Enhances civil penalty provisions for willful or repeat employer violations of public employee safety and health act; defines "willful" and "repeat" for such purpose

1 Co-sponsor

• Ruben Diaz

Title of bill

An act to amend the labor law, in relation to public employee safety and health

Purpose of bill

To enhance the penalty provisions available against violators of the State Public Employee Safety and Health (PESH) Act and regulations; to make technical corrections to the statute; and to streamline the administrative requirements placed upon the department as a result of the implementation of the PESH penalty provisions enacted in 1990.

Summary of provisions

The Legislation amends Section 27-a(6) of the Labor Law to provide for a penalty of up to $300 per day for willful or repeat violators of the PESH Act or regulations and defines the terms "willful" and "repeat" for this purpose. Language in Section 27-a(6) which currently refers to variances or petitions to modify an order to comply is amended to refer to applications for permanent or temporary orders granting variances or to petitions for modification of the abatement date. Provides that all tines collected pursuant to this act shall be deposited into that State School Construction Fund.

Existing law

The current law refers to serious and non-serious violations but does not reference willful or repeat violations. Penalties of up to $50 per day for non-serious violations and up to $200 per day for serious violations are currently available. There is no cap on the penalties which may be assessed. Language relative to variance applications and petitions for modification of abatement date is contained in the current law. However, the terms used to refer to these applications and petitions are not consistent with changes in terminology made over the past two years. Under Section 27-a(6)(d), the language of the current law refers to orders "CONTINUING the amount of civil penalty found to be due." This is probably an error in the Original bill establishing the penalty and most likely should have read "CONTAINING the amount of civil penalty found to be due." The bill makes this change.

Statement in support

The provisions included in the proposed amendment to Section 27-a are generally designed to enhance the Department's enforcement authority or to streamline administrative burdens imposed under the current law. The addition of willful and repeat violations to the list of violations for which penalties can be assessed will clarify the Department's authority to impose penalties for such violations and will make state law consistent with federal regulations which recognize such categories of violation. In addition, the availability of increased penalties for such violations reflects the seriousness of willful and repeat violations and the lack of good faith exhibited by employers who commit such violations. The definition of "willful" is derived from OSHA compliance instructions. Technical changes will replace outdated terminology contained in the statute and correct errors made in the original legislation. Fines collected pursuant to this act will be Deposited into the State School Construction Fund. Thus, fines paid pursuant to this act will not simply be transferred from one State account into another. Rather, State fines will benefit local municipalities through additional funds being made available for local school construction.

Budgetary implications

None, except to the extent increased penalties are collected. It is impossible to provide any estimates as to revenue impact at this time.

Prior legislative history

S.1901 of 2007 01/29/07 Referred to Labor

Effective date

This bill will become effective immediately.