Health & Safety Precautions for Worksites

New York State has enacted various laws and regulations to protect workers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These include:

• The NYS Health and Essential Rights Act (NY HERO ACT), which protects private sector employees against exposure and disease during a future airborne infectious disease outbreak.
• The Emergency Preparedness Law, which requires public employers to adopt a plan for operations in the event of a declared public health emergency involving a communicable disease.
• COVID-19 regulations, which require all employers to take various health and safety measures for the worksite. They include providing benefits – including sick leave, paid family leave, and disability benefits – to New York employees impacted by mandatory or precautionary orders of quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19. 

Employees have a right to file a complaint for violations of these laws and regulations. Your complaint will remain anonymous.

File a Complaint

The New York Health and Essential Rights Act (NY HERO Act) was signed into law on May 5, 2021. The law mandates extensive new workplace health and safety protections in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the NY HERO Act is to protect employees against exposure and disease during a future airborne infectious disease outbreak. 

Under this law, the New York State Department of Labor (NYS DOL), in consultation with the NYS Department of Health, has developed an Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Standard, a Model Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan, and various industry-specific model plans for the prevention of airborne infectious disease. Employers can choose to adopt the applicable policy template/plan provided by NYS DOL or establish an alternative plan that meets or exceeds the standard’s minimum requirements.

The airborne infectious disease exposure prevention plans must go into effect when an airborne infectious disease is designated by the New York State Commissioner of Health as a highly contagious communicable disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health. When designated, employers are required to provide a copy of the adopted airborne infectious disease exposure prevention plan and post the same in a visible and prominent location within each worksite. Templates and resources are available below. 

On March 17, 2022, the designation of COVID-19 as an airborne infectious disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health under the HERO Act ended. Private sector employers are no longer required to implement their workforce safety plans.

Inquiries about the HERO Act can be emailed to [email protected].

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Translation information

According to the Emergency Preparedness Law, public employers are required to have a written plan for operations in the event of a declared public health emergency, including COVID-19. All public employees should have access to this plan. 

New York State’s Workplace Safety Committee law provides for the adoption of rules and regulations for workplace safety committees under section 27-d of the HERO Act. This law was effective as of November 1, 2021.  As of this date, employers are required to permit workers to establish and administer a joint labor-management workplace safety committee upon request. 

Proposed Regulations    

The law provides benefits - including sick leave, paid family leave, and disability benefits - to New York employees impacted by mandatory or precautionary orders of quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19. Quarantine leave is available retroactively. These benefits do not have an expiration date. Employers otherwise required to provide paid sick leave may not make you use existing sick leave or other leave accruals, in lieu of providing COVID leave benefits. See more information below.

Paid Sick Leave

COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Fact Sheet - Information for Employees can be found on the Paid Family Leave Website in the following languages:
English | Bengali | Chinese | Haitian Creole | Korean | Nepali | Polish | Russian

COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Fact Sheet - Information for Employers can be found on the Paid Family Leave Website in the following languages:
English | Bengali | Chinese | Haitian Creole | Korean | Nepali | Polish | Russian

Paid Leave for Covid-19 Vaccinations FAQs:
English | Spanish

Guidance on Use of Paid Sick Leave for COVID-19 Vaccine Recovery Time

Paid Sick Leave for COVID-19 Impacted New Yorkers

Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Employee Paid Leave Rights

Other Leaves of Absence for Health Conditions: Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

Frequently Asked Questions about Wages and Hours.

Fringe Benefits

Notice Requirements for Fringe Benefits and Hours

Labor Laws Regarding Fringe Benefit Payments:
Section 198c of the New York State Labor Law, Benefits or Wage Supplements

COVID-19

Local/regional NYS Department of Health offices for COVID-19 questions regarding the quarantine period.

Information and guidance from the NYS Department of Health about cleaning, disinfecting, and more.

Discrimination and Retaliation related to Your Human Rights:
For complaints regarding workplace discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, or other protected category, you can contact the NYS Division of Human Rights, the NYC Commission on Human Rights (for workplaces in NYC), or the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Continuation of Health Insurance:
For coverage issues associated with an employer with 20 or more employees, contact the U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration. For an employer with less than 20 employees, contact the NYS Department of Financial Services.