S 515: Allows parents and legal guardians to work from home; allows flexible working arrangements during a public health emergency or state or local disaster emergency which closes schools or day care centers; defines terms; creates a rebuttable presumption that an employee can work remotely if such employee has done so for two consecutive pay periods or two weeks; creates a civil penalty for violations.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 515 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. PERSAUD, JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to flexible working arrange- ments for parents and legal guardians when day care centers and schools are closed during a state or local disaster emergency The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The labor law is amended by adding a new section 202-m to 2 read as follows: 3 § 202-m. Flexible working arrangements for parents and legal guardians 4 during a state or local disaster emergency. 1. Definitions. For the 5 purposes of this section: 6 (a) "School-aged child" shall mean a child or children enrolled in 3-k 7 or pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. 8 (b) "Day care-aged child" shall mean a child enrolled in a day care 9 center. 10 (c) "Parent" shall mean a biological, foster, or adoptive parent, a 11 legal guardian, or other person who stands in loco parentis to a school- 12 aged child or children. 13 (d) "Employer" shall mean all employers within the state. 14 (e) "Flexible working arrangement" shall mean short-term, intermedi- 15 ate, or long-term changes in the employee's regular working arrange- 16 ments, including but not limited to, changes in the number of days or 17 hours worked, changes in the time the employee arrives at or departs 18 from work, remote work, or job-sharing. "Flexible working arrangement" 19 shall not include vacation, routine scheduling of shifts, or another 20 form of employee leave. 21 (f) "Inconsistent with business operations" shall mean a determination 22 by the employer based on the following considerations: (i) the burden on 23 an employer of undue additional costs; (ii) a legitimate or practical EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02188-01-5 
 S. 515 2 1 detrimental effect on aggregate employee morale unrelated to discrimi- 2 nation or other unlawful employment practices; (iii) a legitimate or 3 practical detrimental effect on the ability of an employer to meet 4 consumer demand; (iv) a significant inability to reorganize work among 5 existing staff; (v) a legitimate or practical inability to recruit addi- 6 tional staff; (vi) a significant detrimental impact on business quality 7 or business performance; (vii) an insufficiency of work during the peri- 8 ods the employee proposes to work; (viii) planned structural changes to 9 the business; and (ix) any other reasons as specified by the commission- 10 er. 11 2. Presumption of entitlement for parents and legal guardians to work 12 remotely when day care centers and schools are closed due to a state or 13 local disaster emergency. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of 14 law to the contrary, an employee shall be entitled to work remotely 15 where the essential functions of the employee's position can be 16 performed remotely and (i) the employee is the parent of a school-aged 17 child or day care-aged child or children; (ii) the school or day care 18 center attended by such school-aged child or day care-aged child or 19 children has been closed pursuant to an order of a public official due 20 to a state or local disaster emergency, regardless of whether there will 21 be virtual or remote instruction or instruction has been suspended; and 22 (iii) the purpose of working remotely is to be able to supervise or 23 otherwise provide care for such school-aged child or day care-aged child 24 or children. 25 (b) There shall be a rebuttable presumption that an employee can 26 perform work remotely if such employee has already performed work 27 remotely for two consecutive pay periods, or two weeks, whichever is 28 less time, in the current or immediately preceding calendar year. The 29 presumption may be rebutted by evidence showing that the employee cannot 30 perform essential duties remotely. 31 (c) Where a significant portion, but not all, of the essential func- 32 tions of the position in which the employee is employed can be performed 33 remotely, employers shall consider whether a similar arrangement or a 34 partial remote work arrangement may be granted in a manner that is not 35 inconsistent with its business operations or legal or contractual obli- 36 gations. 37 3. Right of parents and legal guardians to request flexible working 38 arrangements when day care centers or schools are closed due to a state 39 or local disaster emergency. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of 40 law to the contrary, an employee may request a flexible working arrange- 41 ment that meets the needs of both the employer and employee where: (i) 42 the employee is a parent of a school-aged or day care-aged child or 43 children; (ii) the school or day care center attended by such school- 44 aged child or day care-aged child or children has been closed pursuant 45 to an order of a public official due to a state or local disaster emer- 46 gency, regardless of whether there will be virtual or remote instruction 47 or instruction has been suspended; and (iii) the purpose of the flexible 48 working arrangement is to be able to supervise or otherwise provide care 49 for such school-aged child or day care-aged child or children. 50 (b) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to require an 51 employer to accept the flexible work arrangement requested by the 52 employee. 53 (c) The employer shall respond to the request for a flexible working 54 arrangement from the employee, and shall consider the employee's request 55 for a flexible working arrangement and whether the request or a similar 
 S. 515 3 1 arrangement could be granted in a manner that is not inconsistent with 2 its business operations or its legal or contractual obligations. 3 4. (a) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit an 4 employer from requiring an employee to request a remote work arrangement 5 or flexible working arrangement sufficiently in advance of when such 6 remote work or flexible working arrangement would commence. An employer 7 may establish reasonable standards to determine the time, place, and 8 manner in which the employee shall request a remote work or flexible 9 working arrangement pursuant to this section. 10 (b) An employer shall respond to the request for a remote work or 11 flexible working arrangement pursuant to this section in a reasonably 12 timely manner, but in no case shall such decision be provided later than 13 fourteen days from receipt of a request. If such request was submitted 14 in writing, the employer shall state any complete or partial denial of 15 the request in writing, citing the reason as to denying such request. 16 5. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to diminish the rights, 17 privileges, or remedies of any employee under any collective bargaining 18 agreement. 19 6. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to affect any legal rights 20 an employer or employee may have under applicable law to create, termi- 21 nate, or modify a remote work or flexible working arrangement. 22 7. No employer or their agent, or the officer or agent of any corpo- 23 ration, partnership, or limited liability company, or any other person, 24 shall discharge, threaten, penalize, or in any other manner discriminate 25 or retaliate against any employee because such employee has exercised 26 their rights afforded under this section. 27 8. (a) The commissioner may bring an action against an employer for 28 failure to adhere to the provisions of this section, including injunc- 29 tive relief to enjoin future conduct. 30 (b) Any employer who violates the provisions of this section shall 31 forfeit to the people of the state a sum of five hundred dollars for 32 each violation, to be recovered by the commissioner in any legal action 33 taken pursuant to this subdivision. 34 9. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations for the 35 implementation of this section. 36 § 2. Nothing in this act shall be construed to prevent a locality from 37 enacting and enforcing local laws or ordinances which meet or exceed the 38 standards or requirements set forth in this act. 39 § 3. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 40 have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediately employ- 41 ees may begin the process of requesting remote work or flexible working 42 arrangements pursuant to this act.