Amd §296, Exec L; add §201-j, Lab L; add §267-c, Pub Health L
Relates to preventing discrimination and increasing awareness about menopause and perimenopause; requires employers to provide employees with an informational pamphlet on any regulations relating to the rights of employees for menstrual-related and menopausal-related conditions.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5436
SPONSOR: Rosenthal TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, the labor law and the public health
law, in relation to preventing discrimination and increasing awareness
of menopause and perimenopause
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, the labor law and the public health
law, in relation to preventing discrimination and increasing awareness
of menopause and perimenopause
PURPOSE:
This bill requires that employers provide reasonable accommodations for
people with menstrual or menopausal-related conditions in the workplace,
ensures that employees are aware of their rights for reasonable accommo-
dations and increases public awareness on menopause and perimenopause
and their symptoms.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one amends paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 296 of the
executive law.
Section two adds a new section 201-j to the labor law.
Section three adds a new section 267-c to the public health law.
Section four establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Approximately two million women living in the United States experience
menopause each year, with 17% of women in the workforce transitioning
from perimenopause to menopause. However, despite these numbers, employ-
ers are often unaware and uneducated on how this biological function
impacts their employees. Many women experience intense headaches, memory
lapses, severe stiffness, panic attacks, debilitating episodes of anxie-
ty, as well as other mental and physical symptoms, during menopause.
This glaring gap in knowledge and understanding of women's health leads
to discrimination against menopausal employees.
According to a recent study conducted by Biote, 65% of women said their
workplace did not offer reasonable accommodations for those experiencing
menopause. Although federal law prohibits discrimination against people
based on sex, age and disability, the law does not specifically protect
against discrimination based on menstruation and menopause, which has
allowed many menopausal claims to fall through the judicial cracks. In
September 2024, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a series of
recommendations that employers could implement at work to better support
and retain menopausal employees, such as providing employees with infor-
mation about menopause and their rights under current law, as well as
strengthening existing policies to better support menopausal workers.
With 28% of the workforce either leaving or considering leaving their
jobs because of menopausal symptoms and treatment, New York must do more
to protect women from workplace discrimination.
This legislation would strengthen New York's labor laws to explicitly
bar employers from discriminating against menopausal or menstruating
employees. The bill would also provide employees with a menopausal and
menstrual bill of rights, as well as require the New York State Depart-
ment of Health to create and distribute educational pamphlets on the
symptoms of menopause.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Undetermined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5436
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 14, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law, the labor law and the public health
law, in relation to preventing discrimination and increasing awareness
of menopause and perimenopause
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 296 of the execu-
2 tive law, as amended by chapter 369 of the laws of 2015, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 (a) It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer,
5 licensing agency, employment agency or labor organization to refuse to
6 provide reasonable accommodations to the known disabilities, [or] preg-
7 nancy-related conditions, or menstrual-related or menopausal-related
8 conditions of an employee, prospective employee or member in connection
9 with a job or occupation sought or held or participation in a training
10 program.
11 § 2. The labor law is amended by adding a new section 201-j to read as
12 follows:
13 § 201-j. Informational materials relating to the rights of employees
14 for menstrual-related and menopausal-related conditions. Every employer
15 shall provide each employee an informational pamphlet on any regulations
16 promulgated pursuant to section two hundred ninety-six of the executive
17 law relating to the rights of employees for menstrual-related and meno-
18 pausal-related conditions, including the duty of such employer to
19 provide reasonable accommodations. Such pamphlet shall be prepared by
20 the New York state division of human rights and include resources for
21 employees if employees feel that such employees have been discriminated
22 against.
23 § 3. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 267-c to
24 read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09231-01-5
A. 5436 2
1 § 267-c. Informational materials concerning menopause and perimeno-
2 pause. The commissioner shall create physical or online informational
3 materials about menopause and perimenopause, and the symptoms of meno-
4 pause and perimenopause, to be provided to primary care physicians and
5 gynecologists. Such primary care physicians and gynecologists shall
6 distribute such informational materials to women patients who are
7 between the ages of thirty-five and sixty, inclusive.
8 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
