Relates to excused absence of a public employee for mental health purposes.
Summary
This bill amends the New York civil service law to create a new paid excused leave category for mental or behavioral health reasons for a broad range of public-sector workers. Covered employees include state officers and employees, county employees, community college employees, public authority and public benefit corporation employees, BOCES and vocational education board employees, certain school district employees, municipal employees, and employees of participating employers in the New York State and Local Employees’ Retirement System and the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System.
Under the bill, an eligible employee may be absent from duty for mental or behavioral health purposes and is deemed to be on paid leave for that absence. The leave cannot be charged against the employee’s accrued sick time. The bill takes effect immediately upon enactment.
Impact
The bill would add a new section 159-e to the civil service law and create a statutory right for specified public employees to take paid excused leave for mental or behavioral health without using sick leave balances. It would affect public employers across state and local government, including school-related entities and participating retirement-system employers, by requiring them to treat these absences as paid leave separate from ordinary sick leave.
Sentiment
The available record shows no committee transcript or vote history, so there is no documented debate or recorded opposition in the materials provided. Based on the bill text and caption, the measure appears to be framed as a worker-support and public-employee wellness policy, with an emphasis on normalizing mental health leave for public-sector employees.
Contention
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. Potential areas of concern, if raised in future debate, would likely involve the administrative and fiscal impact on public employers, how mental or behavioral health absences would be verified or administered, and whether the leave entitlement should be limited, expanded, or coordinated with existing sick leave and labor policies.