On December 22, 2021, the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) published highly anticipated proposed regulations in the New York State Register regarding section 2 of the New York Health and Essential Rights Act (NY HERO Act). Section 2 of the act, which took effect on November 1, 2021, requires all private employers with at least 10 employees to allow employees to establish joint employer-employee committees authorized to raise workplace health and safety issues and evaluate applicable policies. The proposed regulations provide definitional clarifications, rules for the establishment, composition, and operation of committees, and information regarding employer obligations. Nevertheless, the proposed regulations leave many questions unanswered.
The proposed regulations clarify that the 10-employee threshold is based on the number of employees located in New York State. Further, part-time, newly hired, temporary, and seasonal employees will be counted, as well as those employees on paid or unpaid leave, disciplinary suspension, or other types of temporary leave in which the employer reasonably expects the employee to return to active employment.
The June 2021 amendments to the act clarified that employers are not required to permit more than one workplace safety committee per worksite. The amendments did not address whether employers with multiple worksites in New York State, particularly in the same geographic...
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