NYC Enacts Law Requiring Employers to Provide “Workers’ Bill of Rights” to Employees

On December 3, 2023, NYC enacted a new law, Int 0569, requiring employers to provide a yet-to-be-drafted “workers’ bill of rights” to employees, beginning July 1, 2024.  

NYC’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) will write the workers’ bill of rights in coordination with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA), the NYC Commission on Human Rights, and community and labor organizations.  The final draft of the workers’ bill of rights must be posted on NYC’s website by March 1, 2024. 

The workers’ bill of rights will contain information about rights under relevant federal, state and local law that apply to employees, prospective employees or independent contractors in NYC.  It will also indicate what rights apply to employees regardless of immigration status and provide information about the right to form a union.  

Employers must post the workers’ bill of rights in a conspicuous location visible to workers, and, additionally, online or on a mobile application “if such means are regularly used to communicate with…employees.”  The posting must be done in English and any language spoken as a primary language by at least 5% of employees.   New hires must receive the notice on or before their first day of work. 

Employers are subject to a $500 penalty for failing to provide or post the workers’ bill of rights but will have a 30-day period to cure the first violation.  

The new law also calls for the MOIA – in coordination with the DCWP and community and labor organizations – to conduct outreach to workers and raise awareness of the workers’ bill of rights.  The outreach efforts will include providing contact information for NYC’s Immigration Legal Hotline and Asylum Application Help Center; resources and contact information for immigration legal services and MOIA; information on what to expect if immigration enforcement authorities come to an individual’s workplace; and information regarding federal eligibility requirements of temporary protected status.