NEW YORK — The Chipotle restaurant chain will have to pay up to $20 million in compensation to approximately 13,000 workers who suffered violations of their right to predictable hours and paid sick leave under the Fair Workweek and Paid Sick and Safety Leave laws. Mayor Eric Adams announced Tuesday.
Following the settlement, Chipotle will also pay $1 million in civil penalties. The settlement is the result of a multi-year investigation by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) into complaints filed by 160 Chipotle employees and 32BJ SEIU.
DCWP’s investigation found significant violations of the law that affected all Chipotle employees in New York City. The Chipotle settlement is the largest fair workweek settlement in the nation and the largest worker protection settlement in New York City history.
“Restaurants and fast food outlets are a critical part of our economy and our daily lives here in New York City, but they cannot exist without the hardworking people who cook, serve and deliver our food,” said Mayor Adams. “Today’s settlement with Chipotle is not only a victory for workers by securing up to $20 million in relief for approximately 13,000 workers, but it also sends a strong message as the largest worker protection settlement in the history of the City of New York, that we will not tolerate when workers’ rights are violated. I thank 32BJ SEIU for helping to find these violations and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection for getting justice for these workers.”
Under the agreement, anyone who worked for Chipotle in an hourly position in New York City will receive $50 for each week worked from November 26, 2017 through April 30, 2022. For example, an employee who worked for Chipotle on an ongoing basis for a year and a half (78 weeks) you will receive $3,900. Employees who worked with Chipotle on April 30, 2022 will receive a check in the mail along with a letter explaining how their amount was calculated. Former Chipotle employees must file a claim to receive a payment. Former employees, whose employment ended before April 30, 2022, will receive a notice by mail, email and text message with information on how much money they will receive, how the amount was calculated and how to file a claim online or by mail. .
In 2018, DCWP launched an investigation into Chipotle’s compliance with fair workweek and paid sick and safe leave laws at Brooklyn locations after receiving complaints from fast food employees. In 2019, following the investigation, DCWP filed a case against Chipotle with the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings for violating the Fair Workweek Act at these locations. In April 2021, after uncovering significant new information about violations in New York City, DCWP expanded the case against Chipotle to include locations throughout the city.
DCWP’s investigation found violations of the Fair Workweek and Paid Safe and Sick Leave laws. Among other violations, DCWP found that Chipotle violated laws by:
- Not giving employees their work schedules 14 days in advance.
- Require employees to work overtime without your prior written consent.
- Not paying the premium for schedule changes.
- Requiring employees to work “closing” shifts (when workers work the closing shift one day and the opening shift the next with less than 11 hours in between) without paying the required $100 premium.
- Not offering available shifts to current employees before hiring new employees.
- Not allowing employees to use accrued sick and safe leave.
Under the Fair Workweek Law, fast food employers in New York City must give workers regular schedules, 14-day advance work schedules that are consistent with regular schedule, premium pay for schedule changes , the opportunity to decline to work overtime, and the opportunity to work newly available shifts before hiring new workers. Fast food employers also cannot schedule a “closing” shift unless the worker consents in writing and receives a $100 bonus to work the shift. In addition, fast food employers may not fire or reduce a worker’s work hours by more than 15 percent without just cause or a legitimate business reason. L
“New York City Fast Food Workers’ Rights” must be posted in any language that is the primary language of at least five percent of the workers in a workplace if it is available on the DCWP website . The Fair Workweek Act also protects retail workers. Under the retail provisions of the law, retail employers must also give workers 72 hours’ notice of work schedules and cannot schedule workers for on-call shifts or change workers’ schedules with less than 72 hours notice. of anticipation. The “You have the right to predictable work hours” requirement for retail establishments must also be posted in any language that is the primary language of at least five percent of the workers in the workplace if it is available on the DCWP website .
Since the Fair Workweek Act went into effect in November 2017, DCWP has received more than 440 Fair Workweek complaints, closed more than 220 investigations, and obtained resolutions demanding nearly $3.4 million in combined fines and restitution for more than 4,150 workers, not including the restitution that employees will receive under this agreement.
Under the Paid Sick and Safe Leave Law, all New York City employers must provide paid sick and safe leave to employees. Covered employees have the right to use safe and sick leave for the care and treatment of themselves or a family member and to seek legal assistance and social services or take other safety measures if the employee or a member of the family can be a victim of any act or threat of domestic violence or unwanted sexual contact, stalking, or human trafficking. Employers with fewer than five employees and net income of $1 million or more, employers with between five and 99 employees, and employers with one or more domestic workers must provide 40 hours of paid leave. Employers with 100 or more employees must provide up to 56 hours of paid leave. Employers with fewer than five employees and a net income of less than $1 million must provide unpaid sick and safe leave.
Safety and sick leave accrues at the rate of one hour of leave for every 30 hours worked and begins on the employee’s first day of work. Employers that do not pre-charge safe and sick leave on the first day of a new calendar year must allow employees to carry over up to 40 or 56 hours of unused safe and sick leave from a calendar year to the new year schedule, depending on the size of that employer. The law was also recently expanded to provide covered employees with an additional four hours of paid leave per child under the age of 18, per COVID-19 vaccination/booster. As part of the Fair Workweek Act, employees of private employers can request up to two days of unpaid leave under the Temporary Schedule Change Act.
Since the Paid Sick and Safe Leave Act went into effect in April 2014, DCWP has received more than 2,663 complaints about paid sick and safe leave, closed more than 2,337 investigations, and obtained resolutions requiring combined fines of more than $16.8 million and restitution for more than 44,873 workers, not including the compensation that employees will receive under this agreement.
Workers can file a complaint online or call 311 if they believe their rights have been violated. Complaints can be filed anonymously. It is illegal for employers to retaliate against employees for filing complaints.
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