§ 32-202 Division; powers and duties.
AC § 32-202
a. The division shall assist the commissioner in developing policies and programs that apply to paid care workers. b. The division shall conduct and promote public information and outreach campaigns, and in performing such activities the division shall seek to coordinate with appropriate stakeholders, such as other government agencies, worker advocacy groups, community and labor and employment organizations, paid care workers, employers and care recipients, to inform paid care workers, employers and care recipients about: 1. Their rights and obligations under applicable federal, state and local laws, including through regular informational clinics in each of the five boroughs to inform paid care workers about relevant labor and employment standards; 2. Their eligibility for benefits, as applicable; 3. The availability of low-cost health insurance offerings, immigration-related resources and English language classes; 4. Financial and tax credit information; 5. Health and safety issues in home-based workplaces, including those associated with household tasks performed as part of paid care work; 6. State-approved education or training programs and other worker training programs offered by or in conjunction with community organizations, including but not limited to costs of tuition and course materials, availability of free or low-cost programs in the city, trainees' rights and employment rates upon completion of a training program in the city, with such information conveyed in a pamphlet and on the division's website; and 7. Any other matters that the division deems relevant. c. The division shall engage in and promote research on the paid care industry, and in performing such activities the division shall seek to coordinate with appropriate stakeholders as listed in subdivision b of this section, with the research covering the following topics: 1. The demographics of paid care workers and their clients and employers in the city, disaggregated by, at a minimum, age, gender, ethnicity and preferred language; 2. Working conditions and market standards in the paid care industry, including wages, terms of employment, benefits and non-wage supports; 3. Health and safety issues in home-based workplaces, including those associated with housecleaning tasks performed by paid care workers as part of their paid care work; 4. Employer compliance with applicable labor and employment laws and barriers to such compliance; 5. The registration status of elder care or case managers with the national associations that establish standards for the profession; 6. The practices of entities offering paid care referral or placement assistance, including the practice of charging placement fees to paid care workers, employers and care recipients; 7. Policies and programs related to non-wage supports, such as state-approved education or training programs, other worker education and training programs, medical equipment to assist either workers or care recipients, technological tools that promote fair labor standards, health insurance and transportation; 8. The effectiveness of, and recommendations for the expansion of, child care and home care worker cooperatives in the city; and 9. Any other matters that the division deems relevant. d. The division shall seek to coordinate with and, where appropriate, may contract with appropriate stakeholders as listed in subdivision b of this section to provide some or all of the workforce development programming and training to paid care workers described in such subdivision. e. The division shall establish a working group with no fewer than five members chosen from among appropriate stakeholders as listed in subdivision b of this section. Such working group shall meet at least once a year, as convened by the division, to provide recommendations for assisting the paid care workforce and recommendations for model standards for the paid care worker industry. The division shall establish the working group within one year of the effective date of the local law that added this subdivision. f. The division shall seek to work with the New York state department of health to expand the New York state home care services worker registry established pursuant to section 3613 of the public health law. (L.L. 2016/098, 8/31/2016, eff. 2/27/2017; Am. L.L. 2020/080, 8/28/2020, eff. 8/28/2020) Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 2020/080.
