As we previously reported, in June of 2022, New York passed the Warehouse Workers Protection Act (WWPA) which was to become effective on February 19, 2023. However, due to recent amendments to the WWPA the effective date has been extended to June 19, 2023.
The amendments also make several changes to the law including, but not limited to, the following:
- The law will now apply to employers who employ over 100 employees at a single warehouse distribution center, or over 1,000 employees (previously, 500 or more employees) at one or more warehouse distribution centers within New York state.
- The law will now define “employee” to exclude “drivers or couriers to or from a warehouse distribution center” and “employer” to include “any person or entity that owns, operates, or manages a warehouse distribution center.”
- The law will now require employers to notify employees in writing of all quotas against which they are measured and the potential consequences of not meeting them.
Next Steps for Employers
The WWPA creates significant obligations on covered warehouse employers. As a result, covered employers should take necessary steps to ensure compliance with the new law, including ensuring that they are not setting unreasonably demanding work quotas, disclosing work speed data to all employees, and protecting workers from adverse employment actions, such as discipline or termination, because they failed to meet undisclosed speed quotas or quotas that do not allow for proper breaks.
Employers must also provide each employee with a written description of any production quotas to which they are subject either upon hire or within 30 days of the updated effective date (June 19, 2023). The notice must be provided “in the language identified by each employee as the primary language of such employee;” it is unclear if the state intends to publish model notices to assist with compliance.
