Combating Worker Exploitation
Origin: New York’s Office of the Governor
Bill Name/Number: Task Force to Combat Worker Exploitation
Link: Click here
Summary: In the fall 2015, Gov. Cuomo created the Exploited Workers Fast Force in partnership with an Advisory
Committee of business, consumer, and worker advocates to identify patterns of abuse and enforce worker antiexploitation laws.
Talking Points & Important Information:
• Workers, especially those in the on-demand, informal, or services economies, are often victimized through wage
theft, human trafficking, retaliation, unsafe or unsanitary working conditions, unstable or unscheduled hours,
and illegal deductions for supplies, training, or uniforms.
• In the U.S., 1 in 6 workers is foreign-born, a demographic far likelier to enter service occupations than nativeborn workers. They are likelier to silently suffer an unscrupulous employer’s treatment due to threats of severe
retaliation, whether it be jeopardizing the worker’s visa or threatening deportation.
• Due to anti-exploitation legislation passed by the state legislature and signed into law in July 2015, the NY
Department of State has the authority to shut down a business performing unlicensed or uninsured activities
and impose financial penalties at higher levels than were previously permitted. The legislation intentionally
protects workers, such as nail salon practitioners, who are unaware of their employer’s mismanagement and
provides them the opportunity to register with the state as trainees, allowing them to continue working while
they study toward licensing.
• Gov. Cuomo is expanding upon the purview of this bill and brought together public and private stakeholders and
government agencies interested in rooting out worker exploitation in multiple industries, including: farming,
childcare, cleaning, home health care, laundry, restaurants, retail, construction, landscaping, car washes,
supermarkets, janitorial services, and truck and waste disposal drivers.
2015 POLICY BOOK
STATE
LEVEL
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