[link removed] [[link removed]]Dear John:

This week, both Congress and the New York State Legislature passed paid sick leave bills to address the coronavirus emergency. And here in New York City, we’ve had a strong paid sick days law in place since 2014 (I was proud to be one of the original co-sponsors).

But not one of those policies covers workers in the “gig economy.” That means more than 450,000 workers in New York City are dangerously unprotected.

In this pandemic, gig workers like Uber and Lyft drivers, delivery workers for companies like Instacart and DoorDash, home health care workers, and others are at increased risk of infection. Many of the people delivering food or caring for patients are considered essential workers, and they can’t “work from home.”

Every day, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers are forced to make the heartbreaking choice between their safety and a paycheck. (And frankly, that was also the case BEFORE anyone had heard of the coronavirus!).

Real relief for our communities can’t stop at “traditional” employees. That’s why I am introducing a bill to EXTEND New York City’s paid sick leave to gig workers and misclassified independent contractors.

Now more than ever -- for their sake and the public’s -- gig workers need to be able to stay home when they are sick or to care for sick loved ones without losing pay. We cannot allow the business model of a few billion-dollar corporations to shred our social safety net.

Add your name as a citizen co-sponsor of our bill to expand paid sick leave to gig workers and other vulnerable workers -- now is the time to truly protect the New Yorkers on the front lines of this pandemic → [[link removed]]

Add your name as a Citizen Co-Sponsor [[link removed]]Beyond employees for companies like Uber, Lyft, and Amazon, there are thousands of workers who are misclassified as independent contractors.

New York Labor Law uses a vague test to determine who is eligible for labor protections. Bad actor employers have manipulated this test, classifying their workers as “independent contractors” to get out of providing benefits like health care and sick leave.

Rampant misclassification, left unaddressed at the state and federal level, has now left janitors, nail salon technicians, drivers, app workers, cleaners, and home care workers dangerously unprotected. In New York City, they are disproportionately immigrants, women, and people of color.

So here’s what my bill will do: If a New York City company wants to deny its workers paid sick leave, they’ll have to pass the “ABC test,” a standard which is already used by 20 states.

The burden will be on the business, not the worker, to show why they should be allowed to deny someone a few paid days off if they or a loved one is sick.

COVID-19 has forced this long-standing issue into sharp relief. Both the U.S. Congress and the New York legislature passed coronavirus relief bills in the past week, and NEITHER addressed misclassified contractors or gig workers. But we can take action right here in NYC.

Join me in sounding the alarm and making NYC the first place to take action! Sign on as a citizen co-sponsor of the expansion of paid sick leave to gig workers and misclassified independent contractors → [[link removed]]

Thank you so much for your support. Take care of yourself and each other,

-- Brad

Lander for NYC
456 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor, Suite 2
Brooklyn, NY 11215
[email protected]

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