How does the NY HERO Act https://dol.ny.gov/ny-hero-act apply to the different types of libraries? Are Association Libraries included?
The letters in the "NY HERO Act" stand for "Health and Essential Rights."[1]
What "essential rights" does it protect?
I serve on the board of an association library.
Before I answer, I would like to thank this unnamed trustee for bringing forward this important issue. Dealing with personal legal matters is rarely easy; remembering to factor in consideration of one's volunteer obligations at the same time is impressive.
Are public or private libraries obligated to give paid time off for eligible employees to get the vaccine during work time? A staffer is planning to go upstate for it on a work day and the question came up if they have to use sick time or just "get the day" to take care of this. Thank you!
Non-governmental employers
Recent changes to the Labor Law make the "private" part of this question easy to answer: since all employers must now offer all employees sick leave (unpaid if the employer has under four employees, paid if five or more), an employee may use that sick leave for the purpose of obtaining medical care, including to get vaccinated.
We are a private association library. There is a "difficult" patron who sits on a bench (almost everyday doing nothing but trying to talk to anyone nearby) which is immediately next to our front doors on library property. We are doing curbside pick-up so the staff places the library items immediately outside the front doors on a table. The patrons come to the table to pick them up.
[An association library asks...]
This "Ask the Lawyer" answer is being composed on December 28...that cold, snowy time between Christmas and New Year's, when the courts (even during non-COVID times) are slow, staff are on holiday, and lawyers sit around thinking about catching up on filing, or even (gasp) leaving the office early to shovel, or take their kids sledding.
Can you provide a template facility use agreement for renting or allowing community groups to regularly use space in a public or association library?
Yes, I can! But first, a few caveats:
We are an association Library that uses a school ballot to levy funding. We have received a bill from the school for 2 years now that a landowner has had their taxes re-accessed back 3 years and now we owe the school money. Last year we paid it because it seemed like bad luck and there weas court documents saying the back money was owed.
Imagine walking through a metal maze, wearing magnet shoes, trying to solve a Rubik's Cube coated in honey.
Visualizing that? Metal floor. Magnet shoes. Lots of honey.
Okay.
This…is an even stickier problem.
Why is it sticky? Because for any library but a school district library, there is no definitive answer.
A member asked if there are any legal issues to consider when using GoFundMe to fund-raise, especially for association libraries.
The lawyer answers…
Fund-raising in the current climate (or any climate) is tough. There are state and federal accounting rules, bylaws, “best practices,” and internal policies to abide by, while at the same time there is pressure to make sure the campaign is well-executed, fun, and most of all: productive.
