S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   3740
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 29, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  FERNANDEZ, JACKSON, MAY, RHOADS -- read twice and
   ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on
   Alcoholism and Substance Use Disorders
 
 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.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00673-02-5
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   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.
   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 190 of
 the  labor  law,  and  shall  include  any  person, corporation, limited
 liability company, or association employing any individual in any  occu-
 pation, industry, trade, business, or service.  "Employer" 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;
 S. 3740                             3
 
   (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.
   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;
 S. 3740                             4
 
   9. connecting with a recovery community organization within six months
 of certification;
   10. assessing and addressing workplace culture issues by:
   (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 five  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.
 S. 3740                             5
 
   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-
 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.