Legislative lowdown: Bill of rights coming to NYC workplaces in 2024

The New York City Council passed a law to amend its administrative code on Dec. 3, and will publish a workers’ bill of rights on its website by March 2, 2024.

New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection will develop the bill of rights in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and the Commission on Human Rights, as well as community and labor organizations, according to the text of the legislation.

The bill of rights will provide details about rights under federal, state, and local law that apply to employees—both current and prospective—as well as independent contractors. It will apply to all workers regardless of their immigration status, and include information about the right to organize a union.

“Immigrant workers are protected by the minimum wage, overtime, paid sick leave, fair scheduling, and the right to form a union,” Councilmember Shahana Hanif, who sponsored the legislation, said in a November 2 hearing. “However, many immigrant workers are unaware of these protections, which leaves them particularly vulnerable to wage theft and other forms of exploitation.” The law will address this by including all the information in a relevant document, and ensuring it reaches workers in the language they speak, she said.

What’s required of NYC employers. Employers will be required to provide a copy of the bill of rights to every employee by July 1, 2024, as well as post the information in a “conspicuous location” in their workplace and online, provided they use the internet regularly to communicate with workers. After July 1, they’ll have to give the bill of rights to any new employees on their first day of work.

The information will need to be in English, as well as any other language spoken by at least 5% of an employer’s workforce, “if the commissioner has made the information available in that language.”

The abovementioned New York City agencies, as well as community and labor groups, will be required to conduct outreach to workers to raise awareness around the bill of rights, and provide contact information for the city’s immigration legal hotline and asylum application help center, plus details on what to expect if immigration authorities show up to an employee’s workplace.

Employers who don’t comply with the new law could face a civil penalty of $500.