer shall make such policies
 available to all employees,  shall  review  such  policies  annually  in
 consultation  with  the  employers' RRW committee, and shall update such
 policies as necessary, except as described  in  subdivision  5  of  this
 section.
   5.  Employer  policies  related  to  accessing  treatment and recovery
 resources shall be evaluated and improved,  as  necessary,  including  a
 review  of  mental health and substance use benefits to assess parity to
 those for physical health in conformance with federal, state, and  local
 laws.
   §  7.  No  diminishment of employee rights. The provisions of this act
 shall not be construed to diminish the rights of any  employee  pursuant
 to any other law, regulation, or collective bargaining agreement.
   § 8. Certifying body. 1. A certifying body shall be established within
 the office of addiction services and supports.
   2.  Such certifying body shall include an advisory board with multiple
 state agency and stakeholder  involvement,  to  be  established  by  the
 office  of  addiction services and supports, which shall include employ-
 A. 9063                             5
 
 ers, labor unions, recovery community organizations, community represen-
 tatives, local and county officials, and persons in recovery. The  advi-
 sory  board  shall  assist  in  the development of regulations, outreach
 materials,  and  program  evaluation  and  shall  work with employers to
 ensure that public notification has been provided to the community about
 such employer's certification as a RRW.
   § 9. Incentives. 1. The office  of  addiction  services  and  supports
 shall develop a pilot program to provide stipends to employees in recov-
 ery to cover expenses for transportation, including to and from work and
 treatment, and auxiliary recovery services during work hours.
   2. The office of addiction services and supports shall develop a pilot
 program  to reimburse employers for providing traineeships to workers in
 recovery and shall promulgate rules and regulations to include places of
 employment as  eligible  locations  for  reimbursing  organizations  who
 deploy peer services.
   § 10. This act shall take effect immediately.