This New York City Bill Would Make It Harder To Fire Workers

Lost in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, a bill was recently introduced by the New York City Council that could be a complete game-changer for workers. Under this legislation, it would be illegal for employers to fire people without a good reason.

If approved, the bill will offer security and protection from a manager capriciously firing you. Corporate leadership must ensure that their managers and supervisors expend time and energy to conduct extensive due diligence and have just cause before terminating a worker.

This should not be construed as workers having carte blanche to do whatever they want without fear of repercussions. Companies can still let go of an employee if they can demonstrate that the worker was engaged in misconduct, performed satisfactorily or if there is a real economic need to cut the position. However, if a person contends that they were fired without just cause, they are able to present a claim against their employer.

NYC already has laws in place that safeguard fast-food workers. The bill, however, does not protect independent contractors. Another facet of the bill calls for employers to not deploy invasive technologies and software to surveil their workers’ performance.

When You Can’t Fire Someone

Most companies make their staff sign at-will employment contracts. This means that while they have a job, the person could be let go at any time. There are no guarantees that the company will keep them for any length of time. The current bar for letting people go is not too high. A person could be downsized due to poor performance, a bad attitude, corporate reorganization or a need to cut costs.

There are some exceptions. Workers are protected by the federal WARN Act, which requires the company to provide a 60-day written notice if there is a mass layoff of a certain size.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission currently has laws in place to protect workers against workplace discrimination based on age, race, color, sex, religion or disability.

You cannot be terminated for filing sexual harassment claims or blowing the whistle on the company for engaging in inappropriate, illegal or violative activities. Union members, as part of their contracts, are not in the same category as white-collar professionals with at-will status. Severance is not a legal requirement.

The Rise In Unions And Strikes To Achieve A Better Work Life

The introduction of this bill comes as no shock. The pandemic has made people start questioning their work and life. The shock of seeing people fall sick and succumb to Covid-19 has caused people to quit their jobs, if they felt underpaid and mistreated, as life is too short to put up with bad bosses and dead-end jobs.

The Great Resignation trend showed that millions of Americans left their jobs to pursue opportunities that offer more meaning, a sense of purpose and a future for career growth. The next step in this employee-empowerment movement was engaging in strikes and trying to form and join unions to improve their working conditions, and receive respect and higher pay.