2020 New York Laws
LAB - Labor
Article 2 - The Department of Labor
27-C - Duty of Public Employers to Develop Operation Plans in the Event of Certain Declared Public Health Emergencies.

§  27-c.  Duty  of  public employers to develop operation plans in the
  event of certain declared public health emergencies. 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. "Contractor" shall mean an individual performing services as  party
  to  a  contract  awarded  by  the  state of New York or any other public
  employer defined in paragraph b of this subdivision.
d. "Essential" shall  refer  to  a  designation  made  that  a  public
  employee  or  contractor  is required to be physically present at a work
  site to perform his or her job.
e. "Non-essential" shall refer to a designation  made  that  a  public
  employee  or  contractor  is  not required to be physically present at a
  work site to perform his or her job.
f.  "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   or  via  an  animal,  vector  or  the  inanimate
  environment to a susceptible animal or human host.
g.  "Retaliatory  action"  shall  mean  the   discharge,   suspension,
  demotion, penalization, 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 public health 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 positions and titles considered essential
  in the event of a state-ordered reduction of in-person workforce, and  a
  justification   of  such  consideration  for  each  position  and  title
  included.
b. A specific description of protocols the  employer  will  follow  in
  order   to   enable  all  non-essential  employees  and  contractors  to
  telecommute including, but not limited to,  facilitating  or  requesting
  the  procurement,  distribution,  downloading  and  installation  of any
  needed devices or technology, including software, data,  office  laptops
  or  cell  phones,  and the transferring of office phone lines to work or
  personal cell phones as practicable or applicable to the workplace.
c. A description of how the employer will,  to  the  extent  possible,
  stagger  work  shifts of essential employees and contractors 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 and contractors, based upon the various  tasks  and  needs  of
  such  employees  and  contractors in a quantity sufficient to provide at

  least two pieces of each type of personal protective equipment  to  each
  essential  employee  and  contractor during any given work shift over at
  least six months. 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  or
  contractor  is  exposed to a known case of the communicable disease that
  is the subject of the public health 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 or contractor known or suspected
  to  be infected with the communicable disease as well as any common area
  surface and shared  equipment  such  employee  or  contractor  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  precise  hours  and work locations,
  including off-site visits, for essential employees and contractors. Such
  protocol shall be designed only to aid in tracking of the disease and to
  identify the population of exposed employees and contractors in order to
  facilitate the provision of any  benefits  which  may  be  available  to
  certain employees and contractors 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.
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 suggestions  or  recommendations  regarding  the
  content of the plan.
5.  The  department  shall  establish  procedures  to allow for public
  employees or contract workers to contact and inform  the  department  of
  any alleged or believed 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.