New York City Workers’ Bill of Rights – Another Notice Obligation for NYC Employers

The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) recently published the Workers' Bill of Rights, a comprehensive guide to employee, applicant and independent contractor rights in the workplace in New York City. The Workers' Bill of Rights covers a variety of rights enforced by the DCWP as well as rights enforced by other federal and state agencies, including those related to paid sick leave, paid family leave, minimum wage, anti-discrimination, pay transparency, the right to organize and freelance worker rights.

The DCWP also published a Know Your Rights at Work poster that employers must display in a conspicuous location in the workplace by July 1. The poster must also be distributed to all current New York City employees by July 1 and to new hires on or before their first day of work. Employers must also make the poster available on their intranet and/or mobile app if "such means are regularly used to communicate" with employees.

Violations of this new employee notice requirement will result in a warning for the first violation and a $500 civil penalty for each subsequent violation.

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To avoid being assessed penalties for noncompliance, employers with New York City employees should display the Know Your Rights at Work poster now and ensure that it is distributed to employees and available on the employer's intranet and/or mobile app. If you have any questions relating to this upcoming employee notice requirement, or any other notice requirements, the New York team of BakerHostetler's Labor and Employment Practice Group is available to help.