Enacts the "New York city teleworking expansion act"; provides that each agency shall establish a policy and program to allow employees to perform all or a portion of their duties through teleworking to the maximum extent possible without diminished employee performance; defines the term "telework" to mean to perform normal and regular work functions on a workday that ordinarily would be performed at the agency's principal location at a different location, thereby eliminating or substantially reducing the physical commute to and from such agency's principal location.

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S3346-2011 Actions

• Feb 17, 2011: REFERRED TO CITIES

S3346-2011 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S3346

TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in
relation to teleworking programs

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF THE BILL:
This bill aims
to reduce congestion in Manhattan by increasing teleworking in New York
City agencies.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
The bill amends the
New York City Administrative Code by adding section 12-140 to require
New York City agencies to establish teleworking programs.

JUSTIFICATION:
Congestion is a genuine problem in New
York City, requiring thoughtful solutions which don't unnecessarily tax
New Yorkers. Teleworking offers an opportunity to reduce congestion and
complement efforts to reduce government issued parking placards. The
federal government and many states and municipalities have established
teleworking policies to get workers out of their cars, and not merely to
reduce congestion. Teleworking has been shown to increase productivity
and retention while reducing absenteeism. Private sector based
strategies include tax credits for businesses against the cost of
planning, training and capital purchases necessary to establish a
teleworking program (i.e., Georgia), or merely free consulting and
training for businesses interested in establishing teleworking programs
(i.e., Connecticut).

Numerous jurisdictions have established successful teleworking programs
for government employees. Arizona, for example, required (and achieved)
20% of state government workers in busy Maricopa County (including the
City of Phoenix) to telework. Virginia has required that each state
agency should have 25% of its employees teleworking by 2010. The federal
government requires its agencies to establish teleworking programs for
its employees, and over 100,000 federal employees participate.

New York City should be required to establish a teleworking program for
its employees, with appropriate goals for the p(:rcentage of city
workers teleworking.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Minimal.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
Ninety days after enactment.

S3346-2011 Text

                      S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
  ________________________________________________________________________

                                    3346

                         2011-2012 Regular Sessions

                              I N  SENATE

                              February 17, 2011
                                 ___________

  Introduced  by  Sen.  KRUGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
    printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities

  AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the  city  of  New  York,  in
    relation to enacting the "New York city teleworking expansion act"

    THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
  BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


    Section 1. Short title.  This act shall be known and may be  cited  as
  the "New York city teleworking expansion act".
    S  2. Legislative findings.  The legislature hereby finds and declares
  that the health and safety of the population living in  and  around  the
  densely populated New York city metropolitan region is a matter of state
  concern, as is the economic vitality and the effectiveness of mass tran-
  sit in that region, all of which are threatened by the amount of traffic
  congestion  inside  of,  and  into,  New  York city, and the overcrowded
  buses, subways and railroads within the region.  Traffic  congestion  is
  particularly  harmful  to the mass transit bus systems run by the Metro-
  politan Transportation Authority,  creating  delays  and  hindering  the
  growth  of essential surface mass transportation systems, and the entire
  mass transit system  suffers  from  severe  overcrowding.  The  negative
  impact of traffic congestion in New York city on the health, economy and
  mass  transit systems of the downstate region, as well as the overcrowd-
  ing of the region's mass transit systems, were established  at  legisla-
  tive  hearings in the spring of 2007, as well as during the hearings and
  reports of the legislatively created New York  City  Traffic  Mitigation
  Commission.  During these hearings, it was established that a very large
  number of New York city employees drive to work both from points  within
  New  York  city  and  without,  that  New  York city lacks a working and
  adequate telecommuting program for its employees, and that an  effective
  telecommuting  program  would  significantly  reduce  the number of such
  employees driving to work.  Likewise, a telecommuting  program  for  New
  York  city  employees would also allow employees who use mass transit to

   EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                        [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                             LBD01328-01-1

 S. 3346                             2

  work from home, thereby alleviating  the  current  overcrowding  in  the
  region's  mass  transit  systems.  Such a program as established by this
  legislation would accomplish the state's concern that the health,  safe-
  ty,  economic  vitality  and  mass  transit  operations of the downstate
  region be preserved and protected.
    S 3. The administrative code of the city of New  York  is  amended  by
  adding a new section 12-140 to read as follows:

    S 12-140 TELEWORKING PROGRAMS. A. EACH AGENCY SHALL ESTABLISH A POLICY
  AND  PROGRAM  TO  ALLOW  EMPLOYEES  TO PERFORM ALL OR A PORTION OF THEIR
  DUTIES THROUGH TELEWORKING TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT POSSIBLE WITHOUT DIMIN-
  ISHED EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE. EACH  AGENCY  SHALL  DESIGNATE  A  "TELEWORK
  COORDINATOR"  TO  BE  RESPONSIBLE  FOR  OVERSEEING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
  TELEWORKING PROGRAMS.
    B. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, THE TERM "TELEWORK" SHALL MEAN TO
  PERFORM NORMAL AND REGULAR WORK FUNCTIONS ON A WORKDAY  THAT  ORDINARILY
  WOULD  BE  PERFORMED  AT  THE AGENCY'S PRINCIPAL LOCATION AT A DIFFERENT
  LOCATION, THEREBY ELIMINATING OR  SUBSTANTIALLY  REDUCING  THE  PHYSICAL
  COMMUTE TO AND FROM SUCH AGENCY'S PRINCIPAL LOCATION.
    S  4.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
  have become a law.