August 2022: New York State Legislature Approves Law That Prohibits No Fault Attendance Policies

Update Applicable to: 
All employers in the state of New York.

What happened?
On June 23, 2022, the New York State Legislature passed Senate Bill S1958A that, if and when enacted into law, would amend the New York Labor Law to clarify that employers who maintain “no-fault” or absence control policies may not discipline employees for taking absences that are protected under federal, state, or local law.

What are the details? 
Under absence control policies, employees have commonly assessed “points” or “demerits” for being absent from work. The assessment of points may subject an employee to disciplinary action (e.g., failure to receive a promotion, loss of pay, or termination). 

The amendment would prohibit employers in New York from “assessing any demerit, occurrence, any other point, or deductions from an allotted bank of time” to employees who take “any legally protected absence under federal, state or local law.” If an employer does so, the amendment clarifies that such conduct would constitute retaliation under the Labor Law.

The amendment would take effect 90 days after the Governor signs it into law. 

For more information, please see the links below:

Senate Bill S1958A

 Article 

What do employers need to do?
Employers should review the links provided above and be aware of any updates regarding this bill. Vensure will continue to monitor this update and provide more communication once more news is received.