Workplace safety bills called burden

Business groups bristle at proposed mandates to curb disease spread

Lawmakers are considering proposals to mandate infection control rules in workplaces, including the formation of employer-employee councils to oversee safety measures.

But the measures, sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic, have alarmed a wide array of business interests who say it is unneeded and would impose another layer of regulation and bureaucracy just as they are trying to pull out of the pandemic’s economic slump.

At issue are bills in the Senate and Assembly from New York City Democratic Sen. Michael Gianaris and Assemblywoman Karines Reyes for setting standards of protection against infectious disease spread in the workplace and to create councils for employers with 10 or more employees.

“Many people over the last year who died because of COVID did so because their workplaces did not take reasonable precautions,” said Gianaris.

“We can both protect our small business and their employees and customers,” he said.

The bill would set standards for personal protective equipment, social distancing among employees and standards for disinfecting workplaces.

It could also limit the number of customers in a given

establishment in order to limit the risk of contagion.

One of the main features would be mandated employeeemployer safety councils for businesses with 10 or more workers.

The bill has passed in the Senate and the Assembly is expected to pass a similar version this week, after which the Senate would once again pass a final version with minor amendments.

Memos from the state Business Council and 18 other organizations say business leaders fear the rules will be too burdensome for small employers and the safety regulations already exist in the form of state and federal labor standards.

The bill would, “among other concerns, implement a new and burdensome regulatory framework for businesses of every size, create a new private right of action which will expose distressed employers to predatory lawsuits, and mandates the organization of ‘workplace health and safety committees’ with ambiguous functions, purposes, and authority,” said a letter from 19 business groups sent last Friday.

“The combination of these burdens will create significant new costs during a period of unprecedented economic distress. Further, this bill makes no distinction between large corporate entities and the small, local businesses that have suffered specific duress during the pandemic,” it added.

“This bill does nothing new to improve employee safety,” the Business Council wrote earlier in the year, noting that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and state Department of Labor already have workplace safety regulations.

“Creating this new layer of bureaucracy for us is burdensome,” said Mike Elmendorf, president and CEO at the Associated General Contractors of New York State. “Potentially it creates a liability nightmare.”

The bill, however does contain language giving judges discretion to punish those who bring frivolous suits under the proposed law.

Gianaris added that the Legislature has recently authorized $1 billion worth of aid for small business in the state and he was surprised to see this level of opposition.

“We worked with business organizations in drafting this and accommodated their concerns,” he said.