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

                                  1160

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                             January 8, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  GUNTHER,  ABINANTI, JAFFEE, STECK, COLTON --
  Multi-Sponsored by -- M.  of A. HOOPER -- read once  and  referred  to
  the Committee on Labor

AN  ACT  to  amend the labor law, in relation to restrictions on consec-
  utive hours of work for non-nursing direct-care staff

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

  Section  1.  Section  167 of the labor law, as added by chapter 493 of
the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
  S 167. Restrictions on consecutive hours of work for nurses.  1.  When
used in this section:
  a.  "Health  care  employer"  shall  mean any individual, partnership,
association, corporation, limited liability company  or  any  person  or
group  of  persons  acting directly or indirectly on behalf of or in the
interest of the employer, which provides health care services (i)  in  a
facility  licensed  or  operated pursuant to article twenty-eight of the
public health law, including any facility operated by the state, a poli-
tical subdivision or a public corporation as defined by  section  sixty-
six  of  the general construction law, or (ii) in a facility operated by
the state, a political subdivision or a public corporation as defined by
section sixty-six of the general construction law, operated or  licensed
pursuant  to the mental hygiene law, the education law or the correction
law.
  b. "Nurse" shall mean a registered professional nurse  or  a  licensed
practical  nurse  as  defined  by article one hundred thirty-nine of the
education law who provides direct patient care.
  c. "NON-NURSING DIRECT-CARE STAFF" SHALL MEAN ANY EMPLOYEE WHO IS  NOT
A  NURSE  OR  OTHER PERSON LICENSED, CERTIFIED OR REGISTERED UNDER TITLE
EIGHT OF THE EDUCATION LAW WHOSE PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITY  IS  TO  CARRY
OUT  DIRECT  PATIENT  CARE  FOR  ONE  OR MORE PATIENTS OR PROVIDE DIRECT
ASSISTANCE IN THE DELIVERY OF PATIENT CARE.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD01312-01-5
              

A. 1160                             2

  D. "Regularly scheduled work hours", including  pre-scheduled  on-call
time  and  the time spent for the purpose of communicating shift reports
regarding patient status necessary to ensure patient safety, shall  mean
those  hours a nurse OR NON-NURSING DIRECT-CARE STAFF has agreed to work
and  is  normally scheduled to work pursuant to the budgeted hours allo-
cated to the nurse's position by the health care  employer;  and  if  no
such  allocation system exists, some other measure generally used by the
health care employer to determine when an employee is minimally supposed
to work, consistent with the collective bargaining  agreement,  if  any.
Nothing  in this section shall be construed to permit an employer to use
on-call time as a substitute for mandatory overtime.
  2. a. Notwithstanding any  other  provision  of  law  no  health  care
employer  shall require a nurse OR NON-NURSING DIRECT-CARE STAFF to work
more than that nurse's  OR  NON-NURSING  DIRECT-CARE  STAFF'S  regularly
scheduled  work  hours,  except  pursuant  to  subdivision three of this
section.
  b. Nothing in this section  shall  prohibit  a  nurse  OR  NON-NURSING
DIRECT-CARE STAFF from voluntarily working overtime.
  3. The limitations provided for in this section shall not apply in the
case of:
  a. a health care disaster, such as a natural or other type of disaster
that  increases the need for health care personnel, unexpectedly affect-
ing the county in which the nurse or non-nursing direct  care  staff  is
employed or in a contiguous county; or
  b.  a  federal,  state or county declaration of emergency in effect in
the county in which the  nurse  or  non-nursing  direct  care  staff  is
employed or in a contiguous county; or
  c.  where  a  health  care  employer determines there is an emergency,
necessary to provide safe patient care, in which case  the  health  care
provider  shall,  before requiring an on-duty employee to remain, make a
good faith effort to have overtime covered on a voluntary basis, includ-
ing, but not limited to, calling per  diems,  agency  nurses,  assigning
floats, or requesting an additional day of work from off-duty employees,
to  the  extent  such  staffing  options exist. For the purposes of this
paragraph, "emergency", including an unanticipated  staffing  emergency,
is  defined  as  an unforeseen event that could not be prudently planned
for by an employer and does not regularly occur; or
  d. an ongoing medical or surgical procedure  in  which  the  nurse  is
actively  engaged and whose continued presence through the completion of
the procedure is needed to ensure the health and safety of the patient.
  4. The provisions of this section are intended as a  remedial  measure
to  protect the public health and the quality of patient care, and shall
not be construed to diminish  or  waive  any  rights  of  any  nurse  OR
NON-NURSING  DIRECT-CARE STAFF pursuant to any other law, regulation, or
collective bargaining agreement.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.