Fast food workers in New York City have significant rights under the Fair Workweek Law, which provides crucial protections for predictable scheduling and job security. Here’s a few key things that workers need to know about their rights under this important law.
Key Protections
Fast food workers are entitled to:
- Regular, predictable schedules with 14 days’ advance notice of work schedules.
- The right to decline additional hours before they’re added to the schedule.
- Premium pay ranging from $10-$75 for last-minute schedule changes.
- A minimum of 11 hours between closing and opening shifts (“clopenings”), with a $100 premium if they consent to work with less time between shifts.
- Priority access to newly available shifts before new workers are hired.
Progressive Discipline Requirements
Before terminating workers, employers must follow a step-by-step discipline process that gives workers warnings and chances to do better at their jobs. Workers can only be fired if they keep doing a bad job after getting warnings, if they do something seriously wrong, or if the business is losing money and needs to cut staff. When firing someone, employers must give the worker a letter explaining exactly why they are being fired, including any previous warnings given and whether it was because of poor performance or business reasons.
Anti-Retaliation Provisions
A fast-food employer cannot retaliate against its workers who exercise their rights under New York City’s Fair Workweek Law. For example, the employer cannot threaten, discipline, intimidate, reduce the hours of, or take other employment actions against an employee because that worker sought to assert their rights under the Fair Workweek Law.
Enforcement
Workers who believe their rights have been violated have a few options. For one, they can file a complaint with the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection of New York City. Workers can also bring their own lawsuit against the company, much like with other unpaid wages cases. Workers only have two years from the violation to bring a claim.
Immigration status does not affect workers’ rights under this law. Moreover, DCWP keeps complainant identities confidential unless disclosure is required by law.
