NY State Senate Bill 2025-S7388

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

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Apr 14, 2025	referred to labor

2025-S7388 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A7863
Current Committee:: Senate Labor
Law Section:: Labor Law
Laws Affected:: Add §5, Lab L

2025-S7388 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides that the New York labor law shall be construed liberally for the accomplishment of its remedial purposes.

2025-S7388 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S7388

SPONSOR: RAMOS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the labor law, in relation to enacting the "remedial
construction of New York labor law act"

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To reaffirm and clarify for the courts that the New York Labor Law is to
be interpreted and construed liberally in favor of workers to accomplish
its broad remedial purposes.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

This legislation amends Article 1 of the Labor Law by adding a new
section stating that the Labor Law's provisions shall be construed
liberally in favor of workers for the accomplishment of the remedial
purposes of the Labor Law, regardless of whether similarly-worded
provisions of federal laws, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, have
been so construed.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

For many years, New York state and federal courts have recognized that
the New York Labor Law, like the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, was
intended to achieve broad remedial purposes to benefit workers-and that
the Labor Law should accordingly be interpreted in line with those
purposes. The Legislature's broad remedial purposes in enacting the
Labor Law include securing workers' wage floors, ensuring workers'
rights to recover all earned wages and all concomitant liquidated
damages and other remedies, protecting workers from retaliation, secur-
ing equal pay for equal work, and defraying the harms of unemployment.

In recent years, however, federal courts have been moving away from such
broad remedial construction of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, and
toward more restrictive, anti-worker readings. See, e.g., Encino Motor-
cars, LLC v. Navarro, 138 S. Ct. 1134, 1142-43 (2018)(exemptions to the
Fair Labor Standards Act must be given only a "fair reading" and not a
"narrow reading" that benefits workers); E.M.D. Sales, Inc. v. Carrera,
No. 23-217, 604 U.S.

(2025), slip op. at 7-8 (finding employers need only meet preponderance
standard of proof in showing an employee is exempt from minimum wage and
overtime provisions of the FLSA, and stating in dicta that "the public
interest in Fair Labor Standards Act cases does not fall entirely on the
side of employees"). In doing so, courts are damaging longstanding
precedents recognizing that the FLSA must be read in accordance with its
remedial purpose. See, e.g., Greathouse v. JHS Sec. Inc., 784 F.3d 105,
113-14 (2d Cir.  2015) (noting that the Second Circuit has "repeatedly
affirmed that the remedial nature of the FLSA warrants an expansive
interpretation of its provisions so that they will have the widest
possible impact in the national economy.").

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act would take effect immediately.

2025-S7388 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7388
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              April 14, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  RAMOS  -- 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  enacting  the  "remedial
   construction of New York labor law 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 "remedial construction of New York labor law act".
   §  2. Legislative findings and intent. 1. The legislature hereby reaf-
 firms its longstanding intent  and  directive  that  the  labor  law  be
 construed liberally in favor of workers to accomplish its broad remedial
 purposes--including  but  not  limited to securing workers' wage floors,
 ensuring their rights to recover all earned wages  and  all  concomitant
 liquidated  damages  and other remedies, protecting workers from retali-
 ation, securing equal pay for equal work, and  defraying  the  harms  of
 unemployment. These remedial purposes not only protect workers, but also
 protect  law-abiding  employers  from  unfair competition by lawbreaking
 employers.
   2. Courts interpreting the labor law are hereby directed with this act
 to ensure all future interpretations of the labor law comport  with  its
 broad  remedial  purposes. This includes, with respect to exceptions and
 exemptions to the labor law's requirements of employers, construing  all
 such  exceptions and exemptions narrowly in order to maximize deterrence
 of unlawful conduct.
   § 3. The labor law is amended by adding a new section  5  to  read  as
 follows:
   §  5.  CONSTRUCTION. THE PROVISIONS OF THIS CHAPTER SHALL BE CONSTRUED
 LIBERALLY FOR THE  ACCOMPLISHMENT  OF  THE  REMEDIAL  PURPOSES  THEREOF,
 REGARDLESS  OF  WHETHER FEDERAL LABOR LAWS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
 THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT, 29 U.S.C. § 201 ET  SEQ.  AND  OTHER  LAWS
 WITH  PROVISIONS  WORDED  COMPARABLY  TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS CHAPTER,
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10772-01-5

 S. 7388                             2
 
 HAVE BEEN SO CONSTRUED. EXCEPTIONS TO AND EXEMPTIONS FROM THE PROVISIONS
 OF THIS CHAPTER SHALL BE CONSTRUED NARROWLY IN ORDER TO MAXIMIZE  DETER-
 RENCE  OF  UNLAWFUL  CONDUCT  AND  ACCOMPLISH  THIS  CHAPTER'S  REMEDIAL
 PURPOSE.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Senate Bill S7388

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Labor Committee

2025-S7388 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S7388 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S7388 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S7388 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S7388

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Jessica Ramos

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Labor Committee

2025-S7388 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S7388 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S7388 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S7388 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments