§ 6-134 Living wage for employees in city financially assisted workplaces.
AC § 6-134
a. This section shall be known as and may be cited as the "Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act". b. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (1) "City" means city of New York, and all subordinate or component entities or persons.
(2)"City economic development entity" means a local development corporation, not-for-profit corporation, public benefit corporation, or other entity that provides or administers economic development benefits and with which the department of small business services serves as a liaison pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision one of section 1301 of the New York city charter.
(3)"Comptroller" means the Comptroller of the city of New York and his or her authorized or designated agents.
(4)"Covered employer" means: (a) A financial assistance recipient; (b) Any tenant, sub-tenant, leaseholder or subleaseholder of the financial assistance recipient in which the financial assistance recipient maintains an ownership interest of fifty percent or more who occupies property improved or developed with financial assistance; (c) Any concessionaire. For purposes of this section, concessionaire shall include any contractor, subcontractor, or tenant operating on the premises of any stadium, arena, or other sports facility developed pursuant to a project agreement; or (d) Any person or entity that contracts or subcontracts with a financial assistance recipient to perform work for a period of more than ninety days on the premises of the financial assistance recipient or on the premises of property improved or developed with financial assistance including but not limited to temporary services or staffing agencies, food service contractors, and other on-site service contractors.
(5)"Employee" means any person employed by a covered employer within the city of New York. This definition includes persons performing work on a full-time, part-time, temporary or seasonal basis, and includes employees, independent contractors, and contingent or contracted workers, including persons made available to work through the services of a temporary services, staffing or employment agency or similar entity. Provided, however, that if the financial assistance is targeted to particular real property, then only persons employed at the real property to which the financial assistance pertains shall be deemed employees.
(6)"Entity" or "Person" means any individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, association, joint venture, limited liability company, corporation or any other form of doing business.
(7)"Financial assistance" means assistance that is provided to a financial assistance recipient for the improvement or development of real property, economic development, job retention and growth, or other similar purposes, and that is provided either (a) directly by the city, or (b) indirectly by a city economic development entity and that is paid in whole or in part by the city, and that at the time the financial assistance recipient enters into a project agreement with the city or city economic development entity is expected to have a total present financial value of one million dollars or more. Financial assistance includes, but is not limited to, cash payments or grants, bond financing, tax abatements or exemptions (including, but not limited to, abatements or exemptions from real property, mortgage recording, sales and use taxes, or the difference between any payments in lieu of taxes and the amount of real property or other taxes that would have been due if the property were not exempted from the payment of such taxes), tax increment financing, filing fee waivers, energy cost reductions, environmental remediation costs, write-downs in the market value of building, land, or leases, or the cost of capital improvements undertaken for the benefit of a project subject to a project agreement. Financial assistance shall include only discretionary assistance that is negotiated or awarded by the city or by a city economic development entity, and shall not include as-of-right assistance, tax abatements or benefits, such as those under the Industrial and Commercial Abatement Program, the J-51 Program, and other similar programs. Any tax abatement, credit, reduction or exemption that is given to all persons who meet criteria set forth in the state or local legislation authorizing such tax abatement, credit, reduction or exemption shall be deemed to be as-of-right (or non-discretionary); further, the fact that any such tax abatement, credit, reduction or exemption is limited solely by the availability of funds to applicants on a first come, first served or other non-discretionary basis set forth in such state or local law shall not render such abatement, credit, reduction or exemption discretionary. Where assistance takes the form of leasing city property at below-market lease rates, the value of the assistance shall be determined based on the total difference between the lease rate and a fair market lease rate over the duration of the lease. Where assistance takes the form of loans or bond financing, the value of the assistance shall be determined based on the difference between the financing cost to a borrower and the cost to a similar borrower who does not receive financial assistance from the city or a city economic development entity.
(8)"Financial assistance recipient" means any entity or person that receives financial assistance, or any assignee or successor in interest of real property improved or developed with financial assistance, including any entity to which financial assistance is conveyed through the sale of a condominium, but shall not include any entity who is exempt under subdivision d of this section.
(9)"Living wage" means an hourly compensation package that is no less than the sum of the living wage rate and the health benefits supplement rate for each hour worked. As of the effective date of the local law that added this section, the living wage rate shall be ten dollars per hour and the health benefits supplement rate shall be one dollar and fifty cents per hour. The portion of the hourly compensation package consisting of the health benefits supplement rate may be provided in the form of cash wages, health benefits or any combination of the two. The value of any health benefits received shall be determined based on the prorated hourly cost to the employer of the health benefits received by the employee. Beginning in 2013 and each year thereafter, the living wage rate and the health benefits supplement rate shall be adjusted based upon the twelve-month percentage increases, if any, in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for All Items and the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for Medical Care, respectively, (or their successor indexes, if any) as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor, based on the most recent twelve-month period for which data is available. The adjusted living wage rate and health benefits supplement rate shall each then be rounded to the nearest five cents. Such adjusted rates shall be announced no later than January 1 of each year and shall become effective as the new living wage rate and health benefits supplement rate on April 1 of each year. For employees who customarily and regularly receive tips, the financial assistance recipient may credit any tips received and retained by the employee towards the living wage rate. For each pay period that an employee's base cash wages and tips received total less than the living wage rate multiplied by the number of hours worked, the financial assistance recipient must pay the employee the difference in cash wages.
(10)"Not-for-profit organization" means an entity that is either incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation under the laws of the state of its incorporation or exempt from federal income tax pursuant to subdivision c of section five hundred one of the United States internal revenue code.
(11)"Project agreement" means a written agreement between the city or a city economic development entity and a financial assistance recipient pertaining to a project. A project agreement shall include an agreement to lease property from the city or a city economic development entity.
(12)"Small business" has the meaning specified in paragraph 1 of subdivision d of this section. c. Living Wage Required.
(1)Covered employers shall pay their employees no less than a living wage.
