Effective January 4, 2024, New York City passed Local Law No. 161 that requires all private employers in the New York City to provide all employees, including full and part-time, with an “employee bill of rights.” This bill of rights must include information on employee rights and protections, regardless of immigration status, under federal, state, and local laws that apply to employees in New York City. The Department of Consumer and Work Protection (DCWP) will collaborate with the New York City Commission on Human Rights to finalize and publish the bill of rights no later than March 1, 2024.
Compliance
Compliance with the law requires employers to both display the employee bill of rights prominently in the workplace and provide a copy of the bill of rights to all current employees and any new employees upon hiring. The term employee includes any person hired within New York City for more than 80 hours in a calendar year, whether full-time, part-time, or on a transitional job program basis.
Displaying the bill of rights prominently requires posting it in a “conspicuous location” or an area in the workplace that is accessible and visible to all employees. In the case of hybrid or remote workplaces, employers must make the bill of rights available electronically on their platform.
City employers must supply their existing employees with the employee bill of rights no later than July 1, 2024. In addition, employers are also required to provide the employees’ bill of rights in languages other than English if it is the primary language of at least 5% of their employees. It is important to note that employers can provide the employee bill of rights through the employee handbook; however, the handbook must be provided on or before the employee’s first day of work to ensure compliance with the law.
Penalties
Non-compliance with any of the requirements could result in a $500 penalty per violation, except for the first violation. Upon the first violation, the Commissioner of Human Rights will notify the employer of the violation and allow 30 days for corrective action. Every violation after the first will result in the $500 penalty.
The employee bill of rights law is a significant update and employers should prepare for distribution of the bill of rights by July 1, 2024.
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