What's happening
This bill grants $2,500 hazard pay and extra vacation to New York state employees who worked as essential workers during a state emergency.
Why it matters
Recognizes and compensates the heightened risks. faced by state employees who worked in-person as "essential workers" during a declared emergency, acknowledging their contributions and sacrifices.
Ensures the hazard pay is counted toward retirement benefits. , meaning the $2,500 payment will increase the employee's pension calculation, providing a longer-term financial impact beyond the one-time bonus.
Guarantees additional paid time off (35 hours of vacation) for eligible workers. , offering more flexibility and rest to employees who served under stressful and hazardous conditions.
Mandates formal regulations for implementation. , requiring clear rules from the state’s budget office to ensure fair and consistent application of the new benefits across agencies.
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
Hazard Pay for Essential Workers
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to rules
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
8839
IN SENATE
July 21, 2020
Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the civil service law, in relation to hazard duty pay for essential work performed in accordance with a state emergency disaster declaration
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 130 of the civil service law is amended by adding a new subdivision 15 to read as follows:
15. Essential worker hazard duty payments during a state emergency disaster declaration. (a) Any state employee providing essential services or functions during any state disaster emergency declared pursuant to article two-B of the executive law and designated on or after March first, two thousand twenty as an essential worker pursuant to any law, rule, regulation or executive order shall be awarded a hazardous duty pay differential.
(b) Such differential shall equal twenty-five hundred dollars. Such differential shall be in addition to such essential employee's basic annual salary, and shall not affect or impair any performance advancement payments, performance awards, longevity payments or other rights or benefits to which such employee may be entitled under the provisions of this chapter; provided, however, that any differential payable pursuant to this subdivision shall be included as compensation for retirement purposes. Employees eligible for the hazard duty payments authorized by this subdivision shall also receive thirty-five hours of additional vacation time accrual.
(c) The director of the budget shall adopt regulations to carry out the provisions of this subdivision.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to have been in full force and effect on and after March 1, 2020.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD17013-01-0
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the civil service law, in relation to hazard duty pay for essential work performed in accordance with a state emergency disas- ter declaration
Purpose or general idea of bill
To provide for hazard pay to the state's essential employees charged with maintaining services and managing the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends the Civil Service Law to provide for the payment of hazard pay to essential workers charged with the pandemic response during a declared state of emergency.
Section 2 provides the effective date.
Justification
In April 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Governor called for hazard pay for the state's essential workers - those charged with ensuring the continued operation of critical government services to provide for the welfare, health and safety of all New Yorkers. Since that time, many private hospitals, other health care facilities and businesses have taken action to provide hazard pay and provide other benefits like additional vacation time to their essential staff. Unfor- tunately, the state has not yet taken any action to recognize and reward its essential employees who sacrificed everything to help New Yorkers adapt and survive the first round of COVID19.
These frontline workers include doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals at New York's understaffed public hospitals, the state correctional facility staff and parole officers working to keep inmates and parolees secure and communities safe, the workers at the state-oper- ated residential facilities providing continuing care and treatment to our most vulnerable citizens, the staff at the Department of Labor, State Insurance Fund, Workers' Compensation Board, and the office of the State Comptroller helping New Yorkers access unemployment, disability, and workers' compensation benefits, the staff at the Department of Health who are testing people for the virus and working to secure PPE and effective treatment, and the essential staff at all of the agencies that have been involved in supporting the various state's response efforts.
Many of these workers contracted the virus in the performance of their duties, in some instances, because of the lack of proper personal protective equipment (PPE). These members literally put their lives on the line to continue to perform their jobs at a time when many workers were ordered to stay home.
This legislation would establish a long overdue hazard pay program as well as provide two weeks of additional vacation time for essential public employees so that these employees can prepare themselves and their families for the likely resurgence of COVID-19 this fall if not earlier.
Prior legislative history
None
Fiscal implications
TBD
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to have been in full force and effect as of March 1st, 2020.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.