N.Y. LAB Law § 21 — New York Code / Act LAB / Article 2 / Section 21
General powers and duties of commissioner
Status: in_force

§ 21. General powers and duties of commissioner. The commissioner\nshall be the administrative head of the department and shall have,\nnotwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, general\nadministrative supervision over the several divisions, boards,\ncommissions, bureaus, and agencies thereof whether established under the\nprovisions of this chapter or the workmen's compensation law and in\nconnection therewith, the commissioner:\n  1. Shall enforce all the provisions of this chapter and may issue such\norders as he finds necessary directing compliance with any provision of\nthis chapter, except as in this chapter otherwise provided;\n  2. Shall cause proper inspections to be made of all matters prescribed\nby this chapter;\n  3. Shall cause investigations to be made of the condition of women in\nindustry;\n  * 3-a. Shall prepare and submit to the governor, the temporary\npresident of the senate and the speaker of the assembly on or before the\nthirtieth day of September an annual report on the status of older\nworkers including those over the age of sixty-five in New York state.\nSuch report shall describe in detail the employment needs of such older\nworkers and the ability of existing state employment services to deal\nwith the problems of older workers. The report shall consider the need\nfor affirmative action, training, counseling, development of alternative\nwork schedules, job development activities within the public and private\nsector, and the need for improved use by older workers of publicly\nfunded programs for employment and employment-related services. The\nreport shall also consider the economic impact of unemployment among\nolder workers and shall contain recommendations, including the\nassociated costs, for improved programs or for changes in statutes or\nregulations to provide increased employment opportunities for older\nworkers.\n  * NB Expired October 1, 1981\n  4. Shall inquire into and report on the causes of all strikes,\nlockouts and other industrial controversies or labor disputes, and may\nappoint boards of inquiry for that purpose;\n  5. Shall institute methods and procedures for the establishment of a\nprogram for voluntary compliance by employers and employees with the\nrequirements of this act and all applicable safety and health standards\nand rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority of this\narticle;\n  6. Shall provide a method of encouraging employers and employees in\ntheir efforts to reduce the number of safety and health hazards arising\nfrom undesirable, inappropriate, or unnecessary working conditions at\nthe workplace and of stimulating employers and employees to institute\nnew and to perfect existing programs for providing safe and healthful\nworking conditions;\n  7. May provide for the establishment and maintenance of public\nemployment offices for the purpose of securing employment for men, women\nand children;\n  8. May make investigations, collect and compile statistical\ninformation and report upon the conditions of labor generally and upon\nall matters relating to the enforcement and effect of the provisions of\nthis chapter and of the rules thereunder;\n  9. May enforce any lawful municipal ordinance, by-law or regulation\nrelating to any place affected by the provisions of this chapter, not in\nconflict with provisions of this chapter;\n  10. May investigate the condition of noncitizens relative to their\nemployment in industry;\n  11. May issue such regulations governing any provision of this chapter\nas he finds necessary and proper.\n  12. Shall compile and publish, on an annual basis, a list of all\nregulations and notices required to be posted by employers for the\nbenefit of their employees pursuant to this chapter, the workers'\ncompensation law and any other state or federal law, rule or regulation.\n  13. Shall adopt regulations prescribing the methodology for\nestablishing an ongoing monthly statewide cost of labor index and an\nannual county or appropriate multi-county labor market composite wage\nrate, in consultation with the commissioner of education, for the\npurpose of computation of building aid to school districts, as required\nby subparagraph one of paragraph a of subdivision six of section\nthirty-six hundred two of the education law.\n  14. Shall do all things necessary for the operation of the New York\nstate data center established in the department in cooperation with the\nUnited States bureau of the census; to cooperate with other state\nagencies, universities, regional organizations, boards, commissions, and\nother entities in the dissemination of socio-economic information and\ndata through the New York state data center program; in relation to such\ninformation and data, to provide technical assistance to other state\nagencies, universities, regional organizations, boards, commissions and\nother entities; and to prepare estimates and the official projections of\npopulation, households and other characteristics of the state for use by\nall state agencies. All employees transferred to the department shall be\ntransferred without further examination or qualification to the same or\nsimilar titles and shall remain in the same collective bargaining units\nand shall retain their respective civil service classifications, status\nand rights pursuant to their collective bargaining units and collective\nbargaining agreements.\n  15. Shall establish and maintain an online database to catalogue and\nmake available information on workforce development funding programs.\nSuch catalogue shall be updated no less than annually. For purposes of\nthis subdivision, the term "workforce development funding program" shall\nmean a program that funds or provides targeted educational, occupational\nor training services for the purpose of effecting the employability of\nthe participant, provides training or employment services, supports an\neconomic development activity by enhancing the skills of the state's\nworkforce, prepares individuals for employment, improves opportunities\nfor individuals to become employed, or promotes understanding of the\nstate labor force market through statistical studies, including but not\nlimited to programs that fund or provide English as a second language\nand adult literacy. For each workforce development funding program, the\nonline database shall include, but not be limited to, the following\ninformation for each funding program:\n  (i) the name of the funding program and the agency administering the\nfunding program;\n  (ii) a description of the purpose of the funding program;\n  (iii) a specific program Uniform Resource Locator ("URL"), if any;\n  (iv) the year the program was established;\n  (v) a catalog of federal domestic assistance numbers, if any;\n  (vi) the legal authority, including statute and regulation citations;\n  (vii) the program and fiscal contact information including agency\nname, telephone number, and email address;\n  (viii) all eligibility requirements;\n  (ix) any program and special restrictions;\n  (x) any action or actions required to receive aid; and\n  (xi) a description of aid which shall include, but not be limited to,\nthe flow of funds between entities, the type of aid formula used, any\nmatching requirements and any maintenance of effort.\n  16. Beginning on December first, two thousand twenty-four, and every\nDecember first thereafter, the department shall prepare a report of the\ncatalogue of workforce development funding programs established pursuant\nto subdivision fifteen of this section comprised of analysis conducted\nby the agency or entity responsible for each workforce development\nfunding program on the outcomes and effectiveness of such funding\nprograms and the number of persons served by such funding. Such analysis\nmust be submitted to the department by a date specified by the\ndepartment each year. Such report shall be submitted to the governor,\nthe temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the\nminority leader of the senate and the minority leader of the assembly\nand shall be made publicly available on the department's website.\n