2021 New York Laws
LAB - Labor
Article 2 - The Department of Labor
21 - General Powers and Duties of Commissioner.

§  21.  General  powers  and  duties of commissioner. The commissioner
shall be the administrative head  of  the  department  and  shall  have,
notwithstanding   any   provision   of  law  to  the  contrary,  general
administrative  supervision  over   the   several   divisions,   boards,
commissions, bureaus, and agencies thereof whether established under the
provisions  of  this  chapter  or  the workmen's compensation law and in
connection therewith, the commissioner:
  1. Shall enforce all the provisions of this chapter and may issue such
orders as he finds necessary directing compliance with any provision  of
this chapter, except as in this chapter otherwise provided;
  2. Shall cause proper inspections to be made of all matters prescribed
by this chapter;
  3.  Shall cause investigations to be made of the condition of women in
industry;
  * 3-a. Shall  prepare  and  submit  to  the  governor,  the  temporary
president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly on or before the
thirtieth  day  of  September  an  annual  report on the status of older
workers including those over the age of sixty-five in  New  York  state.
Such  report shall describe in detail the employment needs of such older
workers and the ability of existing state employment  services  to  deal
with  the  problems of older workers. The report shall consider the need
for affirmative action, training, counseling, development of alternative
work schedules, job development activities within the public and private
sector, and the need for improved  use  by  older  workers  of  publicly
funded  programs  for  employment  and  employment-related services. The
report shall also consider the economic  impact  of  unemployment  among
older   workers   and   shall  contain  recommendations,  including  the
associated costs, for improved programs or for changes  in  statutes  or
regulations  to  provide  increased  employment  opportunities for older
workers.
  * NB Expired October 1, 1981
  4. Shall inquire into  and  report  on  the  causes  of  all  strikes,
lockouts  and  other industrial controversies or labor disputes, and may
appoint boards of inquiry for that purpose;
  5. Shall institute methods and procedures for the establishment  of  a
program  for  voluntary  compliance  by employers and employees with the
requirements of this act and all applicable safety and health  standards
and  rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to the authority of this
article;
  6. Shall provide a method of encouraging employers  and  employees  in
their  efforts to reduce the number of safety and health hazards arising
from undesirable, inappropriate, or unnecessary  working  conditions  at
the  workplace  and  of stimulating employers and employees to institute
new and to perfect existing programs for providing  safe  and  healthful
working conditions;
  7.  May  provide  for  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of public
employment offices for the purpose of securing employment for men, women
and children;
  8.  May  make  investigations,   collect   and   compile   statistical
information  and  report upon the conditions of labor generally and upon
all matters relating to the enforcement and effect of the provisions  of
this chapter and of the rules thereunder;
  9.  May  enforce  any lawful municipal ordinance, by-law or regulation
relating to any place affected by the provisions of this chapter, not in
conflict with provisions of this chapter;
  10.  May  investigate  the  condition  of  aliens  relative  to  their
employment in industry;

  11. May issue such regulations governing any provision of this chapter
as he finds necessary and proper.
  12.  Shall  compile  and  publish,  on  an annual basis, a list of all
regulations and notices required to  be  posted  by  employers  for  the
benefit  of  their  employees  pursuant  to  this  chapter, the workers'
compensation law and any other state or federal law, rule or regulation.
  13.  Shall  adopt  regulations   prescribing   the   methodology   for
establishing  an  ongoing  monthly  statewide cost of labor index and an
annual county or appropriate multi-county labor  market  composite  wage
rate,  in  consultation  with  the  commissioner  of  education, for the
purpose of computation of building aid to school districts, as  required
by  subparagraph  one  of  paragraph  a  of  subdivision  six of section
thirty-six hundred two of the education law.
  14. Shall do all things necessary for the operation of  the  New  York
state  data center established in the department in cooperation with the
United States bureau of  the  census;  to  cooperate  with  other  state
agencies, universities, regional organizations, boards, commissions, and
other  entities  in  the dissemination of socio-economic information and
data through the New York state data center program; in relation to such
information and data, to provide technical  assistance  to  other  state
agencies,  universities, regional organizations, boards, commissions and
other entities; and to prepare estimates and the official projections of
population, households and other characteristics of the state for use by
all state agencies. All employees transferred to the department shall be
transferred without further examination or qualification to the same  or
similar  titles and shall remain in the same collective bargaining units
and shall retain their respective civil service classifications,  status
and  rights pursuant to their collective bargaining units and collective
bargaining agreements.
  15. Shall establish and maintain an online database to  catalogue  and
make available information on workforce development funding programs and
may  publish  any analysis conducted by the department on such data. For
purposes of this subdivision, the term  "workforce  development  funding
program"   shall   mean  a  program  that  funds  or  provides  targeted
educational, occupational  or  training  services  for  the  purpose  of
effecting  the  employability  of  the participant, provides training or
employment  services,  supports  an  economic  development  activity  by
enhancing  the skills of the state's workforce, prepares individuals for
employment, improves opportunities for individuals to  become  employed,
or  promotes  understanding  of  the  state  labor  force market through
statistical studies, including but not limited to programs that fund  or
provide  English  as  a  second  language  and  adult literacy. For each
workforce  development  funding  program,  the  online  database   shall
include,  but  not  be  limited  to,  the following information for each
funding program:
  (i) the name of the funding program and the agency  administering  the
funding program;
  (ii) a description of the purpose of the funding program;
  (iii) a specific program Uniform Resource Locator ("URL"), if any;
  (iv) the year the program was established;
  (v) a catalog of federal domestic assistance numbers, if any;
  (vi) the legal authority, including statute and regulation citations;
  (vii)  the  program  and  fiscal  contact information including agency
name, telephone number, and email address;
  (viii) all eligibility requirements;
  (ix) any program and special restrictions;
  (x) any action or actions required to receive aid; and
  (xi) a description of aid which shall include, but not be limited  to,
the  flow  of  funds between entities, the type of aid formula used, any
matching requirements and any maintenance of effort.