Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, NYC NEWS—Mayor Mamdani announces $2.1M recovery for more than 1,600 workers from four employers, including Walgreens, (Jul 9, 2026)

By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.

In addition to Walgreens, three other employers, including Allstar Security & Consulting, Calzedonia (Intimissimi), and Kinship Coffee, also allegedly violated the city’s worker protection laws.

According to an announcement by New York City (NYC) Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Samuel A.A. Levine, four companies will pay a combined $2.1 million in restitution to more than 1,600 workers, along with more than $218,000 in civil penalties and costs for violations of two city laws:

• Walgreens will pay more than $1.6 million in restitution to more than 570 workers at three Brooklyn stores, along with $163,000 in civil penalties, following a finding by DCWP that the employer failed to provide workers with 72 hours’ advance notice of work schedules and required employees to work additional hours without the notice or consent mandated by the Fair Workweek Law;

• Allstar Security & Consulting will pay $270,000 in restitution to more than 900 workers, plus $30,000 in civil penalties and costs, after failing to provide paid protected time off required under NYC’s Protected Time Off Law;

• Calzedonia, owner of SoHo-based lingerie retailer Intimissimi, will pay more than $154,000 in restitution to more than 50 workers, along with more than $15,000 in civil penalties and costs, for failing to provide 72 hours’ advance notice of schedules, requiring employees to work additional hours without proper notice or consent and canceling shifts with insufficient notice, which violates the Fair Workweek Law; and

• Kinship Coffee will pay more than $67,000 in restitution to more than 90 workers, along with more than $9,000 in civil penalties and costs, for violating the Protected Time Off law at three Queens locations.

“When a company shorts a worker on their schedule or their time off, that worker pays for it—missing their kid’s pickup, losing a shift they were counting on, scrambling to find childcare with two days’ notice,” said Mayor Mamdani. “These laws exist because working families deserve stability on the job. If corporations choose to break them, they will pay what they owe.”

Under the Fair Workweek Law, for retail workers, New York City employers must provide work schedules at least 72 hours in advance; not schedule on-call shifts; and not cancel scheduled shifts with less than 72 hours’ notice. For fast food workers, employers must provide regular schedules that remain consistent week-to-week; post schedules at least 14 days in advance; pay required premiums for schedule changes and “clopening” shifts; allow workers to decline additional shifts and “clopening” shifts; offer additional regular hours to existing employees before hiring new staff; not terminate workers or reduce their hours by more than 15 percent without just cause; reinstate laid off employees by seniority when hours become available; and not require employees to work additional hours with less than 72 hours’ notice unless the employee voluntarily agrees.

Under the Protected Time Off law, covered employees are entitled to up to 40 or 56 hours of time off each year, depending on employer size, as well as unpaid protected time off and paid prenatal leave.

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