In March 2024, the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (NYCDCWP) published a new Workers’ Bill of Rights. The Workers’ Bill of Rights is a webpage, which contains a comprehensive summary of NYC employment laws enforced by NYCDCWP, such as paid sick and safe leave, temporary schedule changes, freelance workers’ rights, commuter benefits, and rights of workers in certain industries (such as fast food, retail, utilities, and grocery store industries). In addition, the Workers’ Bill of Rights contains a summary of other federal, state, and NYC employment laws enforced by agencies other than NYCDCWP, such as minimum wage and hour rights, paid family leave, family and medical leave, workers’ compensation and disability benefits, unemployment benefits, anti-discrimination laws, the right to unionize, and pay transparency laws.
Currently, the webpage can be downloaded in multiple languages including Spanish, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Polish, Russian and Urdu.
By July 1, 2024, all New York City employers must distribute the “Your Rights at Work” poster to employees (and, moving forward, to new hires on or before their start date) and also conspicuously post the poster in a location visible to employees. If employers regularly communicate with employees through an online platform or a mobile application, then employers must also make the poster available to employees through those avenues as well. The poster refers employees to the Workers’ Bill of Rights webpage.
Employers who fail to comply with these distribution and posting requirements will be given a 30-day period to correct the violation. If an employer fails to correct the violation or engages in subsequent violations, the employer will be subject to a $500 civil penalty.