TESTIMONY
Vilda Vera Mayuga, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), on Enforcement of the NYC Fair Workweek Law and Worker Protections
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6 min
Vilda Vera Mayuga testified about DCWP's enforcement of the NYC Fair Workweek Law, designed to address scheduling instability in the fast food and retail industries. The law mandates advance scheduling notice, prohibits on-call shifts, provides premium pay for schedule changes, and prevents involuntary part-time work for covered employees.
- Since the law's 2017 implementation, DCWP has recovered approximately $27 million in restitution for workers and $2 million in penalties
- This includes a $20 million settlement with Chipotle, the largest worker protection settlement in NYC history
- In the past year, DCWP secured over $7 million for nearly 4,000 workers from companies like Paris Baguette and Panda Express
- DCWP conducts proactive outreach with over 1,400 events since 2018 to educate workers and employers
- Under Mayor Adams, DCWP has secured $37 million in relief for 28,000 workers through workplace law enforcement
Carlos Ortiz
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I do.
Vilda Vera Mayuga
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I do.
UNKNOWN
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Thank you.
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You may begin your testimony.
Vilda Vera Mayuga
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Thank you.
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Good morning.
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Good morning, Chairman and members of the committee.
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I am Vilda Veramayuga, commissioner of the Department of Consumer And Worker Protection, DCWP.
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I am joined today by my deputy commissioner of office of labor policy and standards, Elizabeth Wagner, and my assistant commissioner of external affairs, Carlos Ortiz.
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Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on one of our cornerstone protections for workers across the city, the New York City for a work week law.
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DCWP enforces key protections and offers financial empowerment resources that improve critical aspects of New Yorkers daily economic lives.
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We ensure that consumers who have been deceived or exploited have recourse, that workers have a passionate defender of the rights and that all New Yorkers have the support they need to improve their financial health.
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Since the start of the Adams administration, DCWP has helped deliver approximately $320,000,000 into the pockets of New Yorkers.
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Through debt relief, restitution, and financial empowerment programming.
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Today, I am excited to share more on how our agency has been a nationwide leader protecting workers.
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The laws that we enforce in the workplace ensure that workers benefit from minimum labor standards that provide greater stability in their schedules, income, and employment.
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We strive to guarantee that any worker that experiences a violation of the rights has recourse to relief.
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And as you mentioned earlier, Germany, in 2017, New York City implemented the Fair Work Week Law In response to a crisis, over regular and unpredictable scheduling practices in the fast food and retail industries.
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The law is designed to disincentivize or prohibit one's common practices such as keeping workers involuntarily in part time status, giving workers their schedules with little advanced notice, assigning shifts that vary from day to day week to week and assigning opening shifts that do not give workers enough time to sleep at night between shifts.
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These practices cause income instability and leave workers unable to reliable reliably reliably schedule other commitments outside of work like 2nd jobs, childcare, or school.
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In 2020, the law was strengthened through added just cost protections, providing greater job stability for fast food workers.
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Under the Fair Workweek log, retail employers must give their workers their schedule at least 72 hours before the first shift on the schedule, and retail employers are also prohibited from scheduling employees for on call shifts, canceling scheduled shifts with less than 72 hours notice and requiring an employee to work with less than 72 hours notice without the employee's written notice.
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Similarly, the Fair Work Week Law addresses scheduling instability for fast food workers in several ways.
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First, it mandates that fast food employers give workers a stable, regular schedule that does not change significantly from week to week.
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2nd, it requires employers to provide workers each weekly schedule 14 days in advance.
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And third, it requires that employers provide fast food workers premium pay for schedule changes and opening shifts as well as the opportunity to say no to clopen issues or working extra time.
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And finally, to address involuntary part time work, Fast Food Employers must offer current workers the opportunity to work more than regular hours before hiring new employees and cannot reduce our workers' hours by more than 15% without just costs.
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Since deferred work workload went into effect in 2017, DCWP has received over over 800 complaints, launched more than 400 investigations, and recovered approx $27,000,000 in restitution for workers and $2,000,000 in civil penalties.
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This includes our settlement with Chipotle for violations of the Fair Workweek and paid safe and sick leave laws which delivered $20,000,000 to approximately 13,000 workers.
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It was the largest worker protection settlement in New York City history.
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And just last year, we secured more than $7,000,000 in worker restitution from Albert Penn, Paris, Baguet, and Panda Express.
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For nearly 4000 workers under the Fair Work Week Law.
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We're very proud of these successes.
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Not only because they put money back into the worker's pockets, for harms they experience, but also because they ensure that company is operating in our city understand the importance of following the law.
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DCWP also pairs a strong enforcement with proactive outreach.
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In partnership with community based organizations, workers' rights groups, and trade associations, our outreach team seeks to ensure that both workers and employers understand the details of the Fair Work Week Law.
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Since 2018, we've held close to 1400 events focused on our workplace laws including the framework with law serving tens of 1000 of New Yorkers.
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Under mayor Adams, we have been able to secured $37,000,000 in monetary relief for 28,000 workers.
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Through our enforcement of critical workplace loss, and I am immensely proud of these accomplishments.
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Protecting workers in our city will always be a top priority of this agency.
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We welcome continued collaboration and partnership with all stakeholders, workers advocate, and the council.
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To strengthen protections for New York City's workers.
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This includes ensuring that workers know about the rights and are made whole for violations of the law and that employers are educated and aware of their responsibilities.
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I look forward to our discussion and any questions you may have.