New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law a package of bills on Monday, Sept. 28, that will expand protections for workers, consumers, and commercial tenants. The first bill, which was sponsored by local Councilman Andrew Cohen, extends and expands the City’s paid safe and sick leave law to reach more workers. The other two bills reinforce and extend protections for commercial tenants, and protect the jobs of hotel workers.

 

“Today is about justice for hard working New Yorkers,” said the mayor. “From expanding paid sick leave, to protecting our commercial tenants and hotel workers, these bills are crucial to standing by New Yorkers who have worked through the worst of this pandemic and are now helping our City get back on our feet.”

 

Cohen’s bill (Intro. 2032-A) aligns the City’s Paid Safe and Sick Leave Law with recently enacted State Paid Sick Leave Law, expanding paid safe and sick leave to employees of small businesses with four or fewer employees and a net income of more than $1 million.

 

It also expands paid leave for workers at the largest businesses. Those with 100 or more employees must now provide up to 56 hours of paid sick leave, and also brings domestic workers in line with other private sector workers by allowing them to accrue and use leave the same as other private sector workers.

 

“New York City has been a leader in the fight to advance progressive worker protection laws and raise workplace standards,” said Cohen. “The City’s various worker protection laws, including Paid Safe and Sick Leave, Fair Workweek and the Freelance Isn’t Free Act offer New York City workers some of the strongest protections available nationwide.

 

He added, “I’m grateful to Mayor de Blasio, my colleagues at City Council, and DCWP (Department of Consumer and Worker Protection) for supporting this legislation to align the City’s law with new changes to paid sick and safe leave laws at the State level, expanding and strengthening worker protections and continuing the work that makes our City a national leader on this issue.”

 

Intro. 2083-A was introduced by Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, and amends Local Law 55 of 2020, which temporarily prohibits the enforcement of personal liability provisions in commercial leases or rental agreements involving COVID-19 impacted tenants, by extending the sunset date of this protection from Sept. 30, 2020 to March 31, 2021.

 

Intro 2049-A introduced by Councilman Mark Levine establishes protections for displaced hotel service workers in the event of a sale or transfer of a hotel. New owners will be required to provide existing employment and maintain wages for a period of 90 days. At the end of the 90-day period, the new employer would perform an evaluation of the worker. The law also establishes consumer protections and notice requirements for service disruptions for guests of hotels.

 

The news was welcomed by Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Commissioner Lorelei Salas. “Since Paid Sick Leave’s passing in 2014, we’ve expanded it to include safe leave, closed almost 2,000 investigations and secured millions in restitution for more than 36,000 workers,” she said. “Now, with more paid hours and no waiting period to use them, as well as expanded protections for domestic workers, we can help even more New Yorkers during a time where sick leave is crucial.”

 

The commissioner’s comments were echoed by Jonnel Doris, Commissioner of NYC Department of Small Business Services.  “COVID-19 has heightened the challenges around rent affordability, paid sick leave, and consumer protections. It has forced us to think creatively about solutions,” said Doris. “These new provisions protect our hardest working New Yorkers and uplifts our business owner, commercial tenants, and hotel workers as we all work to recover.”

 

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson was also supportive of the legislation. “It is imperative that we do all we can to help working class New Yorkers and protect local businesses, and this is why the City Council passed a package of bills expanding the City’s paid sick leave to include more people, protecting displaced hotel workers and extending protections for small business owners,” he said. “These laws are about fairness, and will be critical to support thousands of New Yorkers as we battle this pandemic.”

 

The news came on the same day that a second “NYC Restaurants March” was held outside the Manhattan office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo at 633 Third Avenue. Following a 1,000-strong initial rally on Sept. 14 outside City Hall, 2,000 of the City’s restaurant owners and workers showed up for the second rally in midtown.

 

The restaurant owners and workers were aligned in their demands, saying they understood that health measures needed to be adhered to, and are willing to adhere to them. However, they called for the City’s restaurants to be opened for indoor dining at 50 percent capacity, instead of the proposed 25 percent, to align with the rest of the State, where they say there has been no major uptick in COVID-19 cases under the prevailing 50 percent capacity rule.

 

More information about sick leave rights as well as the procedure to follow to file a complaint against an employer can be found at nyc.gov/workers or by calling 311.