Newly proposed regulations relating to the New York HERO Act’s workplace safety committee requirements offer some clarification on what’s expected from employers and when they are required to institute a committee.
Under the Act, the state’s Department of Labor will require employers with at least 10 employees to allow those employees to establish a workplace safety committee.
According to law firm Davis Wright Tremaine, the new regulations clarify that:
- employee counts will be based on the total number of employees that an employer employs in New York
- the counts include employees who are part-time, newly hired, temporary, seasonal, or jointly employed with one or more other employers
- a committee must be recognized at each worksite if employees request it,
- committees can be established by a written request from two non-supervisory employees with employers required to respond with “reasonable promptness,” although a time period is not specified in the regulations, and
- committees must be made up of no less than two non-supervisory employees and no less than one employer representative.
The proposed regulations are subject to a notice and comment period, with a public hearing scheduled for February 9, 2022.
