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A New York state law which establishes protections for workers from employer retaliation against absences went into effect on Tuesday. Such absences include those due to illness and caregiving obligations, the New York State Department of Labor announced in a news release.

The new law, which Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law in November 2022, prohibits employers from penalizing or discriminating against employees for taking legally-protected absences, including those under paid family and sick leaves, according to the release.

“Employees should not have to fear for their jobs when taking legally protected time away from work,” said Roberta Reardon, NYSDOL commissioner, in the release. “This new law reassures our workforce that we value their work and their well-being.”

New York State Senator Liz Krueger (D-28) sponsored the law, which states that employers who violate the law will face a $10,000 penalty for initial violations and up to $20,000 for subsequent violations. According to the release, employees could receive back pay and other damages if impacted by unlawful penalties.

“Employees have the right to take legally-protected time off from their jobs to address certain medical, caregiving, and religious needs without penalty,” the bill sponsor memo read.

Absence control attendance policies discourage workers from taking job-protected leave or time off, the memo reads. Under “no-fault” attendance policies, which can discourage employees from taking time off, employees receive demerits regardless of the reason for their absence, according to the memo. The law prohibits resulting disciplinary action, like reduced work hours and pay, work schedule alteration and employee termination.

In 2022, New York state’s Division of Labor Standards investigated more than 5,500 reports of labor violations related to COVID-19 and state paid sick leave policy, according to the release.

Improving parental benefits is among concerns Syracuse Graduate Employees United cited in the launch of their unionization effort. Cassidy Thomas, an organizing committee member for SGEU, said the union considers expanding parental benefits to be among its top priorities.

Currently, SU provides support for full-time graduate students whose applications to offset childcare expenses are approved. Full-time on-campus graduate students are eligible to receive $1,000 per child younger than six years old for up to two children, according to the SU graduate school website.

At an SGEU orientation event on Feb. 14, presenters shared a document highlighting union victories at other colleges and universities, including $3,600 in childcare subsidies at the University of Washington and 14 weeks of paid parental leave at Rutgers University.

SU initially launched full-time graduate student subsidies in April 2017, but Thomas said he hasn’t felt improvement in the university’s support for graduate students with children over the past three years he’s been at SU. He pointed to the University of Michigan’s graduate employees’ organization contract, which states that UM must provide graduate students with $2,940 for one child and $4,310 for two children per term.

Several laws in New York allow workers to take leave for important reasons, such as child care or voting, Kruegar said in the release. He emphasized that laws protecting workers’ leave ultimately ensure well-being for New York families.

“Employers must follow the letter and the spirit of those laws, and not penalize workers for exercising their right to take legally protected leave,” Krueger said in the release.

Published on February 22, 2023 at 12:25 am

Contact Dominic: dcchiapp@syr.edu | @DominicChiappo2