§ 27-C — Preparation of public employers for state disaster emergencies involving public health

§ 27-c. Preparation of public employers for state disaster emergencies\ninvolving public health. 1. Definitions. For the purposes of this\nsection:\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. "Essential" shall refer to a designation made that a public\nemployee is required to be physically present at a work site to perform\nhis or her job. Such designation may be changed at any time in the sole\ndiscretion of the employer.\n d. "Non-essential" shall refer to a designation made that a public\nemployee is not required to be physically present at a work site to\nperform his or her job. Such designation may be changed at any time in\nthe sole discretion of the employer.\n e. "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.\n f. "Retaliatory action" shall mean the discharge, suspension,\ndemotion, or discrimination against any employee, or other adverse\nemployment action taken against an employee in the terms and conditions\nof 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 state disaster 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 the types of positions considered\nessential in the event of a state-ordered reduction of in-person\nworkforce.\n b. A description of protocols the employer will follow for\nnon-essential employees to telecommute including, but not limited to,\nfacilitating or requesting the procurement, distribution, downloading\nand installation of any needed technology, including software, data, and\nthe transferring of office phone lines to work or personal cell phones\nas practicable or applicable to the workplace, and may include devices.\n c. A description of how the employer will, to the extent possible,\nstagger work shifts of essential employees in order to reduce\novercrowding 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, based upon the various tasks and needs of such employees in a\nquantity sufficient to provide personal protective equipment to each\nessential employee during any given work shift. Such description shall\nalso include a plan for storage of such equipment to prevent degradation\nand permit immediate access in the event of an emergency declaration.\n e. A description of the protocol in the event an employee is exposed\nto a known case of the communicable disease that is the subject of the\nstate disaster emergency, exhibits symptoms of such disease, or tests\npositive for such disease in order to prevent the spread or contraction\nof such disease in the workplace. Such protocol shall also detail\nactions to be taken to immediately and thoroughly disinfect the work\narea of any employee known or suspected to be infected with the\ncommunicable disease as well as any common area surface and shared\nequipment such employee may have touched, and the employer policy on\navailable leave in the event of the need of an employee to receive\ntesting, treatment, isolation, or quarantine. Such protocol shall not\ninvolve any action that would violate any existing federal, state, or\nlocal law, including regarding sick leave or health information privacy.\n f. A protocol for documenting hours and work locations, including\noff-site visits, for essential employees. Such protocol shall be\ndesigned only to aid in tracking of the disease and to identify the\npopulation of exposed employees in order to facilitate the provision of\nany benefits which may be available to certain employees 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 h. Any other requirements determined by the department of health such\nas contract tracing or testing, social distancing, hand hygiene and\ndisinfectant, or mask wearing.\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 recommendations regarding the content of the\nplan.\n 5. The department shall establish procedures to allow for public\nemployees to contact and inform the department of any alleged violations\nof any of the provisions described in this 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