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New York’s HERO Act: What Employers Need to Know and Do Right Now

Employee Benefit Plan Review

New York recently amended its Health and Essential Rights Act (“HERO Act”) and published its “Model Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan.” While the Model Plan specifies that there is currently no airborne infectious disease outbreak, that has changed since the HERO Act was amended. The HERO Act requires New York employers to take steps now to comply with the statute.

“Airborne infectious disease” is defined as any infectious, viral, bacterial, or fungal disease that is transmissible through the air in the form of aerosol particles or droplets and is designated by the Commissioner of Health as a highly communicable disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health. While not originally designated as such, COVID-19 was recently designated a highly communicable disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health. Employers need to take steps now to comply with the HERO Act.

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“New York’s HERO Act: What Employers Need to Know and Do Right Now,” by William J. Anthony was published in the October 2021 edition of the Employee Benefit Plan Review (Vol. 75, No. 8), a Wolters Kluwer publication. Reprinted with permission.

This article was first published in Blank Rome Workplace on July 22, 2021.