Testimony: Support Fair Workweek Laws With Public Awareness Campaign
David R. Jones
Thank you for providing this opportunity to testify before the New York City Council’s Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection. I am David Jones, President and CEO of Community Service Society of New York (CSS). Through research, advocacy and comprehensive direct services, CSS promotes economic mobility for New York’s lowest-income residents, leading to a more equitable city and state.
CSS has been a leader in the fight to expand benefits and protections for low-wage workers, including efforts to pass the Paid Sick Days laws in New York City, passage of paid family leave statewide and passage of Fair Workweek legislation.
Today, my testimony will be focused on Intro 818, which would require the City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to conduct an annual education and public awareness campaign on the Temporary Schedule Change Act.
The Temporary Schedule Change Act was part of a package of laws passed in November 2017 under the umbrella of the “Fair Workweek” and “Fast Food Worker Empowerment” bills. These bills represented a critical step toward providing economic opportunity to workers without placing unnecessary restrictions on businesses.
In short, the aim of the legislation was to improve conditions for low-wage workers by combatting scheduling abuses in the fast food and retail industry, ensuring workers have access to more hours, advance notice of schedules, and sufficient time off between shifts.
Notably, Intro 818 would require employers to distribute written and electronic materials developed by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to their employees, so they are informed of their rights to predictable work schedules and other protections.
Two years after the City passed Fair Workweek legislation, CSS assessed the impact of Fair Workweek laws. Our analysis found that unpredictable scheduling practices for workers in New York City were still widespread, especially for low-wage workers in the retail and restaurant sectors. Workers in these industries were less likely to know their schedules at least two weeks in advance. We also found at the time that a majority of the workers targeted by Fair Workweek protections had heard little or nothing about the law.
Research conducted by The Shift Project at UC Berkeley on service workers in these industries in NYC shows that a reduction in scheduling uncertainty is associated with massive improvements in worker health, productivity, and well-being. But such gains elude workers who have no knowledge of the law and of their rights in the workplace.
Since enforcement of the laws is complaint-driven, this lack of awareness presents an unfair advantage or those employers who fail to comply.
For ordinary workers – especially the most vulnerable low-wage and immigrant workers – to benefit, they, their employers and the general public must be aware of the laws and how they work.
Consider the fight for Paid Sick Day. After the law was passed in 2014, access to paid sick days climbed substantially, from 47 to 71 percent, for low income workers covered by the law. This dramatic progress was credited to the city’s extensive public outreach and advertising surrounding the launch of Paid Sick Days, as well as strong enforcement.
New York has been a leader when it comes to expanding workers’ rights. If we want to ensure that all workers, especially our most vulnerable, actually benefit from the laws designed to help them, we must follow passage of laws with persistent monitoring, education and awareness, and enforcement needed to make them truly effective.
We urge the City Council to pass Intro 818, mandating regular outreach and education on Fair Workweek laws so employers follow the law, and all workers know their rights.