In the third part in our series, “A Look at Labor,” Vilda Vera Mayuga, commissioner of the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), is interviewed by Rockefeller Institute Director of Labor Policy Maria Figueroa. Their discussion covers the goals of DCWP and how they approach their work, implementing and enforcing protections for workers in the digital economy, securing restitution for retail and other workers, and the labor priorities that the next mayor will have to address.
Guests
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Joel Tirado 00:05
Welcome to Policy Outsider presented by the Rockefeller Institute of Government. I’m Joel Tirado.
Joel Tirado 00:11
In the third part in our series, “A Look at Labor,” Vilda Vera Mayuga, commissioner of the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection is interviewed by Rockefeller Institute Director of Labor Policy Maria Figueroa. Their discussion covers the goals of DCWP and how they approach their work, implementing and enforcing protections for workers in the digital economy, securing restitution for retail and other workers, and the labor priorities that the next mayor will have to address. That conversation is up next.
Maria Figueroa 01:04
Hello everyone. I’m Maria Figueroa, Director of labor policy at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, and I’m honored to welcome Commissioner vVilda Vera Mayuga today. Commissioner buildup, Vera Mayuga leads the Department of Consumer and worker protection and has been in government roles in the state for about 20 years now, in several agencies, yes, including the Attorney Generals.
Maria Figueroa 01:42
So yeah, we’re delighted to have you today. So thank you for your time.
Vilda Vera Mayuga 01:49
Thank you. Thank you so much. I’m delighted to be here with you, Maria and share information about the awesome work that my agency, which I like to call it, is the best agency with the most impact in our city, directly to individuals has and so excited to talk a bit more about all of that
Maria Figueroa 02:08
wonderful Yes, and along those lines, we know that New York is a national leader in The country in terms of advancing policy that protects working people, especially in new emerging industries such as the digital platform economy, and where new groups of workers fall in gray areas of the law and are not necessarily protected by our existing system of labor and employment laws. So and your agency has played a key role implementing and enforcing these often innovative labor policies, such as the Freelancers protections law the fair week, Fair Work Week laws of the for the retail and in fast food workers, and most recently, the protections for workers in the digital economy, especially In the restaurant food delivery industry. Could you tell us about the mission and functions of the of your department, and especially about the role of the Office of Labor and policy standards, which was one of the first agencies of its kind established in the country back in 2015 1015 which worker protections does this office enforce?
Vilda Vera Mayuga 03:47
Yes, no, absolutely. Thank you so much, Maria. And I think it’s very timely the conversation that we’re having considering the things that are happening unfortunately in the federal government, right just creating such a big void in terms of having partners at the national level right from government to be able to tackle the issue of worker protection. So in hindsight, you’re looking you’re like, wow, I’m really glad that New York City put certain protections in place at the local level so that we can take care of our workers, right, our residents, without having to rely on the federal government so much or for laws that are at the federal level, even at the state level, right? I think it’s been a lesson that says, Okay, what can we do? What do we have the power to do? And so in terms of the agency itself, the mission of our agency, overall, Department of Consumer and worker protection, it is to protect and enhance the daily economic lives of New Yorkers to create thriving communities. And you can see how there’s so many aspects to that we were. Initially known right as the Department of Consumer Affairs for many decades, starting back in 1969
Vilda Vera Mayuga 05:07
and also did a lot of licensing right because there’s that piece as well that I think ties into the to the worker protections as well, and the interactions that we have with businesses, because we have that direct link to make sure that we are educating businesses as well and their responsibilities as they relate to local laws for worker protections. And so we license 10s of 1000s of businesses in over 40 industries, which sounds insane, but it is something that we’ve done for many decades. And then, like you mentioned, change into or added the responsibilities of worker protection. When that paid saving sick leave law went into effect in 2014 I said a joke that I remember these two dates, you know, because of things in my life. And in 2014 was when my younger son was born. So I always remember how, thanks to that right, we all have paid save and sick leave protections for individuals to be able to take care of themselves, take care of others, and also find safety, if that is the situation that the individual is in. So when it comes to worker protections, the thing that we like to emphasize is that the Department of Consumer and worker protection is the central resource for workers and a dedicated voice in city government for workers in New York City, and that, depending on your interactions with government, I think it might be like, What are you talking about? Your government? Talking about, your government, your government, but we truly see ourselves as sort of those, in a way, advocates inside government that have the direct interaction with workers, and we’re very proud of the work that we do, and that connection that we’re constantly trying to work on, of course, and improve and sort of like bring down that that wall of individuals and government to be, to be trusted, but we really are. We really are the dedicated voice in city government for workers in New York City. And like you mentioned, we are constantly looking to put policies in place