BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — This Labor Day Governor Kathy Hochul signed in a handful of new laws. She also activated the Hero Act.
"Back when this was signed, we all had this vision that the pandemic would be behind us. That didn't happen," said Hochul.
All New York State employers, now need to have plans in place to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace.
"All employers in New York were supposed to have their plan drafted, written out by August 6th," said Lisa Coppola, of the Coppola Firm.
If plans like these sound familiar, it's because they are. Similar plans needed to be put in place whenNew York was reopening in the early summer of 2020.
"Very similar to the reopening guidance, very similar in that the Department of Health also issued template plans. There are skeleton plans up on their website available to anyone that wishes to use it," added Coppola.
Coppola said the big difference with the Hero Act and reopening plans of 2020, the HERO Act has teeth. She said, employers have 30 days to fix a problem if its reported to the state, if no action is taken, they could be looking at a law suit.
"In New York State employees cannot sue their employees, relatively speaking, because of what’s called the 'worker's compensation bar.' If you’re injured at work or contracted some disease at work, you have worker's compensation as your sole remedy. Here though, the law now allows employees to sue their employers," added Coppola.
