Relates to unemployment insurance benefits for professional employment by certain educational institutions

2 Co-sponsors

• Tony Avella
• Martin Malavé Dilan

BILL NUMBER:S75

Title of bill

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

Purpose

This legislation will ensure that professionals employed in two-year and four-year colleges who are not given reasonable assurance of continued employment will be eligible for unemployment insurance during periods of unemployment.

Summary of provisions

The bill adds a new paragraph (d) to Labor Law section 590(10) to clarify that employees performing in a principal, administrative, research or instructional position at two-year and four-year colleges and universities in New York are presumed not to have reasonable assurance of continued employment when their positions are conditioned on enrollment, funding or program changes. They would be eligible for unemployment benefits during periods of unemployment unless their employer provides sufficient documentation to overcome this presumption. An employer's letter stating that employment is conditional would not constitute prima facie evidence of reasonable assurance.

Justification

Unemployment insurance is intended to help workers during periods of unemployment when they lack income through no fault of their own. Currently, however, many part-time faculty members at colleges and universities in New York are unable to receive unemployment benefits when they become unemployed between semesters if their employer claims they have a "reasonable assurance" of continued employment, but do not re-hire them when the next semester starts This leaves many faculty in a state of limbo as to whether they will have a job when the new semester starts since their employer's decision often depends upon contingent factors such as enrollment, funding, and programmatic changes. It is not uncommon for employers to initially provide part-time faculty with a letter of intent that their jobs will continue the following semester, but then notify them very close to the start of the new semester that their employment will not be continue. For many adjunct faculty, the few courses they teach are their sole source of income.

The current law provides an incentive for colleges and universities to wait as long as possible to officially disclose to faculty that they will not be employed for the upcoming semester in order to avoid paying unemployment insurance costs. As a result, faculty are only eligible for unemployment insurance benefits from the time they are officially notified of their non-renewal for the next semester. By comparison, other workers who are similarly out of work for months at a time, such as construction workers and actors, are eligible for benefits during periods of seasonal unemployment. Other jurisdictions such as California and Washington state allow their faculty employees to collect benefits during periods when they are not working.

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

Legislative history

2011-12: S.727 2009-10: S.4123-A Referred to Labor and Reported to Finance 2007-08: A.2515 Reported to Ways & Means; S.4845 Referred to Labor 2006: S.4830-A Advanced to 3rd Reading; A.8201-B Reported to Rules

Fiscal implications

To be determined.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.