S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                  5991

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                              June 17, 2015
                               ___________

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

AN ACT to amend the general business  law,  in  relation  to  employment
  agencies;  and to repeal subdivision 1-a of section 185 of the general
  business law relating thereto

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

  Section  1. The opening paragraph and paragraph b of subdivision 12 of
section 171 of the general business law, as added by a  chapter  of  the
laws  of  2015  amending the general business law relating to employment
agencies, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S.3415 and A.3702, is
amended to read as follows:
  "Bona fide order" means a written order from an employer  directed  to
an employment agency stating that the employer requests that the employ-
ment  agency refer one or more job applicants for a specific position or
positions [within  a  specified  and  limited  application  period].  An
employment  agency must renew a bona fide order after forty-five days if
it intends to refer an applicant for the position described in such bona
fide order, and the employment agency must  specify  on  the  bona  fide
order  the  name  of  the representative of the prospective employer who
authorized the renewal and the date on which the renewal was authorized.
The bona fide order shall also include a written statement setting forth
the terms and conditions of employment for the position described in the
order; such written statement shall include, at a minimum, the following
information:
  b. [the place or places] ADDRESSES of employment;
  S 2. Subdivisions 2, 3, 4 and 5 of section 181 of the general business
law, as amended by a chapter of the laws of 2015  amending  the  general
business law relating to employment agencies, as proposed in legislative
bills numbers S.3415 and A.3702, are amended to read as follows:

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD06774-07-5

              

S. 5991                             2

  2.  (a)  An employment agency shall issue a written statement of terms
and conditions to each job applicant on each occasion  that  the  agency
refers  the  applicant to a potential employer. The written statement of
terms and conditions shall be in English and in the language  identified
by  the  applicant  as  the  primary  language  of such applicant. Every
employment agency shall keep on file in its principal place of  business
for  a  period  of three years a copy of each written statement of terms
and conditions issued to each applicant that is signed and dated by  the
applicant.  The  statement  of  terms and conditions shall include, at a
minimum, the following information: (i) the name of  the  employer,  any
"doing  business as" names used by the employer, the physical address of
the employer's main office or principal place of business, and a mailing
address if different, the telephone number of the  employer,  plus  such
other information as the commissioner deems material and necessary; (ii)
[the  place  or places] ADDRESSES of employment; (iii) the hours of work
per day and number of days per week to be worked; (iv) the rate or rates
of pay and basis thereof, whether paid by the hour,  shift,  day,  week,
salary, piece, commission, or other, allowances, if any, claimed as part
of the minimum wage, including tip, meal, or lodging allowances; (v) the
circumstances  under which the employee will be paid a premium for work-
ing in excess of an established number of hours per day, week, or month,
or for working on designated nights, weekends,  or  holidays;  (vi)  the
anticipated  period  of employment; (vii) any provision to the employee,
and how long the provision will be provided by  the  employer,  and  any
costs  to  the employee associated with the provision, including but not
limited to, transportation to and from work, housing,  health  insurance
or  health  care,  paid  sick  or  annual leave and holiday or holidays,
pension or retirement benefits, personal protective  equipment  required
for  work,  workers'  compensation  and  information about the insurance
policy and rules regarding reporting of accidents or injuries, and unem-
ployment compensation; and (viii) the nature of the work to be performed
by the employee.
  (b) The commissioner shall prepare  templates  that  comply  with  the
requirements  of  paragraph  (a) of this subdivision. Each such template
shall be [dual-language, including English and one additional  language.
The  commissioner  shall  determine,  in  his  or  her discretion, which
languages to provide in addition to English,] PROVIDED IN ENGLISH AND IN
THE DISCRETION OF THE  COMMISSIONER,  OTHER  LANGUAGES  IN  ADDITION  TO
ENGLISH,  based on the size of the New York state population that speaks
each language and any other factor  that  the  commissioner  shall  deem
relevant. All such templates shall be made available to employment agen-
cies in such manner as determined by the commissioner.
  (c)  When  a job applicant identifies as his or her primary language a
language for which a template is not available  from  the  commissioner,
the  employment  agency  shall comply with this subdivision by providing
that employee an English-language statement.
  (d) An employment agency shall not be penalized for  errors  or  omis-
sions  in the non-English portions of any notice provided by the commis-
sioner.
  3. [Every employment agency shall keep on file in its principal  place
of  business  for  a  period  of  three years a statement, signed by the
employer of every applicant whom the employment agency has placed, indi-
cating that the employer has read and understood the statement of  terms
and  conditions required by subdivision two of this section and that the
employer has received a copy of that statement.

