Testimony: Paid Sick Leave Awareness
Irene Lew
December 13th hearing on COVID-19 Safety Protocols in the Workplace
Before the NY City Council Civil Service and Labor Committee
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Irene Lew and I am a policy analyst at the Community Service Society of New York, a nonprofit organization that works to advance the upward mobility of low-income New Yorkers. We have supported the expansion of protections and benefits for low-wage workers, including a key role in efforts to pass the paid sick days law in New York City. Today, my testimony will be focused on the need to improve public outreach around the city’s paid safe and sick leave law, and to expand sick leave to app-based gig workers and other workers misclassified as independent contractors. These measures are key to reducing the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace and improving the public health of all New Yorkers.
Improve public outreach around the paid safe and sick leave law
Seven years after the city’s paid sick days law took effect, data from our 2021 Unheard Third survey shows that 42 percent of low-income workers covered under the law say that they still don’t receive paid sick time from their employer, more than double the share of those with moderate to higher incomes. Covered low-income workers least likely to have paid sick leave now include those at greatest risk for contracting COVID-19 or being denied their rights: part-time workers, immigrants, those employed in face- to- face industries with frequent exposure to the public and those working for smaller businesses. Less than half of covered low-income workers with jobs in face-to-face industries such as restaurant, hotel and construction reported receiving paid sick leave, compared to other industries (e.g. professional or administrative services), where nearly two-thirds of those who are employed received paid sick leave. We found especially large disparities in access to paid sick leave between full-time and part-time workers: only 32 percent of low-income part-time workers said that they received paid sick time, compared to 73 percent of those working full time.
The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), to its credit, has ramped up its public education and enforcement efforts in recent years, especially during the pandemic. In 2020, DCWP held nearly 200 worker-focused public education events and resolved 18 COVID-related sick leave violations that led to $42,000 in restitution for workers. But low awareness of the city’s paid sick leave policy persists nonetheless, and may be preventing New Yorkers from exercising their rights under the law. According to the 2021 Unheard Third, half of low-income workers we surveyed still haven’t heard about the city’s paid sick time law. This includes 47 percent of low-income workers in face-to-face industries and 52 percent of immigrant workers who are unfamiliar with the law. Low-income part-time workers are also three times less likely than those working full time to have heard a lot about paid sick days. Increasing awareness of new labor standards is a critical part of employer compliance because enforcement is largely complaint-driven and workers unaware of their rights are much less likely to file a complaint against their employer.
For this reason, we urge the City Council to pass Intro 1797, a bill that would require DCWP to produce posters for voluntary ongoing display at pharmacies and health care locations around the city informing New Yorkers of their right to paid sick leave. These locations are a key interface point where workers access healthcare and can be made aware of this fundamental right, especially during a pandemic. The bill would also invite the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation to distribute and display these posters at its locations. With New Yorkers continuing to visit health care locations, clinics and NYC Health and Hospitals sites for COVID-19 testing and vaccinations, Intro 1797 would institutionalize a simple, low-cost way to get the word out and target the information to the right people at the right time. Furthermore, we recommend that DCWP prioritize outreach and enforcement for smaller businesses and those in face-to-face industries to ensure that employers are aware of the law and in compliance.
Expand sick leave to app-based gig workers and other misclassified workers
We also urge the city to pass Intro 1926, which would expand the definition of an employee under the city’s paid sick leave law to cover gig workers and other workers misclassified as independent contractors who have been excluded from this important workplace standard. Our Unheard Third survey found that 54 percent of workers dependent on app-based gig work as their main source of income said that they lacked paid sick leave, compared to 24 percent of other conventional employees who said they lacked this key benefit. CSS’s previous research on the app-based gig workforce has highlighted the consequences they face when they work without a single paid sick day: nearly 4 out of every 10 app-based gig workers we surveyed last year reported that they or a family member had been infected by COVID-19. Furthermore, a sizable share of the app-based gig workers we surveyed are in favor of stronger workplace protections as a pathway to economic mobility: in 2021, nearly a quarter of low-income New Yorkers dependent on app-based gig work selected stronger workplace protections as a top measure for helping them get ahead, four times higher than the share of other low-income workers.
With new COVID-19 cases linked to the new highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19 surfacing in New York City, raising awareness of the city’s paid safe and sick time law and expanding coverage of the law to gig workers and other misclassified workers is more important than ever for protecting public health and preventing another surge of COVID-19 infections this winter.