File #: 24-LL-K    Version: Name:
Type: Local Law Status: Tabled
File created: 6/7/2024 In control: County Legislature
On agenda: Final action:
Title: LOCAL LAW NO. “K” FOR 2024: A LOCAL LAW OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY, NEW YORK CREATING CHAPTER 202 OF THE ALBANY COUNTY CODE, PROHIBITING THE USE OF EMPLOYMENT PROMISSORY NOTES AND OTHER SIMILAR PROVISIONS
Sponsors: Alison McLean Lane, Wanda F. Willingham
Attachments: 1. Trapped at Work Law
LOCAL LAW NO. "K" FOR 2024

A LOCAL LAW OF THE COUNTY OF ALBANY, NEW YORK CREATING CHAPTER 202 OF THE ALBANY COUNTY CODE, PROHIBITING THE USE OF EMPLOYMENT PROMISSORY NOTES AND OTHER SIMILAR PROVISIONS

Introduced: 7/8/24
By McLean Lane:

A Local Law creating Chapter 202 of the Albany County Code, entitled Labor, and Article 1 of such Chapter, entitled Employment Promissory Notes, to prohibit the use of employment promissory notes and other similar provisions in Albany County.

BE IT ENACTED by the Albany County Legislature as follows:

Section 1. Chapter Creation.

Chapter 202, Labor is hereby created.

Chapter 202, Article I, Employment Promissory Notes, is hereby created.

Section 2. ? 202-1, Title.

This Local Law shall be known as the "Albany County Trapped at Work Law."

Section 3. ? 202-2, Legislative Intent.

Workers' ability to change jobs freely is critical to their economic liberty as well as to creating a thriving and innovative economy in the County of Albany.

A key tenet of worker protections and empowerment is that the cost of any training required by an employer to perform a job should be borne by the employer who ultimately stands to financially benefit from a well-trained workforce.

Employment provisions that indebt workers to their former employers upon separation for the cost of training reduce those workers' professional mobility, create obstacles toward financial security, and stifle the County economy.

Therefore, this legislature finds it necessary to prohibit the use of employment promissory notes and other similar provisions to protect workers in Albany County from employment-based debts by ensuring that employers bear the expenses for training they require for their workers.

Section 4. ? 202-3, Definitions.

1. "Employer" means any individual, partnership, association, corporation, limited liability company, trust, government or government subdivision, or o...

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