N.Y.C. Admin. Code § L.L. 2005/087: L.L. 2005/087

Enactment date: 10/3/2005

Int. No. 629-B

By Council Members Yassky, Barron, Clarke, Fidler, James, Koppell, Liu, Nelson, Stewart, Weprin, Foster, Gennaro, Quinn, Gerson, Addabbo, Jr., Jackson, Brewer, Comrie, Martinez, de Blasio, the Speaker (Council Member Miller), Gonzalez, Seabrook, Katz, Arroyo and The Public Advocate (Ms. Gotbaum)

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to prohibiting employers from locking employees or other individuals inside a workplace and increasing the fines for obstruction of exits and unlawful change of exits.

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. Legislative findings and intent. The Triangle Shirtwaist fire of 1911 significantly impacted labor unions and labor laws in the United States. At that time, 146 women and girls whose average age was 19 tragically perished in that fire because they were locked in their workplace. Despite numerous workplace safety laws and regulations that mandate emergency egress plans and fire safety equipment and plans, the problem of locking workers in the workplace still exists. A number of large retailers have been cited by the Untied States Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for continuing this potentially fatal practice. In addition, newspaper accounts have indicated that janitors and immigrant workers at supermarkets in Brooklyn, Queens and The Bronx are being locked in the workplace, with fire exits blocked or padlocked. This legislation would increase the penalties for obstruction of exits and unlawful change of exits. In addition, this legislation would create a penalty where an employer locks the doors of or otherwise prohibits the exit from any workplace when by doing so the health or safety of an employee may become endangered. A workplace is intended to be any location, away from the home, permanent or temporary, where any employee, independent contractor or other individual performs any work-related duty in the course of employment, whether or not such duty is a direct responsibility of such person, including, but not limited to, any building that is classified by title twenty-seven of the Administrative Code of the City of New York.

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[Consolidated provisions are not included in this Appendix A]

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§ 6. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or other portion of this local law is, for any reason, declared unconstitutional or invalid, in whole or in part, by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed severable, and such unconstitutionality or invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this law, which remaining portions shall continue in full force and effect.

§ 7. This local law shall take effect ninety days after its enactment into law.