NYC Employers Must Display, Distribute New Workers’ Rights Poster
New York City employers will soon need to post and otherwise distribute a new Worker’s Rights poster.
The new poster, recently released by The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protections, includes a QR code that links to the City’s Workers’ Bill of Rights webpage. The webpage provides information about the rights of employees and independent contractors under federal, state and city law. A copy of the poster can be found here.
The City created the poster after the New York City Council enacted Local Law 161 late last year. Pursuant to this new law (codified as N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 32-102), all New York City employers must do the following no later than July 1, 2024:
- Post the Workers’ Rights Poster in a conspicuous area in the workplace;
- Provide each current employee with a copy of the Workers’ Rights Poster;
- Provide all new employees with a copy of the Workers’ Rights Poster on or before their first day of work; and
- Make the Workers’ Rights Poster available to employees “online or on its mobile application … if such means are regularly used to communicate with [ ] employees.”
The Digital Poster Requirement
The requirement to digitally post the Workers’ Bill of Rights is unclear. There are a lot of questions that the statute does not answer, such as what does the term “online” encompass, what means can employers use to provide the poster digitally and are employers who use software and/or applications owned by third parties subject to this requirement.
Unfortunately, the requirement to provide the poster electronically will likely remain unclear until the City begins to enforce the law, unless it issues additional guidance or amends the statute. In the meantime, employers who use electronic means to communicate with their employees should explore ways to provide employees with a digital copy of this poster.
Penalty for Violations
For a first violation of this new law, the City will notify an employer of the violation and request that the employer take corrective action to cure it within 30 days. The employer will also be afforded an opportunity to contest the City’s finding of a violation.
Thereafter, an employer who fails to comply with the new law will be liable for a civil penalty of $500 per violation.
Next Steps
Given this new posting requirement, New York City employers should take this opportunity to review all their federal, state, and local posting requirements and take steps to ensure compliance.
Under existing New York State law, employers in New York are now required to provide all federal and state workplace posters in a digital format to their employees and notify employees in writing that such posters are available digitally. Please see our prior alert for more information about this digital poster requirement.