NY State Senate Bill 2025-S1734

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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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 13, 2025	referred to labor

2025-S1734 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Labor
Law Section:: Labor Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §198-c, Lab L

2025-S1734 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Prohibits agreements to pay or provide benefits or wage supplements from including a provision specifying that an employee with accrued, unused vacation pay will not be compensated for such vacation pay upon termination; provides for a minimum of two weeks of wages upon termination to employees who receive granted time.

2025-S1734 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S1734

SPONSOR: FAHY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the labor law, in relation to benefits and supplemental
wages

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Subdivision 2 is amended to define "granted time" as benefits or wage
supplements granted to employees on a per-request basis and not accrued.
Subdivision 3 is repealed and updated to prohibit
employer7employeeagreements that forfeit accrued benefits upon the
termination of employment. This section also requires employees subject
to "granted time" agreements be paid for the equivalent of two weeks
wages.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In late January of 2019, it was reported that well-known internet media
outlet Buzzfeed would be laying off 15% of their staff. Because Buzzfeed

offers an 'unlimited' vacation time policy in its employment agreements
(defined in this bill as 'granted time'), employees were not entitled to
any supplementary wages upon the termination of their contract because,
Buzzfeed argued, unlimited benefits by nature cannot accrue. Because of
legal requirements in California, employees in that state were initially
the only ones compensated for their non-monetary benefits. Buzzfeed
employees widely denounced the decision, and it was eventually reversed,
but it highlights key weaknesses in New York and other states'
protection of non-monetary benefits.

This bill aims to remedy this and similar situations by clarifying the
labor law as it relates to granted time and prohibiting employee-employ-
er agreements that require the forfeiture of the full value of nonmone-
tary benefits upon the termination of employment.

The State of California considers vacation time, granted time, and other
monetary benefits and wage supplements to be part of employee compen-
sation, and non-payment of benefits within a timely manner is treated as
a form of wage theft. New York labor law considers benefits like vaca-
tion time and other paid time off to ultimately be subject to each indi-
vidual's employment agreement with their employer. This legislation
leaves the terms of benefits agreements fully under the discretion of
the parties subject to such a contract but makes provisions stating that
employees will not be compensated for unused benefits in that contract
upon its termination, which is severable and unenforceable.

Further, this legislation would require employers who agree to grant
time provisions in employment contracts to pay a minimum of two weeks'
pay upon the termination of such a contract. This is to prevent an end-
run used by some employers to deny the payment of benefits owed.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

A7270 2019-20

A3168 2021-2022

A3901 2023-2024

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2025-S1734 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1734
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 13, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  FAHY  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor
 
 AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to benefits and  supplemental
   wages
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Section 198-c of the labor law, as amended by  chapter  328
 of  the  laws of 1972 and subdivision 3 as amended by chapter 433 of the
 laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   § 198-c. Benefits or wage supplements. 1. In  addition  to  any  other
 penalty  or  punishment otherwise prescribed by law, any employer who is
 party to an agreement to pay or provide benefits or wage supplements  to
 employees  or  to a third party or fund for the benefit of employees and
 who fails, neglects or refuses to pay the amount or amounts necessary to
 provide such benefits or furnish such  supplements  within  thirty  days
 after such payments are required to be made, shall be guilty of a misde-
 meanor, and upon conviction shall be punished as provided in section one
 hundred  ninety-eight-a of this article. Where such employer is a corpo-
 ration, the  president,  secretary,  treasurer  or  officers  exercising
 corresponding functions shall each be guilty of a misdemeanor.
   2.  As used in this section, the [term] FOLLOWING TERMS SHALL HAVE THE
 FOLLOWING MEANINGS:
   (A) "[benefits] BENEFITS or wage supplements"  includes,  but  is  not
 limited  to,  reimbursement for expenses; health, welfare and retirement
 benefits; and vacation, separation or holiday pay.
   (B) "GRANTED TIME" SHALL MEAN BENEFITS OR WAGE SUPPLEMENTS GRANTED  TO
 AN EMPLOYEE ON A PER-REQUEST BASIS AND NOT ACCRUED.
   3.  [This  section shall not apply to any person in a bona fide execu-
 tive, administrative, or professional capacity  whose  earnings  are  in
 excess  of  one thousand three hundred dollars a week.] (A) NO AGREEMENT
 TO PAY OR PROVIDE BENEFITS OR WAGE SUPPLEMENTS SHALL INCLUDE A PROVISION
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD04809-01-5

 S. 1734                             2
 
 SPECIFYING THAT AN EMPLOYEE WILL NOT BE COMPENSATED FOR ACCRUED,  UNUSED
 VACATION PAY UPON THE TERMINATION OF SUCH AGREEMENT.  ANY SUCH PROVISION
 SHALL  BE  CONSIDERED SEVERABLE, AND ALL OTHER PROVISIONS OF SUCH AGREE-
 MENT SHALL REMAIN IN EFFECT AND GIVEN FULL FORCE.
   (B)  ANY EMPLOYER WHO IS PARTY TO AN AGREEMENT TO PAY OR PROVIDE BENE-
 FITS OR WAGE SUPPLEMENTS TO AN EMPLOYEE THROUGH GRANTED TIME  SHALL  PAY
 SUCH  EMPLOYEE  A MINIMUM OF THE EQUIVALENT OF TWO WEEKS' WAGES UPON THE
 TERMINATION OF SUCH AGREEMENT.
   (C) THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SUBDIVISION SHALL NOT APPLY  TO  AGREEMENTS
 NEGOTIATED WITH ANY LABOR UNION THROUGH COLLECTIVE BARGAINING.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
 it shall have become a law.

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Senate Bill S1734

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Labor Committee

2025-S1734 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S1734 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S1734 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S1734 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S1734

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Sponsored By

Patricia Fahy

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Labor Committee

2025-S1734 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S1734 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S1734 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S1734 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments