2023 New York Laws › LAB - Labor › Article 2 - The Department of Labor › 27-C - Preparation of Public Employers for State Disaster Emergencies Involving Public Health.

§ 27-c. Preparation of public employers for state disaster emergencies
  involving  public  health.  1.  Definitions.  For  the  purposes of this
  section:
a. "Personal protective equipment" shall mean all  equipment  worn  to
  minimize  exposure  to  hazards,  including gloves, masks, face shields,
  foot and eye protection, protective hearing devices,  respirators,  hard
  hats, and disposable gowns and aprons.
b. "Public employer" or "employer" shall mean the state of New York, a
  county,  city, town, village or any other political subdivision or civil
  division of the state, a public authority, commission or public  benefit
  corporation, or any other public corporation, agency, instrumentality or
  unit  of government which exercises governmental power under the laws of
  this state, provided, however, that this subdivision shall  not  include
  any  employer  as  defined  in section twenty-eight hundred one-a of the
  education law.
c. "Essential" shall  refer  to  a  designation  made  that  a  public
  employee  is required to be physically present at a work site to perform
  his or her job. Such designation may be changed at any time in the  sole
  discretion of the employer.
d.  "Non-essential"  shall  refer  to a designation made that a public
  employee is not required to be physically present  at  a  work  site  to
  perform  his  or her job. Such designation may be changed at any time in
  the sole discretion of the employer.
e.  "Communicable  disease"  shall  mean  an  illness  caused  by   an
  infectious  agent  or  its  toxins  that  occurs  through  the direct or
  indirect transmission of the infectious agent or its  products  from  an
  infected individual.
f.   "Retaliatory   action"  shall  mean  the  discharge,  suspension,
  demotion, or discrimination  against  any  employee,  or  other  adverse
  employment  action taken against an employee in the terms and conditions
  of employment.
2. Each public employer in the state of New York shall prepare a  plan
  for  the  continuation  of  operations  in  the  event that the governor
  declares a state disaster emergency involving  a  communicable  disease.
  Such  plans  shall  follow  the provisions for review and publication as
  prescribed in subdivision four of this section.
3. The operations plan required by this section shall include, but not
  be limited to:
a. A list  and  description  of  the  types  of  positions  considered
  essential  in  the  event  of  a  state-ordered  reduction  of in-person
  workforce.
b.  A  description  of  protocols  the  employer   will   follow   for
  non-essential  employees  to  telecommute including, but not limited to,
  facilitating or requesting the  procurement,  distribution,  downloading
  and installation of any needed technology, including software, data, and
  the  transferring  of office phone lines to work or personal cell phones
  as practicable or applicable to the workplace, and may include devices.
c. A description of how the employer will,  to  the  extent  possible,
  stagger   work   shifts  of  essential  employees  in  order  to  reduce
  overcrowding on public transportation systems and at worksites.
d. A description of the protocol the employer will implement in  order
  to  procure  the appropriate personal protective equipment for essential
  employees, based upon the various tasks and needs of such employees in a
  quantity sufficient to provide personal  protective  equipment  to  each
  essential  employee  during any given work shift. Such description shall
  also include a plan for storage of such equipment to prevent degradation
  and permit immediate access in the event of an emergency declaration.
e. A description of the protocol in the event an employee  is  exposed
  to  a  known case of the communicable disease that is the subject of the
  state disaster emergency, exhibits symptoms of such  disease,  or  tests
  positive  for such disease in order to prevent the spread or contraction
  of  such  disease  in  the  workplace.  Such  protocol shall also detail
  actions to be taken to immediately and  thoroughly  disinfect  the  work
  area  of  any  employee  known  or  suspected  to  be  infected with the
  communicable disease as well as  any  common  area  surface  and  shared
  equipment  such  employee  may  have touched, and the employer policy on
  available leave in the event of the  need  of  an  employee  to  receive
  testing,  treatment,  isolation,  or quarantine. Such protocol shall not
  involve any action that would violate any existing  federal,  state,  or
  local law, including regarding sick leave or health information privacy.
f.  A  protocol  for  documenting  hours and work locations, including
  off-site  visits,  for  essential  employees.  Such  protocol  shall  be
  designed  only  to  aid  in  tracking of the disease and to identify the
  population of exposed employees in order to facilitate the provision  of
  any benefits which may be available to certain employees on that basis.
g.  A  protocol  for  how  the  public  employer  will  work with such
  employer's  locality  to  identify  sites  for  emergency  housing   for
  essential  employees  in  order  to  further  contain  the spread of the
  communicable disease that is the subject of the declared  emergency,  to
  the extent applicable to the needs of the workplace.
h.  Any other requirements determined by the department of health such
  as contract tracing or testing,  social  distancing,  hand  hygiene  and
  disinfectant, or mask wearing.
4. Once drafted, each public employer shall present the plan described
  in   this  section  to  all  applicable  duly  recognized  or  certified
  representatives of the employer's employees, who shall then  be  granted
  an  opportunity  to  review  the  plan and make recommendations, if any,
  provided that nothing shall preclude such  representatives  from  making
  such  recommendations  prior  to the draft being completed. The employer
  must consider and respond to such recommendations in  writing  within  a
  reasonable  timeframe.  A  copy  of the final version of such plan shall
  then be published in a  clear  and  conspicuous  location,  and  in  the
  employee  handbook,  to  the  extent  that  the  employer  provides such
  handbook to its employees, and in a location accessible  on  either  the
  employer's  website  or  on  the  internet  accessible  by employees. No
  employer shall take retaliatory action or otherwise discriminate against
  any employee for making recommendations regarding  the  content  of  the
  plan.
5.  The  department  shall  establish  procedures  to allow for public
  employees to contact and inform the department of any alleged violations
  of any of the provisions described in this section.
6. Nothing in this  section  shall  be  deemed  to  impede,  infringe,
  diminish or impair the rights of a public employee or employer under any
  law,  rule,  regulation  or  collectively  negotiated  agreement, or the
  rights  and  benefits  which  accrue  to  employees  through  collective
  bargaining  agreements,  or  otherwise  diminish  the  integrity  of the
  existing collective bargaining relationship.