Loading chat...
NY A03481
Bill
Status
1/27/2021
Primary Sponsor
Harvey Epstein
Click for details
AI Summary
-
Prohibits inmates from being compelled to provide labor through force, threats, or coercion, including failure to pay or underpay wages owed for work performed.
-
Permits inmates to voluntarily perform work only for nonprofit organizations operated exclusively for religious, charitable, or educational purposes with no earnings benefiting the state, federal government, public corporations, or private individuals.
-
Grants inmates a cause of action for damages, punitive damages, and injunctive relief in cases of labor violations, with a ten-year statute of limitations for claims against correctional facility officers or employees.
-
Removes governmental immunity for actions brought by inmates alleging labor violations and allows such cases to be filed in any court of competent jurisdiction including the supreme court.
-
Requires correctional facility commissioners and officials to provide equal employment opportunities to all incarcerated persons who request work and distribute job assignments equitably.
Legislative Description
Establishes a New York state prison labor board to create, monitor and enforce an equitable and rehabilitative system of prison labor; abolishes penal servitude by prohibiting the forced labor of incarcerated individuals; provides fair wages and treatment of incarcerated individuals; prohibits the use of the labor of incarcerated individuals for earnings which inure to the benefit of the state of New York, the government of the United States, any state of the United States, any public corporation, or any private shareholder or individual.
Last Action
print number 3481b
3/25/2022