with the in the infrastructure of the laws that are in the books to create fair workplaces. We want to make sure that all workers can realize their rights, and especially now it’s always been the case, but we like to stress now more than ever that this is regardless of immigration status, and we’re talking about you mentioned that for work week law, I just talked about pay, save and sick leave, who launched us into this worker protection universe, and very much our freelancers, especially after covid, a lot of people pursue, started pursuing their passion even more, right? So, very important protections that the state then recently replicated, because we set the tone right in New York City for model laws and implementation of those to make sure that they are successful. And then we’ve had a lot of a lot of success with the delivery worker laws that you mentioned, as well, just putting it all together only as it relates to worker protection, we like to brag a little bit about the work that we get to do with some numbers. And since I became commissioner back in 2022 we’ve been able to secure more than $50 million in restitution, restitution, so actual money right back into workers for more than 35,000 workers. So it is, you know, the mission of the agency. Then of course, you have our Office of Labor policy and standards that were does most of the, you know, worker protection work in the agency, and, you know, carrying out these laws, putting in place policies that we believe are going to ensure those safe workplaces for those who are here in New York City, and then just trying to show some proof that that we get results.
Maria Figueroa 09:10
Great. Yeah, that’s a wonderful work. Congratulations to you and your staff.
Maria Figueroa 09:20
This is really, these are really notable achievements. Are there any recent enforcement actions that you would like to highlight, like the $3 million restitution for retail workers? Yes, is would you like to tell us about that?
Vilda Vera Mayuga 09:44
Yes, yes, 100% I’d love to. And part of doing that, I think for us, it allows us to demonstrate and to share with workers that we do get results, and is a way for us to encourage workers to reach out and with. It is to ask questions, because we offer that as an option on our website, or to file a complaint, we do get results. So we do look out for this, for the violations, but we do rely on workers letting us know of a potential violation. And most recently, as you mentioned, we announced agreements with four companies to provide almost 2500 workers with more than $3 million in restitution. This was to resolve violations of the city’s for work week law. This is get here, which was acquired right? I’m sorry. They acquired Fresh Direct in 2023, All Saints, Uniqlo Chipotle, right? These are, these are brands and names that we hear almost daily, right, depending on on what you do, and we do hold them accountable. In addition to the restitution, the companies also are, of course, liable to certain penalties, and combine all of them, it came up to $300,000 in civil penalties and cost. And of course, the agreements that we enter into with each of them is to get that commitment that they are going to be compliant with the law going forward.
Vilda Vera Mayuga 11:16
Another case, if you allow me to share, it’s also settlement agreement we enter into with relay their career service, right? I mean, I think depending if you order food, you can see in your text messages and stuff you’ll get, you’ll hear the name relay over violations of the city’s food delivery worker laws. And that helped us that led us to secure $200,000 for workers who experience violations of their right to set maximum trip distances, and $20,000 in civil penalties. Big piece of this case Maria is not just the money that obviously makes a difference for the workers in their lives, but we always talk about they’re delivering food, but we want them to be able to put food on their table as well. Is that relay must also reinstate these workers, the workers that really illegally deactivated for declining long trips, and they must comply with the law going forward as well. So I think it’s important for New Yorkers to hear us talk about it other jurisdictions, to see how these type of these types of laws that are local can really make a difference. You don’t always have to be thinking, it has to be the state, it has to be the feds. I think we, for many decades, right, had the idea that anything, what we call Wage and Hour violations, with something that didn’t really happen at the local level, but, but it does, and it can, and we can expand, right? And there are things that are very, what would we say, very typical or very much within one jurisdiction, right? New York City is very particular, and it may not be right. It’s not going to be necessarily the same reality of how things work in another city or a town. And so it’s important to pay attention to those as well. Put these laws in place, obviously, roll them out, and then whether that makes sense with education on the business side and enforcement, you know, at the same time to protect the workers that I mean these are unfortunately low, usually the lower wage workers, or the individuals that we really want to make sure have government on their side to make sure they can be made whole for any violations of these laws. That’s amazing, and it’s so interesting. You’re able to implement and enforce these local laws for for workers in industries that are sort of like you said, sort of like geographically delimited right to this municipality, and that’s the beauty right of municipalities and local governments, and that they can really enact laws to protect their their their people, right and and even in in the area of labor and employment, and
Maria Figueroa 14:20
is really great the work that you’ve been doing, and what New York City government has been doing to protect workers. And you also mentioned really, I would like to ask you a little bit more about that, because initially they were excluded right from the protections awarded to delivery workers, and so these restitution that you were able to achieve recently was a result of Of this, of the expansion of the law, or, or it was something else.
