New York City Council Amends Fair Workweek Law, Adds Notice Requirement

By Kelsey Basten

Published on July 26, 2018

The New York City Council amended the Fair Workweek Law, which went into effect on July 18, 2018.

First, NYC employees are now allowed two temporary schedule changes each calendar year for personal events. The amendment defines a personal event as:

• Care for a child under the age of 18
• Care for a “care recipient”, a person with a disability that is a family or household member who depends on the employee for medical care or to meet the needs of daily living
• Legal proceeding or hearing for public benefits to which the employee, a family member or the employee’s minor child or care recipient is a party
• Any other reason for which the employee may use leave under NYC’s Paid Safe and Sick Leave Law

This applies to all industries, not just retail and fast food employers. All employees who work over 80 hours per calendar year in NYC and have been employed for 120 or more days are covered by the law.

Employees not covered by the law include:

• Government employees
• Certain employees subject to a collective bargaining agreement
• Certain employees in the motion picture, television, and live entertainment industries

Also, employees are now protected from retaliation for making certain schedule change requests.

Employers must post the notice – You Have a Right to Temporary Changes to Your Work Schedule – in a conspicuous area of the workplace. The notice must be posted in English and any language that is the primary language of at least 5 percent of employees. These alternative language postings are not yet available from the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) Office of Labor Policy & Standards but will be at a later date.

The DCA has also published an official FAQ document – Temporary Schedule Change Law: What Employers/Workers Need to Know – to clear up any questions that may arise from employers and employees regarding the new amendment.