N.Y. Lab. Law § 27-c

§ 27-c. Duty of public employers to develop operation plans in the\nevent of certain declared public health emergencies. 1. Definitions. For\nthe purposes of this section:\n a. "Personal protective equipment" shall mean all equipment worn to\nminimize exposure to hazards, including gloves, masks, face shields,\nfoot and eye protection, protective hearing devices, respirators, hard\nhats, and disposable gowns and aprons.\n b. "Public employer" or "employer" shall mean the state of New York, a\ncounty, city, town, village or any other political subdivision or civil\ndivision of the state, a public authority, commission or public benefit\ncorporation, or any other public corporation, agency, instrumentality or\nunit of government which exercises governmental power under the laws of\nthis state, provided, however, that this subdivision shall not include\nany employer as defined in section twenty-eight hundred one-a of the\neducation law.\n c. "Contractor" shall mean an individual performing services as party\nto a contract awarded by the state of New York or any other public\nemployer defined in paragraph b of this subdivision.\n d. "Essential" shall refer to a designation made that a public\nemployee or contractor is required to be physically present at a work\nsite to perform his or her job.\n e. "Non-essential" shall refer to a designation made that a public\nemployee or contractor is not required to be physically present at a\nwork site to perform his or her job.\n f. "Communicable disease" shall mean an illness caused by an\ninfectious agent or its toxins that occurs through the direct or\nindirect transmission of the infectious agent or its products from an\ninfected individual or via an animal, vector or the inanimate\nenvironment to a susceptible animal or human host.\n g. "Retaliatory action" shall mean the discharge, suspension,\ndemotion, penalization, or discrimination against any employee, or other\nadverse employment action taken against an employee in the terms and\nconditions of employment.\n 2. Each public employer in the state of New York shall prepare a plan\nfor the continuation of operations in the event that the governor\ndeclares a public health emergency involving a communicable disease.\nSuch plans shall follow the provisions for review and publication as\nprescribed in subdivision four of this section.\n 3. The operations plan required by this section shall include, but not\nbe limited to:\n a. A list and description of positions and titles considered essential\nin the event of a state-ordered reduction of in-person workforce, and a\njustification of such consideration for each position and title\nincluded.\n b. A specific description of protocols the employer will follow in\norder to enable all non-essential employees and contractors to\ntelecommute including, but not limited to, facilitating or requesting\nthe procurement, distribution, downloading and installation of any\nneeded devices or technology, including software, data, office laptops\nor cell phones, and the transferring of office phone lines to work or\npersonal cell phones as practicable or applicable to the workplace.\n c. A description of how the employer will, to the extent possible,\nstagger work shifts of essential employees and contractors in order to\nreduce overcrowding on public transportation systems and at worksites.\n d. A description of the protocol the employer will implement in order\nto procure the appropriate personal protective equipment for essential\nemployees and contractors, based upon the various tasks and needs of\nsuch employees and contractors in a quantity sufficient to provide at\nleast two pieces of each type of personal protective equipment to each\nessential employee and contractor during any given work shift over at\nleast six months. Such description shall also include a plan for storage\nof such equipment to prevent degradation and permit immediate access in\nthe event of an emergency declaration.\n e. A description of the protocol in the event an employee or\ncontractor is exposed to a known case of the communicable disease that\nis the subject of the public health emergency, exhibits symptoms of such\ndisease, or tests positive for such disease in order to prevent the\nspread or contraction of such disease in the workplace. Such protocol\nshall also detail actions to be taken to immediately and thoroughly\ndisinfect the work area of any employee or contractor known or suspected\nto be infected with the communicable disease as well as any common area\nsurface and shared equipment such employee or contractor may have\ntouched, and the employer policy on available leave in the event of the\nneed of an employee to receive testing, treatment, isolation, or\nquarantine. Such protocol shall not involve any action that would\nviolate any existing federal, state, or local law, including regarding\nsick leave or health information privacy.\n f. A protocol for documenting precise hours and work locations,\nincluding off-site visits, for essential employees and contractors. Such\nprotocol shall be designed only to aid in tracking of the disease and to\nidentify the population of exposed employees and contractors in order to\nfacilitate the provision of any benefits which may be available to\ncertain employees and contractors on that basis.\n g. A protocol for how the public employer will work with such\nemployer's locality to identify sites for emergency housing for\nessential employees in order to further contain the spread of the\ncommunicable disease that is the subject of the declared emergency, to\nthe extent applicable to the needs of the workplace.\n 4. Once drafted, each public employer shall present the plan described\nin this section to all applicable duly recognized or certified\nrepresentatives of the employer's employees, who shall then be granted\nan opportunity to review the plan and make recommendations, if any,\nprovided that nothing shall preclude such representatives from making\nsuch recommendations prior to the draft being completed. The employer\nmust consider and respond to such recommendations in writing within a\nreasonable timeframe. A copy of the final version of such plan shall\nthen be published in a clear and conspicuous location, and in the\nemployee handbook, to the extent that the employer provides such\nhandbook to its employees, and in a location accessible on either the\nemployer's website or on the internet accessible by employees. No\nemployer shall take retaliatory action or otherwise discriminate against\nany employee for making suggestions or recommendations regarding the\ncontent of the plan.\n 5. The department shall establish procedures to allow for public\nemployees or contract workers to contact and inform the department of\nany alleged or believed violations of any of the provisions described in\nthis section.\n 6. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to impede, infringe,\ndiminish or impair the rights of a public employee or employer under any\nlaw, rule, regulation or collectively negotiated agreement, or the\nrights and benefits which accrue to employees through collective\nbargaining agreements, or otherwise diminish the integrity of the\nexisting collective bargaining relationship.\n