What's happening
The bill requires large employers in certain industries to provide at least ten hours of rest between employee work shifts, with penalties for violations.
Why it matters
Protects worker health and well-being. by ensuring that employees in large retail, hospitality, housekeeping, and food service companies have at least ten hours to rest between shifts, potentially reducing fatigue and related safety risks.
Limits employer flexibility in scheduling. by setting a mandatory minimum rest period, which could impact how businesses manage overnight or back-to-back shifts, especially during busy seasons or staffing shortages.
Provides financial penalties and employee remedies. for violations, including triple wage damages or a set minimum per infraction, which gives employees strong legal recourse and may deter exploitative scheduling practices.
Guards against employer retaliation. , explicitly prohibiting discrimination or threats against workers who refuse to work during their protected rest periods—reinforcing employee rights to rest without fear of losing their job or facing other negative consequences.
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Who cares
Retail, hotel, food-service and cleaning workers at covered employers
The bill would protect specified ten-hour rest periods between shifts, require time-and-a-half pay for voluntary work during those periods and prohibit retaliation for refusing such work.
Employers in the covered service sectors
Businesses with at least 500 full-time employees nationwide or a proportional number of part-time employees would face new scheduling and pay requirements, with $1,000 penalties per violation and damages payable to affected workers.
New York State labor commissioner
The bill would authorize the commissioner to recover employer penalties through legal action.
Headline styles
Require Rest Between Work Shifts
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
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.
Guarantee Rest Between Shifts
In Assembly Committee · Labor · Sponsor Nily Rozic
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2879
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 30, 2019
Introduced by Sen. SANDERS -- 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 providing for rest between work shifts
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The labor law is amended by adding a new section 168-a to read as follows:
§ 168-a. Right to rest between work shifts. 1. An employer may not schedule or require an employee to work during the following rest periods:
a. the first ten hours following the end of the previous calendar day's work shift or on-call shift; or
b. the first ten hours following the end of a work shift or on-call shift that spanned two calendar days.
2. An employee may request or consent to work during hours otherwise prohibited under subdivision one of this section. An employer shall compensate an employee for each hour or portion of an hour that an employee works during a rest period at one and one-half times the employee's regular rate of pay.
3. This section shall apply only to an employer who is deemed to be a person, corporation, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or association employing five hundred or more full-time employees nationwide or a proportional number of part-time employees, and who provides services in the retail trade sector, or provides hospitality service, housekeeping or cleaning services, or accommodation and food services, as such terms are defined under the North American Industry Classification System, except in the case of hospitality service, in which case such term shall have the same meaning as the definition of a hotel and motel under the North American Industry Classification System.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01168-01-9
S. 2879 2
4. It shall be an unlawful practice for an employer to retaliate or in any way discriminate against an individual with respect to any term or condition of employment or threaten such action due to an employee rejecting a request by an employer to work during a prescribed rest period.
5. Any employer who violates this section shall forfeit to the people of the state the sum of one thousand dollars for each violation, to be recovered by the commissioner in any legal action necessary, and shall pay to the aggrieved employee damages of an amount equivalent to three times the value of owed wages for shifts worked in violation of this section, or at least one hundred dollars for each work day that the violation occurred or continued to occur.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law.
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 providing for rest between work shifts
Purpose
To prohibit the use of "clopenings", or scheduling an employee to work an opening shift immediately following an opening shift on current or the same days, unless an employee consents or volunteers, in which case the employee shall be paid one and a half times the regular rate of pay.
Summary of provisions
This legislation would prohibit an employee from working during a rest period, defined as ten hours following the end of a previous calendar day's work shift or ten hours following the end of a shift that spanned two calendar days. The rest period would also apply to an on-call shift. An employee would be allowed to volunteer or agree to work during the rest period, provided that an employee was then paid one and a half times their regular rate of pay.
This legislation shall only apply to an employer with 500 or more full- time employees nationwide, or an equivalent number of part-time employ- ees, and to those employers engaged in retail, hospitality, cleaning, or food service work. An employer would be prohibited from retaliating against an employee who refuses to work during a rest period, and violations of this section would be punishable by a civil penalty of $1,000 for each violation and damages paid to an aggrieved employee of at least $100, and worth three times any owed payments for work under- taken during a rest period.
Justification
As the country's economy continues to shift to service-oriented busi- nesses, the practice of "clopenings" have become more common. A "clopen- ing" shift is one where an employee works during the close of a busi- ness, and follows that shift by working during the opening of a business. These shifts have been used by businesses that cite flexibili- ty and service, but are strongly detrimental to the health and wellness of employees. This legislation would restrict the use of "clopenings" by prohibiting shifts being scheduled during a ten hour rest period following a shift. While an employee could consent or volunteer to work during the rest period, an employer would be required to pay an enhanced wage rate to compensate for such work.
Legislative history
New Bill
Budget implications
Minor costs to the state for administration of this act, to be offset by civil penalties generated under this legislation.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.