S. 5991                             3

  4.] A receipt for any fee, consideration, or payment which  an  agency
receives from an applicant. The receipt shall have printed or written on
it  the  name  of  the applicant, the name and address of the employment
agency, the date and amount of such fee,  consideration  or  payment  or
portion thereof for which the receipt is given, the purpose for which it
was  paid,  and  the signature of the person receiving such payment. The
receipt shall also include immediately above the place for signature  of
the  person  receiving payment, set off in a box and printed in bold and
in caps, the following statement: "An employment agency may  not  charge
you,  the  job  applicant,  a fee before referring you to a job that you
accept. If you pay a fee before accepting a job or pay a fee that other-
wise violates the law, you may demand a refund, which  shall  be  repaid
within  seven (7) days." The text contained in this box shall also be in
English and in the language identified by each applicant as the  primary
language of such applicant.
  [5.]  4.  The  original  or  duplicate-original  copy  of each written
contract, each statement of terms and conditions required by subdivision
two of this section, and each receipt  required  by  subdivision  [four]
THREE  of  this section shall be retained by every employment agency for
three years following the date on which the contract  is  executed.  The
records  required  under  this  subdivision  shall be made available for
inspection by the commissioner or his or her duly  authorized  agent  or
inspector, upon such request.
  S  3.  Subdivision  1-a  of section 185 of the general business law is
REPEALED.
  S 4. Subdivision 3 of section 185 of  the  general  business  law,  as
amended  by  a chapter of the laws of 2015 amending the general business
law relating to employment agencies, as proposed  in  legislative  bills
numbers S.3415 and A.3702, is amended to read as follows:
  3.  Deposits,  advance  fees.  Notwithstanding any other provisions of
this section, an employment agency shall not require or accept a deposit
or advance fee  from  any  applicant.    [Any  deposit  or  advance  fee
collected  by  an employment agency prior to October first, two thousand
fifteen, must be refunded to the applicant by November first, two  thou-
sand  sixteen,  if:  (a) such deposit or advance fee did not lead to the
job applicant obtaining employment through the employment agency or  (b)
the  deposit  or  advance  fee  was  not  applied to the job applicant's
account for services rendered by the employment agency.]
  S 5. Subdivision 3 of section 187 of  the  general  business  law,  as
amended  by  a chapter of the laws of 2015 amending the general business
law relating to employment agencies, as proposed  in  legislative  bills
numbers S.3415 and A.3702, is amended to read as follows:
  (3)  Advertise  in  newspapers  or  otherwise,  or  use letterheads or
receipts or other written or printed matter, unless such advertising  or
other matter contains the name and address of the employment agency, the
word "agency"[,] and the agency's license number.
  S  6.  Subdivision  4  of  section 189 of the general business law, as
amended by a chapter of the laws of 2015 amending the  general  business
law  relating  to  employment agencies, as proposed in legislative bills
numbers S.3415 and A.3702, is amended to read as follows:
  4. Complaints against any such licensed  or  unlicensed  person  [may]
SHALL be made orally or in writing to the commissioner, or be sent in an
affidavit  form  without  appearing in person, and may be made by recog-
nized employment agencies, trade associations, or  others.  The  commis-
sioner  may  hold  a  hearing on a complaint with the powers provided by
section one hundred seventy-four of this article. If a hearing is  held,

S. 5991                             4

reasonable  notice  thereof,  not less than five days, shall be given in
writing to said person by serving upon the person either personally,  by
mail,  or by leaving the same with the person in charge of his office, a
concise statement of the facts constituting the complaint, and the hear-
ing  shall commence before the commissioner with reasonable speed but in
no event later than two weeks  from  the  date  of  the  filing  of  the
complaint. The commissioner when investigating any matters pertaining to
the  granting,  issuing, transferring, renewing, revoking, suspending or
cancelling of any license is authorized in his discretion to  take  such
testimony  as  may  be  necessary on which to base official action. When
taking such testimony he may subpoena  witnesses  and  also  direct  the
production  before  him  of  necessary  and material books and papers. A
daily calendar of all hearings shall be kept  by  the  commissioner  and
shall be posted in a conspicuous place in his public office for at least
one  day before the date of such hearings. The commissioner shall render
his decision within thirty days from the  time  the  matter  is  finally
submitted  to  him.  The  commissioner  shall  keep a record of all such
complaints and hearings.  In addition to the powers of the commissioner,
the attorney general may bring an action against anyone who  is  alleged
to have violated this article.
  S  7.  Subdivisions 7, 8, 9 and 10 of section 189 of the general busi-
ness law, as added by a chapter of the laws of 2015 amending the general
business law relating to employment agencies, as proposed in legislative
bills numbers S.3415 and A.3702, are amended to read as follows:
  7. [Any person aggrieved by a violation of this article  may  bring  a
civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction against any employment
agency  or persons alleged to have violated the provisions of this arti-
cle. The court shall have jurisdiction to restrain  violations  of  this
section  and  to  order  all appropriate relief, including enjoining the
conduct of any person or employment agency; ordering payment of damages,
costs and reasonable attorneys' fees to the aggrieved individual by  the
person or entity found to be in violation of this article.
  8.]  The remedies provided in this article are not exclusive and shall
be in addition to any other remedies or procedures provided in any other
law.
  [9.] 8. If any provisions of this article or the  application  thereof
to  any  person or circumstances is held unconstitutional, the remainder
of the article and the application of that provision  to  other  persons
and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
  [10.] 9. If an employment agency fails to maintain records as required
under  this  article,  the credible testimony of an applicant shall form
the proper basis for the calculation of  unpaid  wages  and/or  unlawful
fees.
  S  8.  This  act  shall  take  effect on the same date and in the same
manner as a chapter of the laws of 2015 amending  the  general  business
law  relating  to  employment agencies, as proposed in legislative bills
numbers S.3415 and A.3702, takes effect.