What does this bill do? 

If the Secure Jobs Act Passes, employers will only be able to fire a worker who has completed their probationary period if the employer has “just cause” or a valid reason for firing that worker. Employers will also have to provide workers with a minimum of 14 days’ notice and a written explanation before any potential discharge.

What does “just cause” actually mean?

A “just cause” is a valid reason for discharging a worker. With “just cause” legislation like the Secure Jobs Act, an employer can only fire a worker or reduce their hours by more than 15% when the worker has repeatedly failed to do their job or has engaged in serious misconduct.

How will unionized workers be impacted by the Secure Jobs Act?

Any unjustly fired worker who is covered by a collective bargaining agreement would apply just cause protections through their contract rather than the Secure Jobs Act. In addition, the SJA incorporates feedback from labor and workers’ rights groups to make further industry-specific adjustments. 

This bill will increase the power of organized labor by taking away a key threat that employers often hold over workers’ heads. Recently, when a Starbucks worker was illegally fired ,Workers United filed a complaint with DCWP under the fast food just cause law, and the DCWP process secured his reinstatement and $21,000 in backpay and penalties. Intro 837 provides another tool to hold exploitative employers accountable, alongside other workers rights protections at the federal, state and local level. As a result, unions’ negotiating position will grow stronger, enabling workers to contend for new rights and protections.

Will the Secure Jobs Act take away just cause protections within unions’ existing collective bargaining agreements?

Absolutely not. The Secure Jobs Act will only expand these protections to the rest of New York City’s workforce. Any worker covered by a collective bargaining agreement that contains just cause protections will still be entitled to that right. Unionized workers will simply utilize the just cause protections and procedures in their contracts, rather than the Secure Jobs Act.

Isn’t it already illegal to fire someone for no reason?

Sadly, no. New York is an “at-will” employment state. This means that an employer can lay a worker off for any reason, provided that reason isn’t illegal under a different law, such as discrimination, or for no reason at all.

Will this bill lead to discrimination at the point of hiring?

Hiring discrimination is illegal under federal, state, and city law. An employer in New York City may not discriminate against a worker because of their race, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, age, or any other category protected by the New York City Human Rights Act in the hiring process or at any other point in their employment.

Will this bill make it impossible to get rid of a bad employee?

No. An employee who has not completed a probationary period can be terminated at any time. In addition, an employee who has engaged in egregious misconduct can be fired right away. Workers who have passed probation but then do not meet the performance standards set in writing by the employer and have been provided the opportunity to improve can be fired for just cause. This bill protects workers from being fired for bad reasons, or no reason at all.

What steps will employers need to take before they can fire a worker?

The employer must have a progressive discipline policy in place. This is a policy that lists the disciplinary actions that will occur if a worker fails to perform their job duties. It must let employees know what conduct will lead to discipline, describe the steps, and explain how the employer applies the policy to different kinds of conduct. Employees must have access to the policy, and employers must tell workers why they are being disciplined and give them an opportunity to respond.

What about temporary jobs?

There is an exception for short-term positions of six months or less, and short-term educational positions. Short-term employees must have a written contract that specifies the day the position ends. At the end of the contract, but the employer may not hire someone to perform the same work for at least 180 days (for regular short-term employees) or at the end of the contract (for short-term educational employees.)

Will this bill lead to job loss?

No, in fact the opposite is true. This bill is designed to protect workers from job loss by requiring employers to have a valid reason – either related to their economic condition or to employee misconduct – before they can fire a worker. These protections already exist for fast food workers in New York City, and a 2022 study found that the Just Cause law did not impact overall employment in the city’s fast food industry. 

Has this been tried anywhere else?

The Secure Jobs Act is not a new concept. As mentioned above, these protections already exist for fast food workers in New York City. The United States lags behind Latin America and other Western Countries, including the European Union where just cause is the standard and employers are required to go through specific legal steps before they can fire workers.

Are there any exceptions to this bill?

As the bill is written currently, it does not cover workers who have collective bargaining agreements, workers who are still in their probationary period, and independent contractors.

What are the electronic monitoring provisions in the bill?

The bill restricts the ways in which employers may use electronic monitoring in the workplace. The bill also requires employers to provide a notice that electronic monitoring will occur and explain how the data collected from the electronic monitoring will be used, among other things.

How can this be enforced, with the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection so strapped for resources?

If this bill passes, it is important that DCWP receive the resources it needs to properly enforce it.  DCWP has already demonstrated success in enforcing “just cause” protections for fast food workers, recently winning reinstatement for a Starbucks worker who was unjustly fired for union organizing. In addition to filing a claim with DCWP, workers have three other paths to enforcement. A worker who has been unjustly fired may bring a private lawsuit in court by suing the company directly. The worker may also choose to go to an arbitrator instead of resorting to the courts. And finally, a fired worker (or the Comptroller’s Bureau of Labor Law) may sue on behalf of the government and collect a portion of the civil penalties.