December 2020
www.workersworldtoday.com
7
Workers’ Matters
Council Votes to Prevent Fast-Food Workers From Being Fired Without “Just Cause”
O
n December 17 the New York City Council will voted on legislation designed to protect fast-food workers from unfair firings. Under legislation, fastfood employers would be prohibited from terminating employees or substantially reducing their hours without providing bona fide economic reasons or an employee’s demonstrated failure to satisfactorily perform job duties or misconduct. Int. 1415-A, sponsored by Council Member Brad Lander, would prohibit fast-food employers from terminating the employment or substantially reducing the hours of a fastfood employee in the absence of the fast-food employee’s demonstrated failure to satisfactorily perform job duties or misconduct; in other words, without just cause. Employers
would be required to give employees a written reason for the termination of their employment. Laid off fast food employees would also be entitled to schedule pay premiums for shifts lost due to termination
and provides for remedies including reinstation, back pay, and civil penalties. This bill would take effect 180 days after it becomes law. “Fast food workers have been on the frontlines of this pandemic, serving their neigh-
bors, working in tight quarters, taking on new responsibilities for sanitizing, and yet often unable to speak up about health and safety issues for fear of losing their jobs. These workers, the majority of whom are women and young people of color, have fought hard for years to raise wages and demand workplace protections. I’m grateful to them, to 32BJ SEIU, and to the partnership of Council Member Adams and Speaker Johnson, for getting us here today to take this groundbreaking step forward for workplace rights,” said Council Member Brad Lander. Int. 1396-A, sponsored by Council Member Adrienne Adams, would prohibit fastfood employers from terminating the employment or substantially reducing the hours of a fast-food employee in the absence of bona fide eco-
nomic reasons, including full or partial closing of operations or technological or organizational changes to the business in response to the reduction in volume of production, sales, or profit. Additionally, the employer would be required to discharge employees by inverse seniority (those hired last will be discharged first). Employees discharged for bona fide economic reasons within the prior year must first be offered available shifts before they are distributed to other employees or new hires. This bill additionally provides for arbitration of disagreements between fast-food employers and fastfood employees. This bill would take effect 180 days after it becomes law.p
