§ 780 — Definitions

New York § 780

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law LAB: Labor
• Art. 21-A: Warehouse Worker Protection Act

Text

§ 780. Definitions. As used in this article:\n 1. "Defined time period" means any unit of time measurement equal to\nor less than the duration of an employee's shift, and includes hours,\nminutes, and seconds and any fraction thereof.\n 2. "Employee" means an employee who is not exempt from the minimum\nwage and any overtime compensation provisions of this chapter and any\napplicable minimum wage orders and who works at a warehouse distribution\ncenter and is subject to a quota as defined in this section; provided,\nhowever, that "employee" does not include a driver or courier to or from\na warehouse distribution center.\n 3. (a) "Employee work speed data" means information an employer\ncollects, stores, analyzes, or interprets relating to an individual\nemployee's performance of a quota, including, but not limited to,\nquantities of tasks performed, quantities of items or materials handled\nor produced, rates or speeds of tasks performed, measurements or metrics\nof employee performance in relation to a quota, and time categorized as\nperforming tasks or not performing tasks.\n (b) "Aggregated work speed data" means a compilation of employee work\nspeed data for multiple employees, in summary form, assembled in full or\nin another form such that the data cannot be identified with any\nindividual.\n 4. "Employer" means a person who directly or indirectly, or through an\nagent or any other person, including through the services of a\nthird-party employer, temporary services, or staffing agency,\nindependent contractor, or any similar entity, employs or exercises\ncontrol over the wages, hours, or working conditions of one hundred or\nmore employees at a single warehouse distribution center or one thousand\nor more employees at one or more warehouse distribution centers in the\nstate.\n For the purposes of this definition, all employees of a controlled\ngroup of corporations shall be counted in determining the number of\nemployees employed at a single warehouse distribution center or at one\nor more warehouse distribution centers in the state.\n 5. "Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited\npartnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability company,\nbusiness trust, estate, trust, association, joint venture, agency,\ninstrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity, whether\ndomestic or foreign.\n 6. "Quota" means a work standard which:\n (a) an employee is assigned or required to perform: at a specified\nproductivity speed; or a quantified number of tasks, or to handle or\nproduce a quantified amount of material, within a defined time period;\nor under which the employee may suffer an adverse employment action if\nthey fail to complete the performance standard.\n (b) an employee's actions are categorized between time performing\ntasks and not performing tasks, and the employee's failure to complete a\ntask performance standard or recommendation may have an adverse impact\non the employee's continued employment or the conditions of such\nemployment.\n 7. "Warehouse distribution center" means an establishment as defined\nby any of the following North American industry classification system\n("NAICS") codes, however such establishment is denominated:\n (a) four hundred ninety-three for warehousing and storage but does not\ninclude four hundred ninety-three thousand one hundred thirty for farm\nproduct warehousing and storage;\n (b) four hundred twenty-three for merchant wholesalers, durable goods;\n (c) four hundred twenty-four for merchant wholesalers, nondurable\ngoods;\n (d) four hundred fifty-four thousand one hundred ten for electronic\nshopping and mail-order houses; or\n (e) four hundred ninety-two thousand one hundred ten for couriers and\nexpress delivery services.\n 8. "Work-related musculoskeletal disorders" means work-related\nconditions (injuries, illness or disorders) of the muscles, nerves,\ntendons, ligaments, joints, cartilage of the body's musculoskeletal\nsystem including the muscles, nerves, tendons, ligaments, joints,\ncartilage and spinal discs of the upper and lower limbs, neck,\nshoulders, and back that: (a) are the result of an exposure in the work\nenvironment during the performance of work that either causes or\ncontributes significantly to the resulting condition or makes worse or\nlonger-lasting a pre-existing condition; (b) are caused by ergonomic\nrisk factors that include, but are not limited to, rapid pace, forceful\nexertions, extreme or static postures, repetitive motions, direct\npressure, contact stress, vibration or cold temperatures; or (c) are not\nthe result of any instantaneous non-exertion event, such as slips,\ntrips, or falls.\n 9. "Competent person" shall mean one capable of performing a job\nhazard assessment to identify and assess existing and predictable\nergonomic risk factors in work activities that are a core element of an\nemployee's job or a significant part of the workday that are harmful to\nemployees and reasonably likely to cause or contribute to\nmusculoskeletal disorders. A competent person shall include ergonomists,\nindustrial hygienists, certified safety professionals, or other health\nand safety professionals who, by possession of a recognized advanced\nacademic degree, certificate, or professional standing or who by\nextensive knowledge, training, and experience has successfully\ndemonstrated the ability to manage workplace injury risk.\n