Vilda Vera Mayuga 15:06
It was actually something else, because there’s, there’s, I think what has gotten the most attention in the media, it’s the minimum pay rate, right? A minimum pay standard for delivery workers that work through these third party apps delivering food from restaurants. But there was a whole list of laws that were passed and went into effect back in April of 22 that included included other protections for the workers, right and having the workers have the decision, allowing them have the power to decide which type of trips do I want to take for how long do I want to go over bridges? Do I want to go through tunnels? Do I want to not go more than I don’t know, whatever amount of miles you want to go, like all of those things were protections that were in place, and that’s what this other case was about. Right for workers who were deactivated because relay didn’t allow them to set their maximum trip distances, and that was something that was already in place even before the actual minimum pay went into effect. But yes, there was that other piece happened as well, because of litigation and all of that. But yes, we were able to resolve that case and bring relay to comply, as well as the other companies were already having to comply with the minimum pay standard.
Maria Figueroa 16:38
Gotcha. Very, very interesting. I’d like to come back to these issues a little bit later, but before, I’d like to ask you for your perspective on the priorities that the next mayor of New York City will have to address, especially in the area of Labor and Employment regulations and issues.
Vilda Vera Mayuga 17:10
Yes, I mean, I think we are having great momentum right in in looking and tackling sometimes specific industries, because I think sometimes it’s difficult to look at things in the totality. So over the past few years, we really have delivered tremendous success, not just for workers, but also for consumers, and honestly, even small businesses. And we have really felt like we’ve been doing that in a steady way, in a responsible way. We have a number of ideas that we’re excited to work on. I would say, you know, first and foremost, there were recent expansions of the minimum pay standards for workers that deliver almost anything, but people, right? And so we are really working to get those implemented. That’s like our the first course of business for us, making sure that those roll out. And we are proud that we’ve been able to do it successfully for restaurant delivery workers. So it’s going to be great to expand those protections to others that are similarly situated, and then also getting deactivation protections done for delivery workers, that is an area where we feel we need to improve what is in place so that the workers can do the job that they have chosen to do and not have this fear of the activation because there are not certain protections in place on the employee side, right? Because those are the delivery workers are being treated as independent contractors, so there’s different approach to them. But on the employee side, we are really looking to strengthening what we believe are poor commitments right to work that city government should ensure, like, stable pay, stable schedules, access to hours and even more, we know, you know, recently there was an expansion for like, paid save and sick leave. So we’re excited about those as well. We have strong laws in place, and so sometimes it’s about looking at those, and if they need to be expanded or tweaked in some way, right? We all learn from years of enforcement and implementation, and what are areas where we see that might be a new challenge that could be addressed with new legislation, or sometimes is a new policy, but that’s, that’s what we’re at more to come.
