New York has some of the strongest worker protections in the country, including paid sick leave, a $15 minimum wage, fair scheduling, and the Wage Theft Prevention Act. Countless businesses thrive here while following the law and respecting their workers rights. Unfortunately, too many employers will break these laws if they can get away with it. The Economic Policy Institute estimated in 2017 that bad bosses stole almost a billion dollars from workers in New York State just by not paying the minimum wage. In addition to robbing their workers, exploitative employers tilt the playing field and hurt businesses that follow the law. As New York City Comptroller, Brad will establish a data-driven Exploitative Employer Wall of Shame to name and shame companies with the worst track records of workplace violations.
Modeled after the Public Advocate’s Worst Landlord Watchlist, the Comptroller’s Exploitative Employer Wall of Shame would build upon the work of the Office of the Comptroller’s Bureau of Labor Law, which enforces prevailing and living wage laws. With numerous agencies tracking different workplace violations, the Comptroller’s office has the authority, tools, and expertise to collect that data and expose the most egregious actors to win better conditions for workers.
As Comptroller, Brad will publish an annual data-driven Exploitative Employer Wall of Shame to name and shame the most exploitative companies that employ workers in New York City. The Exploitative Employer Wall of Shame will highlight egregious workplace records of low-road employers with the goal of improving conditions for workers.
For example, injury rates at Amazon’s Staten Island warehouse are over three times larger than averages for the industry, and the company has fired workers organizing to improve conditions. During the pandemic, Amazon has been sued for not using basic safety measures and counted almost 20,000 positive Covid cases among frontline workers by October. Another exploitative employer, the music event company event SoFar Sounds, LLC was forced to pay almost half a million dollars in 2020 to 654 workers that it never paid for their work. These kinds of egregious worker abuses would earn companies slots on the Comptroller’s Exploitative Employer Wall of Shame.
The Exploitative Employer Wall of Shame will work alongside the other powers of the Comptroller’s office – prevailing and living wage enforcement, contract registration, and pension fund management – to improve working conditions for New Yorkers. This work will build on the Comptroller’s Bureau of Labor Law to identify the most egregious NYC employers and hold them accountable in partnership with workers, organizers, and the City and State agencies responsible for enforcement.
Conclusion
Analysis of workplace safety regulation suggests that the government publicly shaming bad actors has a substantial deterrent effect. Brand-sensitive companies, like Amazon, have been responsive to spotlights on their abusive practices. Public watchdogs can and must push back against corporate bullying designed to silence criticism and sweep exploitative practices under the rug. Brad will strategically use the tools of the NYC Comptroller’s office to hold bad employers accountable. The Exploitative Employers Wall of Shame will help secure the rights and dignity of New York City’s workers, so we can build an economy that works for all of us.
The Exploitative Employer Wall of Shame will draw from official data in several categories of workers’ rights violations, including:
+ Workplace Safety
Employees have a right to work on safe machines and use required safety equipment, yet too many companies flout safety guidelines to pad their profits at the expense of workers and communities. No workplace should be deadly, yet recent years have seen over 20 construction worker deaths in New York City. Brad will work alongside workers and organizers in dangerous sectors like construction and logistics to help prevent these avoidable deaths and injuries by holding the worst-acting actors accountable.
+ Wage Theft
An umbrella term for ways employers steal from their workers, wage theft includes not paying the minimum wage, refusing to pay overtime, stealing tips, misclassification, stiffing freelancers, other forms of payroll fraud, and not providing required breaks. The list will penalize bad bosses and employment agencies that attempt to avoid repercussions through selling their businesses, refusing to comply with court orders, and misclassification.
+ Unfair Labor Practices
There are a range of ways that abusive employers illegally try to deter workers from unionizing. For example, it is illegal to retaliate against workers for organizing or to threaten to close a workplace due to organizing activity. In the Council, Brad has worked hard to support organizing efforts and create new pathways for organizing car wash and fast food workers. As Comptroller, Brad will continue to aggressively support workers’ efforts to unionize and target employers who are in violation of the law.
+ Discrimination and Sexual Harassment
Though illegal, it is all too common for employers to discriminate against workers on the basis of protected classes including race, gender, and age. Brad is proud to have helped bolster New York City’s Human Rights Law over the years to not only significantly expand worker protections but also advocate for the resources the City’s Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) needs to enforce these critical protections from harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. As Comptroller, Brad will partner with CCHR to root out the most egregious actors violating these critical protections and hold them accountable.
+ Violations of NYC’s Fair Work Week Law, Freelance Isn’t Free Act, Just Cause Protections or other NYC Worker Protections
For the past decade, Brad has fought alongside workers to significantly improve labor standards in New York City. Legislation spearheaded by Brad at the Council has brought NYC’s fast food and retail workers a fair work week and protection against unjust firings and protected freelancers from wage theft and discrimination. Yet too many companies continue to disregard these protections, failing to pay sick leave, give workers mandated time off, provide advance notice of schedules, and pay their contractors on time. Companies like Chipotle have been penalized for flouting the city’s fair workweek and paid sick leave policies. Brad is proud to have helped significantly strengthen NYC’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) to enforce these critical worker standards and as Comptroller, will work in partnership with this agency to protect the City’s most vulnerable workers.