NEW YORK (WWTI) – Governor Kathy Hochul signed three new pieces of legislation to strengthen the rights of workers in New York State.
“New York workers are the engines behind our robust economy and my administration will continue taking action to uplift them,”
Governor Kathy Hochul
The three pieces of legislation are as follows:
Legislation — S. 4878-A /A. 398-A — requires employers to inform their employees that they are eligible for unemployment insurance whenever the employer makes a permanent or temporary separation of the employee or reduces hours to a point that the employee qualifies for total or partial unemployment;
Legislation — S. 2518/A. 836 — prohibits employers from requesting or requiring the username, login information and passwords of personal accounts as a condition of hiring, as a condition of employment or for use in a disciplinary action.
Legislation — S. 1902-A/A. 1245-A — requires the Department of Labor to provide notice to unemployment applicants of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – SNAP — and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children — WIC.
“This legislative package will provide workers across New York State with fair wages and allow them to support themselves, their families, and our local economies.”
Governor Kathy Hochul
This support will uplift workers in addition to recent employee protections surrounding mandatory political and religious meetings, strengthening wage theft penalties and increasing benefits for injured workers.
The new legislations build on Hochul’s nation-leading worker agenda that includes plans to:
- Increase New York’s minimum wage and index it to inflation;
- Offering 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave to more than 150,000 state employees; and
- Other initiatives to increase wages and benefits such as expand prevailing wage, connect job seekers to employment opportunities and help ensure retirement security for private sector workers.
Hochul’s entire press release can be found Here.
