Know Your Rights!

According to NYC law, you have the following rights as a worker:

  • The right to payment in accordance with the law. The minimum wage is currently $8.75 in New York and you’re entitled to time and one-half of your regular rate for every hour worked above 40 in a week.
  • The right to compensation for injuries at work. The law obligates the company, not the hurt worker, to take financial responsibility for workplace injuries.
  • The right to be free of discrimination and harassment. No worker may be treated differently because of their race, gender, country of origin, or immigration status, among other things.
  •  The right to a healthy and safe workplace. Employers must follow rules and regulations governing workplace health and safety.
  • The right to organize together with your co-workers to demand: A raise, respectful treatment, a retirement plan, paid sick days, paid vacations, health benefits and/or union membership, regardless of immigration status.

Under federal law, you have the right to organize alongside your co-workers for better working conditions, regardless of your immigration status. Those rights allow you to:

  • Take action with one or more co-workers to improve your working conditions by raising complaints directly with your employer or a government agency;
  • Join, seek support from, or help organize a union;
  • Have meetings at lunch-time or break time in non-work areas on company property;
  • Talk about your working conditions or unionization or distribute materials on non-work time and non-work areas like locker rooms and break rooms;
  • Hold demonstrations and rallies about your working conditions or work problems;
  • Be free from harassment, intimidation or punishment by your employer.

Your employer may not:

  • Fire, discipline, lay off, or cut your hours or pay for organizing for better working conditions;
  • Spy, or use surveillance techniques to monitor your activities;
  • Threaten or question you about your organizing activity;
  • Deny or pressure you to not join a union or other worker association;
  • Bribe, promise special favors, or grant special permissions to you in exchange for not organizing to improve your workplace.

If you feel your employer is taking advantage of you or violating the law, contact us at  contact@transformdonttrashnyc.org.

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