Senate Labor Committee advances 10 labor bills to rules, calendar

The Senate Standing Committee on Labor advanced 10 bills during its second meeting of the 2025 legislative session, reporting several measures to the rules committee and others to the Senate calendar.

The measures cover a range of workplace policies, including a prohibition on mandatory biometric scans for employees, new stop-work authority for misclassification, expanded workers' compensation coverage for certain tick-borne diseases, protections for employees involved in workplace-violence investigations, training to reduce abusive conduct and bullying, and sick-leave protections for domestic workers.

Why it matters: The bills together address privacy, safety and wage-enforcement issues that affect private and public-sector workers across the state. Several moves will next be considered by the full Senate either through the rules committee or on the calendar.

Key bills and committee action (Votes at a glance)

- S.372 (sponsor: Sen. Gineris) — Amendment to the Labor Law to establish a "no severance ultimatum" provision; reported to the rules committee.

- S.681 (sponsor: Sen. Martinez) — Prohibits fingerprinting or mandatory iris and retina scanning of employees; reported to the calendar.

- S.1514 (sponsor: Sen. Harcum) — Authorizes stop-work orders for misclassification of employees; reported to the rules committee.

- S.2236 (sponsor: Sen. Gennardis) — Amends the Labor Law in relation to payment of wages; reported to the rules committee.

- S.4515 (sponsor: Sen. Ramos) — Amends the Labor Law in relation to sick leave for domestic workers; reported to the rules committee. At least one "nay" was voiced during the recorded response; individual names were not specified in the transcript.

- S.4816 (sponsor: Sen. Chris Ryan) — Amends the Workers' Compensation Law to include Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases as occupational diseases for workers' compensation purposes; reported to the calendar.

- S.4832 (sponsor: Sen. Chris Ryan) — Requires the Workers' Compensation Board to submit a supplemental report every year thereafter; reported to the calendar.

- S.4925 (sponsor: Sen. Ramos) — Requires training to reduce abusive conduct and bullying in the workplace; reported to the calendar.

- S.4926 (sponsor: Sen. Ramos) — Amends the Workers' Compensation Law in relation to contracted network pharmacies; reported to the calendar.

- S.5254 (sponsor: Sen. Chris Ryan) — Protects certain employees from a reduction of wages due to their involvement in the investigation of a violation of a workplace-violence protection program; reported to the calendar. The committee discussed whether the bill would apply to state correctional facilities; committee staff confirmed it would, referencing Section 27-b of the Labor Law (see separate article).

How the committee voted: Most measures were advanced by voice vote. The transcript records multiple "aye" responses for each moved measure. Where the transcript records a negative response ("nay") or an "AWR" response, individual member names were not recorded in the transcript excerpt provided.

Process note: Several bills were "reported to the rules committee," meaning the committee advanced the measure for further Senate consideration under Senate rules; others were "reported to the calendar," moving them toward consideration by the full Senate. The transcript records motions and voice votes; it does not include roll-call tallies or named vote records for the committee on these items.

Next steps: Bills reported to the rules committee or to the calendar will proceed according to Senate scheduling and rules. Any bill placed on the calendar may be considered by the full Senate at a later date.