NY State Senate Bill 2023-S898

Senate Bill S898

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Directs the department of labor to study the impact of long COVID on employees and on the labor market

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Labor Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2024	referred to labor
Jan 09, 2023	referred to labor

2023-S898 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Labor
Law Section:: Labor

2023-S898 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Directs the department of labor to study the impact of long COVID on employees and on the labor market; directs the department of labor to issue a report of its findings and recommendations to the governor, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary president of the senate and to publish such report on its website within one year.

2023-S898 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S898

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act in relation to directing the department of labor to study the
impact of long COVID on employees and on the labor market

 
PURPOSE:

To study long COVID's impact on New York's labor market.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 defines "long Covid" and directs the department of labor in
consultation with the division of human rights, the state comptroller
and the department of taxation and finance to study the long-term labor
impacts of the COVID-19 virus. The study will examine the number of
full-time equivalent workers currently not working due to long Covid and
cost to to the state of these absences, identify the average amount of
time off or reduced hours for people with long covid, identify whether
and to what extent discrimination affects the employment rate for

persons with long Covid, and how these issues relate to racial, gender,
ethnic and sexual orientation characteristics. The study will also
review current protocols for workplace accommodations, applications
approvals for public benefits among long covid patients and determine
what changes should be made to state policies and recommend potential
policies. The department shall issue a report of its findings within one
year of the effective date.

Section 2 is the effective date. This act shall take effect immediately.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

COVID-l9 has had a devastating impact on the State of New York. Since
the first recorded death of a New York resident from the virus on March
14, 2020, tens of thousands of New Yorkers have lost their lives to
COVID-l9, and over one and a half million confirmed cases have been
diagnosed.

There is also growing awareness and concern about post-COVID conditions,
sometimes referred to as "long COVID," in which a small but significant
percentage of patients experience persistent symptoms weeks or months
after recovering from their initial infection. 16.3 million working-age
Americans are afflicted by long-COVID, with 2 to 4 million out of work
due to long-COVID leading to an annual wage loss of nearly $200 billion.
Without intervention this situation could worsen, both for the individ-
uals afflicted, their households, and on state and federal economic
performance.

It is vital that the State of New York commit to monitoring and tracking
how the long-term health impacts of COVID-19 impact employees and the
labor market, even as effective vaccines become more widely available.
We need better data collection to fully assess long-COVID's impact on
the labor market and understand the efficacy of current and future
interventions.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S.9598 of 2021-2022 (Hoylman): Died in Rules

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2023-S898 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    898
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              January 9, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor
 
 AN ACT in relation to directing the department of  labor  to  study  the
   impact of long COVID on employees and on the labor market
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. 1.  As used in this section, the following terms shall have
 the following definitions:
   a. "long COVID" means symptoms that persist after the  acute  COVID-19
 infection has resolved.
   b.  "labor organizations" means any labor union or any organization of
 any kind, or any agency or employee  representation  committee,  associ-
 ation,  group  or  plan, in which employees participate and which exists
 for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concern-
 ing grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment
 or conditions of work.
   2. The department of labor, in consultation with the division of human
 rights, the state comptroller and the department of taxation and finance
 is hereby authorized and directed to conduct a comprehensive  study  for
 the  purpose  of  monitoring the long-term labor impacts of the COVID-19
 virus. The purpose of the study shall be to:
   a. identify the number of full-time equivalent workers  currently  not
 working  due to long COVID, including those working at reduced hours and
 the cost to the state of these absences;
   b. identify the average amount of time off or reduced hours for people
 with long COVID;
   c. identify whether and to what extent discrimination and other barri-
 ers affect the employment rate for persons with long COVID;
   d. provide specific data and analysis on the findings from  paragraphs
 a,  b  and  c  of  this  subdivision  as such findings relate to racial,
 gender, ethnic and sexual orientation characteristics;
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD03664-01-3

 S. 898                              2
 
   e. review current protocols  for  workplace  accommodations  for  long
 COVID;
   f.  review  applications, approvals, and rejections for any disability
 or health related public benefits administered by the state  among  long
 COVID patients;
   g.  determine  what  changes, if any, should be made to state policies
 affecting the employment of people with long COVID; and
   h. recommend any legislation, rules or regulations it deems  necessary
 to  improve  the employment rate and expand employment opportunities for
 people with long COVID.
   3. The  department  of  labor  shall  consult  with  multidisciplinary
 experts in the fields of virology, immunology, COVID-19 and labor, disa-
 bility  access,  labor  organizations,  and health care professionals or
 other experts who serve and are representative of the diversity  of  New
 Yorkers  in  medically  underserved  areas  of the state or areas of the
 state with disproportionately high occurrences of COVID-19.
   4. The department of labor shall issue a report of  its  findings  and
 recommendations  to  the  governor,  the speaker of the assembly and the
 temporary president of the senate and shall publish such report  on  its
 website  within  one  year  after  the  effective  date of this act. The
 commissioner of labor, within their legal authority, may use the  recom-
 mendations  and  findings to develop guidance and other actions relating
 to best practices, and shall disseminate information  relating  to  that
 guidance and other actions to employers.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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