Int. No. 743-A
By Council Members De La Rosa, Gennaro, Louis, Schulman, Banks, Farías and Cabán
A Local Law to amend the New York city charter and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring city agencies to offer career counseling to municipal employees to advise them of professional development and promotional opportunities
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Paragraphs 19 and 20 of subdivision a of section 815 of the New York city charter, paragraph 19 of such subdivision as amended by a local law for the year 2024 amending the New York city charter and the administrative code for the city of New York, relating to workplace culture surveys, as proposed in introduction number 767-A, and paragraph 20 of such subdivision as amended by local law number 59 for the year 1996, are amended and a new paragraph (21) is added to read as follows:
(19) To establish measures and programs to ensure a fair and effective affirmative employment plan to provide equal employment opportunity for minority group members and women who are employed by, or who seek employment with, the agency and, in accordance with the uniform procedures and standards established by the department of citywide administrative services for this purpose, to adopt and implement an annual plan to accomplish this objective. Such plan shall include the following information: an analysis of the agency’s compensation data and measures to address pay disparity and occupational segregation, developed both within the agency and as a result of consultation with prospective applicants and external stakeholders, in the most recent fiscal year; diversity and inclusion training; and schedule and workplace accommodations and access to facilities, including access for individuals with disabilities, gender appropriate bathrooms, and lactation rooms. Such plan shall first be submitted to the department of citywide administrative services pursuant to the customary annual plan schedule. Copies of such plans shall be filed with the mayor, council, department of citywide administrative services, equal employment practices commission, and city civil service commission and shall be made available for reasonable public inspection. In carrying out duties related to this paragraph, the heads of city agencies shall cooperate fully with the department of citywide administrative services' office of diversity and inclusion in accordance with section 814.1; [and]
(20) To provide assistance to minority group members and women interested in being employed by city agencies to ensure that such minority group members and women benefit, to the maximum extent possible, from city employment and educational assistance programs; and
(21) To offer career counseling to employees of the city civil service.
§ 2. Chapter 1 of title 12 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 12-142 to read as follows:
§ 12-142 Career counseling. a. Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
Agency. The term “agency” means any agency, the head of which holds office upon appointment of the mayor and those units within the executive office of the mayor designated by the mayor to be covered by the provisions of chapter 16 of the charter. Such term does not include agencies headed by boards, commissions, or other multi-member bodies, whether appointed by the mayor or otherwise, nor elected officials, nor other agencies the heads of which are appointed by officials other than the mayor or by multi-member bodies.
Career counseling. The term “career counseling” means remote or in-person consultation with, and provision of information to, an individual regarding opportunities for promotion, training, and education.
Department. The term “department” means the department of citywide administrative services.
Eligible employee. The term “eligible employee” means a current employee of an agency who has been employed by such agency for at least 12 months after appointment.
b. Each agency shall appoint 1 or more career counselors to offer career counseling to eligible employees. Information included in such career counseling may include, but need not be limited to, opportunities to apply for managerial or supervisory positions or positions with higher salaries or opportunities through the promotional exam process, including where such opportunities may be available in other agencies, and the availability of department- or agency-provided trainings.
c. Each agency shall conduct outreach to eligible employees at least once annually regarding the availability of career counseling services, including how eligible employees may access such services, and inform such employees that their request for career counseling will remain confidential.
d. Eligible employees may request career counseling from their agency through either a remote or in-person format. Such agency shall conduct a career counseling session with the requesting eligible employee within 60 days of such eligible employee’s request. Such agency shall conduct at least 1 follow-up call to each eligible employee who participates in a career counseling session within 30 days of such session.
e. Each agency shall report to the department on or before January 15 of each calendar year the name and contact information of each career counselor appointed to such agency.
f. The department shall provide training to agency career counselors.
g. At least twice each calendar year, the department shall convene a meeting with agency career counselors to disseminate relevant information about the promotional examination process and opportunities through such process for employees to apply for managerial or supervisory positions or positions with higher salaries.
h. The department shall, in consultation with relevant agencies, create written materials concerning the promotional examination application process, the process for enrolling in department- or agency-provided trainings, and any other relevant information as determined by the department, to be distributed at career counseling sessions or upon request by an eligible employee.
i. The department shall provide information about the promotional process and opportunities for higher salaries to employees who have sought and received career counseling offered by their agencies.
j. No later than September 1, 2025, and September 1 of each odd-numbered year thereafter, the head of each agency shall submit to the department a report containing the following information for the preceding 2-year period, if applicable:
1. The number of eligible employees who sought career counseling, disaggregated by race and gender;
2. The number of eligible employees who, subsequent to their career counseling session: (i) applied to take a promotional examination; (ii) enrolled in an agency-provided training; (iii) enrolled in a department-provided training; (iv) transferred into a title offering higher pay; (v) transferred to a different agency; or (vi) were promoted; and
3. The number of career counseling sessions conducted, disaggregated by in-person or remote format.
k. No later than December 31, 2025, and December 31 of each odd-numbered year thereafter, the commissioner shall submit to the mayor and the speaker of the council a report containing the following information for the preceding 2-year period, if applicable:
1. The number of eligible employees who sought career counseling from their agencies, disaggregated by agency, race, and gender;
2. The number of eligible employees who, subsequent to their career counseling session: (i) applied to take a promotional examination; (ii) enrolled in an agency-provided training; (iii) enrolled in a department-provided training; (iv) transferred into a title offering higher pay; (v) transferred to a different agency; or (vi) were promoted;
3. The number of career counseling sessions conducted, disaggregated by in-person or remote format; and
4. The number of employees who sought and received information about the promotional process and opportunities for higher salaries to employees from the department after having received career counseling offered by their agencies.
l. The department shall create electronic surveys for agencies to distribute to employees upon completion of a career counseling session, to be completed on a voluntary basis. Survey questions shall include, but need not be limited to, questions designed to obtain the information required to be reported by subdivision f of this section.
§ 3.This local law takes effect 60 days after the date that a local law for the year 2024 amending the New York city charter and the administrative code of the city of New York, relating to workplace culture surveys, as proposed in introduction number 767-A, takes effect.
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LS #15791
8:22pm, 5/29/2024