NYC “Know Your Rights” Poster and Bill of Rights Website Now Live

The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) officially debuted its new “Know Your Rights at Work” poster and Workers’ Bill of Rights website.  The poster, which links to the DCWP website via a QR code, aims to serve as a comprehensive resource guide for workers seeking information on City employment rights.  By July 1, 2024, all NYC employers must: (1) “conspicuously post” the poster in their worksites; (2) provide a copy of the poster to each current employee; (3) provide a copy of the poster to any workers hired on or after July 1, 2024 by their date of hire; and (4) make the poster available through other means the employer typically uses to communicate with employees (e.g. via a handbook). 
 

The poster contains an overview of workers’ rights under many New York City, New York State, and federal laws, including NYC’s paid sick and safe leave law, NYC’s temporary schedule changes law, New York State wage and hour laws, various leave laws such as New York Paid Family Leave and the Family and Medical Leave Act, anti-discrimination laws, workplace safety laws, and more.  The website highlights not only DCWP-enforced laws, but laws enforced by other agencies as well, and it further informs viewers that “[i]f you work in NYC, you have rights regardless of your immigration status.” 
 

Other notable resources on the linked website include:

• Information for various enforcement agencies including the National Labor Relations Board, the New York State and U.S. Departments of Labor, and civil rights enforcement agencies.
• Summaries of relevant laws including New York’s workers’ compensation and disability laws, pay transparency laws, New York City’s Local Law 144 regulating automated employment decision tools, and worker classification laws. 
• Industry-specific laws, including those related to fast food workers, retail and utility safety workers, food delivery workers, grocery workers, and freelance workers.
• Information regarding employees’ rights to form a union.

The notice indicates which laws apply to both independent contractors and employees, though the poster distribution requirement appears to be limited only to workers classified as employees.  Crucially, the new posting requirements do not replace any others already imposed by the DCWP or other agencies for covered employers, including, for example, the “Notice of Employee Rights: Safe and Sick Leave” model notice as required by the City’s Earned Safe and Sick Time Act.
 

The local law animating these changes, Local Law 161 of 2023, requires employers to post and distribute agency-provided non-English versions of the notice if English is not the primary language for at least 5% of their employees.  Presumably, however, with the City’s template poster multilingual with a QR access code to a dynamic, translation-capable website, the DCWP poster itself will fulfill this obligation.
 

A violation may result in a $500 civil penalty, but first time violators will be given notice and a chance to correct the violation before a penalty is imposed.
 

To avoid any penalties for noncompliance, New York City employers should ensure that they satisfy all new and existing posting requirements by July 1, 2024.  Should you have any concerns regarding the new requirements, the Mintz Employment team is available to answer your questions. 

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