Worker protections on Lander's agenda

‘Co-enforcement’ effort with Manhattan DA, state attorney general

City Comptroller Brad Lander wants to expand his office’s ability to hold unscrupulous employers accountable for illegal wage theft, retaliation and other forms of worker exploitation by broadening his power to enforce worker-protection laws already on the books.   

Currently, the city comptroller is limited to investigating claims concerning the prevailing wage laws for workers on public projects or working in public buildings. But on Thursday morning, at the first meeting of the Prevailing Wage Council since 2019, Lander announced that he was working with State Senator Jessica Ramos on the introduction of a bill that would expand the enforcement powers of his office to cover several more forms of worker exploitation.