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History
- Referred to investigations and government operations
- Referred to investigations and government operations
Full text
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Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S2616
Title of bill
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to expanding the type and number of employers covered by the provisions of the human rights law
Purpose or general idea of bill
To make all employers, including those who employ fewer than four persons, subject to anti-discrimination provisions of the state's human rights law.
Provisions
This bill amends subdivision 5 of section 292 of the Executive Law, as amended by chapter 481 of the laws of 2010 which defines specific terms used in New York State's Human Rights Law. The law currently defines the term "employer" as not including any employer "with fewer than four persons in his employ."
This legislation changes the definition of the term "employer" by extending it to include employers with less than three employees. This definition is further amended by exempting only those employers where at least two-thirds of the employees are closely related by blood or marriage to the employer.
Justification
Section 292 currently exempts employers with less than four employees from all provisions of the Human Rights Law that are intended to prevent discriminatory hiring practices. Whatever the purpose of this exemption, the fact remains that some employers with less than four employees do engage in discriminatory hiring practices that are hurtful, unjust, and repugnant to the morals of a civilized society. The burden of requiring small employers to comply with the provisions of the Human Rights Law rarely outweighs the negative effects of wrongful discriminatory practices in New York State.
Perhaps the only situation in which compliance is a burden is the case of family owned businesses where close family members make up all or most of the employees. In this situation, a family business may find compliance impossible due to the family's racial or ethnic homogeneity.
Small business is a rapidly expanding element of the state's economy, and is the key to increased employment in the coming years. In some areas of our state, both rural and urban communities, small business provides significant employment opportunities. If the number of small businesses continues to grow throughout the state, their exemption from anti-discrimination laws affects not two or three job applicants, but tens of thousands of citizens seeking employment. It is unfair to allow such a large segment of the state's population to remain unprotected from unfair employment practices. This law, therefore, must be amended to cover all employers in this state.
Prior legislative history
This bill was previously introduced.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.