What's happening
This bill ensures adjunct professors at colleges and universities can access unemployment insurance if their job offers are contingent on enrollment, funding, or program changes.
Why it matters
Gives adjunct professors more financial stability between semesters. By presuming that job offers contingent on enrollment, funding, or program changes do not provide "reasonable assurance" of continued employment, the bill helps adjuncts qualify for unemployment insurance during breaks or summer, reducing financial uncertainty.
Shifts the burden of proof onto colleges and universities. Schools must now provide substantial documentation if they wish to deny unemployment benefits to adjuncts on the basis of "reasonable assurance," making it harder to exclude these workers from unemployment protections through vague or conditional job offers.
Recognizes the precarious nature of adjunct employment. The law requires that the contingent (uncertain) aspects of adjunct job offers—such as dependence on student enrollment or funding—be given primary importance in unemployment insurance decisions, acknowledging the unstable working conditions adjuncts often face.
Prevents denial of benefits based on conditional employment letters. Written offers that make employment contingent will no longer automatically qualify as "reasonable assurance," closing a loophole that previously let employers deny unemployment claims even when future employment was uncertain.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Unemployment for Adjunct Professors
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to labor
- Referred to labor
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Unemployment Rights for Adjuncts
In Assembly Committee · Labor · Sponsor Nily Rozic
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3500
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 23, 2017
Introduced by Sen. BAILEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to enacting the "adjunct professors' unemployment insurance fairness act"
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "adjunct professors' unemployment insurance fairness act".
§ 2. Subdivision 10 of section 590 of the labor law is amended by adding a new paragraph (d) to read as follows:
(d) In the case of colleges or universities assigned the North American industry classification code 611310 or 611210 for services performed in a principal, administrative, research or instructional capacity a person is presumed not to have reasonable assurance under an offer that is conditioned on enrollment, funding or programmatic changes. It is the employer's burden to provide sufficient documentation to overcome this presumption. Reasonable assurance must be determined on a case-by-case basis by the total weight of evidence rather than the existence of any one factor. Primary weight must be given to the contingent nature of an offer of employment based on enrollment, funding and program changes. Provided, however, that in any unemployment insurance proceeding a written letter from an employer to an employee which makes employment conditional shall not be prima facie evidence of reasonable assurance to be used to deny a claim for unemployment.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00404-01-7
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the labor law, in relation to enacting the "adjunct professors' unemployment insurance fairness act"
Purpose
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
Section I titles the bill.
Section II discusses subdivision 10 of section 590.
Section III sets forth the effective date.
Justification
Unemployment insurance is a benefit that is supposed to cover workers during times of unemployment when a worker has no income. Under current law however, many part-time faculty working in colleges and universities in New York 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 would help to ensure that part-time faculty members are treated equitably under the 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
2011-12: A.2418(Lancman)- Referred to Labor 2013-14: S.6923/A.5297(Rozic)- Referred to Labor 2015-16: S.2178/A.45(Rozic)- Referred to Labor
Fiscal impact on the state
To be determined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.