Maria Figueroa 19:41
Yeah, that’s that’s quite a lot already. Yes, yes. Well, I also wanted to ask you about your enforcement efforts that are undertaken in collaboration with with labor organizations, including you. Unions and so called worker centers that are community based, such as the worker Justice Project and their los delivery doesn’t need those. I was wondering if you could tell us how how you do your outreach, because I know that you, you are a firm believer in in getting the word out about workers rights, because it is the workers themselves who often have to enforce the laws. I mean, that’s, that’s where the enforcement begins, right? If they don’t know their rights, then nobody will, will sound the alarm, right? And so, so I, I just wanted to hear from you about your vision for enforcement in in how you make it so participatory, because you’re out on the streets. I love it, yeah, yeah, and yeah, that’s a that’s really amazing work. Can you tell us more about that?
Vilda Vera Mayuga 21:11
100% I I often tell people, you can have all of the most amazing protections and loss in the books. But if those that you are looking to protect and know about them, you’re not really accomplishing much, because you’re absolutely right. There are way more workers out there than government workers doing the enforcement piece, and so we do need people to let us know that they feel they might have been a violation of the law so that we can look into it. So there’s that piece, as you said, of the workers really knowing the laws and being sort of like the first line of defense or enforcement to let us know and for us to then get the word out. That next layer is like, how do I get you to trust me as government, I think a lot of the workforce in these jobs is also an immigrant workforce, and we all come with different experiences of what, how do you view government, you know, and like, are they really on your side, or are they really there to do something for you? They feel sometimes it can feel very inaccessible. So I definitely been prioritizing in the agency to get that outreach and education a big, big boost, or, like, really prioritize it, and not just that, we’ll do the education, but develop those relationships with the trusted voices in the communities, like the worker, Justice Project, los deliveristas Unidos, right when it comes for those particular laws, because 100% another delivery worker is going to believe way more the word of another deliverer is going to have a lot more weight than mine. They’re going to look at me. If I try to say something, somebody’s going to look at me. He’s like, What do you know about delivering anything? And I’ll say absolutely nothing, right? Because that is the reality. And so it’s important to have those relationships, to have very honest conversations as well, right? Where sometimes we might get advocates or other organizations that do even legal representation and work and do their own pursuing of making sure the laws are getting enforced and going on with private causes of action, right and all of that. And how do we make sure that we understand each other’s role, so that you play a role, I play a role. I’m not going to be able to give you everything you want. You’re not going to be able to give me everything I want. But it’s the collaboration is the constant dialog to understand what are the realities of those that we’re trying to help. We are not the type of agency who’s just sitting behind their desk and waiting for things to come to us. We want to get out there. We want to meet people where they are. We want to meet people where they are comfortable, and just really make things accessible. Not just, you know what, we’re very proud of our website, but not everybody is comfortable with the website, right and technology sometimes. So how about we picking up the phone? Or what about language capacity? So that’s another piece that we work on as well to make sure that we have as much language capacity in our agency. And obviously everybody feels comfortable with language line, but there’s no there’s no replacing right speaking with another person that you can relate with because of language and all of that. So we really think is that collaboration is key, and we want to continue building those so that we can rely and reach New Yorkers where they are and through trusted messengers.
Maria Figueroa 24:54
Wonderful, yeah, you spoke earlier about the expansion. Know it’s local law 115 right for the minimum pay rate, the expansion to the grocery delivery workers, and how is that looking in terms of your work, which starts pretty soon, right for implementing and enforcing this law. I also wanted to ask you about these other laws that the city council also passed regarding the transparency in the payment methods and also theDeactivate did the activation. Piece of all these protections are still there is it hasn’t been voted on anyway, if you can tell us about these, there is the tips. Also the tips misappropriation that sometimes occurs, and these new laws are trying to prevent all those issues.
Vilda Vera Mayuga 26:05
Yeah, I mean, I think this relates exactly to what we’re talking about before that sometimes it’s not necessarily a new idea or area of the law, as much as it is a reflection on the laws that are currently in the books, and what we have learned in the process of implementing them, and these are precisely those right for delivery workers, the expansions that only app based food delivery workers had to be able To now expand those to grocery delivery workers and others. I mean, we are talking about access to bathrooms, distributing fire safety materials, protecting against retaliation, and obviously big one, big one to earn a dignified pay.
