Hero Act Status Update

The New York Health and Essential Rights Act (“the NY HERO Act”) was signed into law by Governor Cuomo on May 5, 2021, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The law mandates that all employers adopt and distribute to all employees and independent contractors a written airborne infectious disease exposure protocol be utilized in their organizations in the event that New York State experiences another outbreak of an airborne infectious disease like COVID-19.

 July 5, 2021 is the deadline for the New York State Department of Labor to publish a model disease prevention protocol for employers to follow or adopt as their own plan. The deadline for employers to adopt and implement these safety protocols will be 30 days after NYDOL publishes its model standard. Employers have a deadline of 60 days following the publication of NYDOL’s model plan to post and distribute their plan to employees and independent contractors.

In addition, as of November 1, 2021, employers with 10 or more employees must permit employees to establish joint labor and management workplace safety committees. The committees must be composed of at least two-thirds non-management employees.