There Are Three Weeks Left in the Legislative Session: Here’s What You Should Know

May 16, 2023

There Are Three Weeks Left in the Legislative Session: Here’s What You Should Know

The New York State Senate and Assembly only have three weeks until they are scheduled to leave Albany on June 8th. The end of session is always the busiest time of year, with lawmakers typically passing around 1,000 bills in the final two weeks. Senators and Assemblymembers will be considering a wide range of issues, including several bills that will have a significant impact on small businesses. Here are some of the top priorities NFIB is actively engaged and working on as lawmakers head into the final stretch:

Ending COVID Sick Leave

New York State is the only state that still requires employers to provide paid COVID sick leave. With the federal government officially ending the national emergency addressing COVID on May 11th, it’s time for Albany to finally pass legislation that will end the state’s paid COVID sick leave law!

Correcting Penalties for Weekly Pay Violations

Anyone who qualifies as a manual worker under New York law is supposed to receive wages every week and being paid biweekly is considered being paid late and the penalty can be steep. Under New York State Labor Law the penalty is 100% of the late wages for the last six years. A 2019 ruling in Vega v. CM & Associates Construction Management allowed a private right of action (meaning employees could sue employers), triggering an escalation of similar lawsuits. Employers may be subject to payment of damages even if the employee has been fully compensated for their hours of work. Increasingly, these claims are being brought as large class action suits. NFIB is working on legislation that will restore the New York State Dept. of Labor’s authority to enforce this labor law through lower fines instead of through the courts, which is leading to multi-million-dollar settlements.

Preventing Workers’ Compensation Cost Increases

Last year, the legislature passed three pieces of legislation that would have substantially increased workers’ compensation premiums for small businesses. Governor Hochul vetoed the bills, but that has not deterred the Senate and Assembly from trying again. As of this writing, the Senate is moving legislation to expand workers’ compensation coverage to include extraordinary work-related stress. The bill would allow employees to file a mental stress claim irrespective of a work-related emergency. The workers’ comp system would have to pay for the cost of treatment and disability for psychological conditions, leading to significant cost increases for businesses. NFIB strongly opposes the legislation and will be urging lawmakers to vote no.

Blocking Legislation to Expand Lawsuits Over Unfair Business Practices

Lawmakers are considering legislation that would add ambiguous and subjective terms “unfair” and “abusive” to the General Business Law, which broadens the standing to bring a lawsuit against businesses. This will undoubtedly lead to an even greater number of frivolous lawsuits against small businesses. While the proponents of this legislation argue that it is a consumer protection bill, it is nothing more than an attempt to further line the pockets of powerful trial lawyers. NFIB strongly opposes the legislation and will be urging lawmakers to vote no. While these are only a handful of top priorities, NFIB will be fighting against dozens of other bills that would increase the cost of doing business in New York. The end of session is unpredictable and hectic, but NFIB is well-equipped to continue to bring the small business voice to the Capitol’s halls in Albany.

Topics:

Uncategorized

State:

New York

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