NY HERO Act now effective, requires employers to develop COVID-19 workplace safety plan

Posted September 10, 2021

On September 6, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the state’s commissioner of health has designated COVID-19 an Airborne Infectious Disease under New York State’s HERO Act. The Act requires all employers to adopt a workplace safety plan and implement it for all airborne infectious diseases designated by the New York State Department of Health.

Employers can adopt a model safety plan as crafted by the New York State Department of Labor or develop their own plan in compliance with HERO Act standards. Plans must address a number of safety measures, including but not limited to:

• employee health screenings,
• masking and social distancing requirements,
• workplace hygiene stations,
• workplace cleaning protocol,
• quarantine protocol, and
• building airflow technology.

Employers must distribute their plan to all employees and post it in a visible and prominent location within each worksite.

The HERO Act also includes anti-retaliation protections for employees who make a complaint about an employer’s failure to comply with the law or the adopted plan.

This article was written by Rachel Krubsack of J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.