STRATEGIC PARTNERS
November 19, 2018
The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs has settled with an unidentified Kentucky Fried Chicken franchisee, which operates 30 of the brand's units in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, according to a news release. The settlement was reached after an investigation by the department's Office of Labor & Policy Standards regarding activities pertaining to the franchisee and the city's fair workweek law.
As part of the agreement the KFC franchisee will:
The settlement is among more than 40 investigations closed in the first year of the fair workweek law.
"DCA has zero tolerance for anyone who breaks the law and violates the rights of employees who work hard to earn a living — especially those employers with a willful intent to deny workers their rights like this KFC operator," Department Commissioner Lorelei Salas, said in the release.
"The successes in DCA's first year enforcing the Fair Workweek Law demonstrate that these new labor standards make a critical difference in workers' lives, providing them with predictability in their budgets and their lives — and making good on Mayor de Blasio's commitment that such stability must be a right and not a privilege."
Under the law, New York City's fast food employers must give workers good faith estimates of when and how much they will work, as well as predictable work schedules, and the opportunity to work newly available shifts before hiring new workers. Fast food employers also cannot schedule workers to work two shifts over two days when there are less than 11 hours between shifts unless workers consent in writing and are paid a $100 premium. The law also requires that retail employers give workers advanced notice of work schedules and employers may not schedule workers for on-call shifts or change their schedules without adequate notice.
The department's KFC investigation determined that when the law went into effect, the franchisee required workers to sign an illegal waiver to their right to premium pay. By law, fast food employers must provide premium pay when schedules are changed with less than two weeks' notice. The amount of the pay varies based on the amount of notice provided and impact on number of hours worked.
The investigation also found KFC also violated the law by failing to provide the required "predictable schedule fast food notice" in the languages that are spoken by at least five percent of the restaurant's workers and for failing to keep records showing good faith estimates of schedules and employee consent forms for schedule changes.
Finally, the investigation found the operator violated the city's paid safe and sick leave law, including having a policy that violates how leave is accrued, as well as unlawfully limiting the definition of a family member, and not distributing the required Notice of Employee Rights.
The severity of the violations in the KFC case led DCA to require the employer to agree to pay for and submit to independent monitoring of their labor practices for 18 months, with unannounced on-site inspections and payroll audits. This outcome, along with DCA's other Fair Workweek enforcement, demonstrates the city's determination that employers ensure their employees are receiving the protections required by the law, stated the release.
"On-call scheduling is devastating for retail workers," Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union President Stuart Applebaum in the release. "You need to put your life on hold and be available for work — regardless of whether you will be called-in or paid.
"If you are a part-time worker, the uncertainty of your schedule means you can't arrange for a needed second job. If you are a parent, you don't know if you are going to need child care. If you want to continue your schooling, you can't sign up for classes without knowing your availability. That is why the law was so important."
