Assemblywoman Jenne raised her concern about the workplace scheduling regulation changes on the agriculture and tourism sectors during Commissioner Ball's testimony at the state Assembly Agriculture Committee's public hearing on oversight of the Department of Agriculture and Markets fiscal year 2017-18 state budget.
"Can we tweak these regulations to sectors such as agriculture held hostage by Mother Nature?" she asked.
Commissioner Ball said he had discussed the issue with state Department of Labor officials. "It is my understanding agriculture will not be impacted by these new regulations," he said, noting he was uncertain of impacts on the tourism sector.
Assemblywoman Jenne said she was pleased to hear agriculture was being carved out of workplace scheduling regulations that could be onerous for farmers in the North Country and around the state.
"That's good news. We can make hay while the sun is shining," she said. "Hopefully this signals an acknowledgement that a one size fits all approach is not the solution and that concerns from all sectors are considered and addressed before final regulations are adopted. That's what my business community is asking for and that is a reasonable request."
Assemblywoman Jenne has previously said she applauds efforts to protect workers from unfair scheduling practices, but she has suggested some sectors of the economy, including agriculture and tourism, are largely weather dependent and it is impossible to know weather conditions two weeks in advance of a scheduled work day.
The proposed regulations would expand existing reporting pay of at least four hours to include last-minute cancellations and assignments and on-call shifts requiring workers to be on stand-by to come into work under the proposed regulations, according to the Department of Labor.
The full regulation can be viewed here: www.labor.ny.gov/schedulingregs