Vilda Vera Mayuga 26:59
It is it makes such a difference, and I think sometimes we just don’t pause to reflect on the difference that these details can really make in a worker. And ultimately, we all benefit from that. You also mentioned the additional new requirements for the apps, right? That will require them to provide an option to pay the tip, right? The gratuity that is at least 10% of the purchase price on each food or grocery delivery worker, whatever is being delivered, because, again, we’re moving too fast, and I’ve ordered food, and if I don’t do it before, I have to pay
Vilda Vera Mayuga 27:40
I’m just not, I don’t say I’m not going to do it. Obviously, I’m in a role that I’m much more aware of these things and can remember the tip after the fact. But the reality is that it’s supposed to be quick. It’s supposed to be a quick thing that you do through your phone and make it easy, and once you pay the typical consumer, that’s it has moved on to something else. So this is addressing that issue that everybody must have that option you don’t have to. You know, I want to say very clear, right? We’re not forcing individuals to tip, but it’s that reminder that if you want to, you can certainly do it and have those options and parameters in a way that, honestly, for the most part were there before, and it was just something that the apps, some of the apps, decided to do in response to having to pay a minimum standard. The other piece that we are excited about that’s related also to the tips, is workers getting paid within seven days of the end of a pay period, right? We earn our money now we’re going to need that money to pay for our own food and pay bills and have the roof over our head and all of the needs that every human has. And so those are little details are important to remember. You mentioned that the activations absolutely very invested on seeing that through. So there’s a lot of collaboration, the same way we talked about collaborating with workers and advocates and community based organizations to get the word out about the laws that are in place and for people to feel comfortable coming to us as government. Similarly, we work on relationships, and we’re very proud of working with council members so that any legislation that is being considered, we can also give them the perspective of the agency that’s operationalizing that bill, that piece of legislation, because we put words in a piece of paper, but you really have to translate this to action. And so it’s always helpful to have the conversation as to, what does it take to get something, what is the goal, right? What is the goal of the piece of legislation that we. Trying to accomplish, which is the best way to get there? And I will. I know we talking a lot about workers, Maria, but I really want to emphasize that we do care about educating the businesses as well, because regulator industry needs to know, right? What is it that we’re doing and how so that we can then hold them accountable, right? I don’t like saying it’s like, go read the piece of law. Let me just tell you and explain to you and have that collaboration. We all want compliance. Nobody wants to do with non compliance. It just it really takes away a lot of time to try to go through an investigation and resolve matters in a way that we all feel comfortable. So it’s important for us that it’s it’s not either or it’s both working together.
Maria Figueroa 30:46
That’s a great approach, the most effective approach, I would say, to enforcement or implementation. This. This has been a great, a great conversation, Commissioner, but is there anything else that you would like to add? Any final words,
Vilda Vera Mayuga 31:08
oh, my goodness. Well, I really, I really hope you know, I like to promote our social media only because I do think that, again, we’re talking about workers, but there’s a lot of New Yorkers that could benefit from our work, even if they feel like, oh, I don’t work in that industry. Trust me, there is a lot of information out there that is helpful to know whether it is related to worker protection or consumer protection. We settle a lot of cases, and we do sometimes have restitution funds for individuals, and we need them to know about them so that they know to come to us. Nobody goes to websites anymore, right? You only go to a website if you’re prompted to doing to do that, but social media, media fits stuff, so add Hello DC. WP is a social media handle, and I would encourage every listener to follow it for that and also for tips that we have all around and on consumer matters, debt is a big issue now, with all the policies that are coming from the federal government, student loan debt, we have an Office of Financial Empowerment and lots of services that would love for every New Yorker, whether you live or work in New York City, it’s important to know about them and access them. It’s free, so truly free,
Maria Figueroa 32:23
wonderful. Well, thank you so much again, Commissioner for taking the time and congratulations and this is for all the amazing work and accomplishments.
Vilda Vera Mayuga 32:38
Thank you so much.
Joel Tirado 32:42
Thanks again to Vilda Vera Mayuga and Maria Figueroa for sharing their time to highlight how New York City government approaches consumer and worker protections. If you liked this episode, please rate, subscribe, and share. It will help others find the podcast and help us deliver the latest in public policy research. All of our episodes are available for free wherever you stream your podcasts and transcripts are available on our website. I’m Joel Tirado; until next time.
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