Enacts the "Higher Education Employment Protection Act"

3 Co-sponsors

• Tony Avella
• Ruth Hassell-Thompson
• Suzi Oppenheimer

BILL NUMBER:S7393

Title of bill

An act to amend the labor law, in relation to unemployment insurance benefits for professional employment by certain education institutions

Purpose

This legislation amends the Labor Law to provide that part-time professional employment in an instructional, research, or principal administrative capacity with SUNY, CUNY and any public community college is exempt from those provisions which make eligibility for unemployment benefits contingent upon the presence or absence of reasonable assurance of continued employment.

Summary of provisions

Subdivision 10 of section 590 of the labor law is amended by adding language that says any provisions which make eligibility for benefits contingent upon the presence or absence of reasonable assurance of continued employment, shall not apply to part-time professional employment in an instructional, research or principal administrative capacity with SUNY, CUNY, and any public community college, and entitlement of claims shall be determined in the same manner as is applicable to claimants not employed by educational institutions.

Justification

Unemployment insurance is a benefit that is supposed to cover workers during times of unemployment when they have no income. Under current law however, many part-time faculty working in colleges and universities in New York State are unable to receive unemployment insurance when they have become unemployed between semesters because the college or university holds that they have a "reasonable assurance" of continuous employment under the provisions of subdivision 10 of section 590 of the Labor Law. Yet, these employees who generally work 30 weeks a year, are seasonal workers, like actors, construction workers, diamond cutters, and furriers, all of whom are eligible for benefits during periods they are not employed. These employees have no "reasonable assurance" that they will have a job when the next semester starts as that decision rests entirely with the employer and is often based on contingent factors such as enrollment, funding, and programmatic changes. In many cases, these employees are not notified by the college or university that there is no position for them until they are very close to the start of the next semester. In fact, current law provides an incentive for colleges and universities to wait as long as possible to officially disclose to part-time faculty that they will not be employed for the upcoming semester to avoid paying unemployment insurance costs,for those employed between semesters. Part-time faculty are treated unfairly under the current law as they are only eligible for unemployment insurance benefits from the time they are officially notified they are not renewed by the college or university for the next semester. It is only at this time that they can file a claim to be eligible for benefits even though they may have been out of work for months before this notification and have absolutely no control over their employment. Both the California and Washington State Legislatures have passed legislation that assures the ability of part-time professional employees to collect benefits during periods when they are not

working. This measure will help to ensure that part-time faculty members are treated equitably under the current law as other workers who have no reasonable assurance of future employment. It is certainly reasonable and just to afford these benefits to part-time faculty who have no control over their contract employment and therefore have "no reasonable assurance" of employment.

Legislative history

A.8201B of 2005-06: Rules Committee A.2515 of 2007-08: Reported to Ways & Means A.613A of 2009-10: Reported to Ways & Means

Fiscal implications

To be determined.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.