On Jan. 5, 2021, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law two bills mandating that fast food employers in the city cannot discharge fast food employees without "just cause" or a "bona fide economic reason," once they have completed their probationary period. (Int. 1415-A (2019) and Int. 1396-A (2019).) The legislation prevents fast food employers from discharging such employees pursuant to the employment-at-will doctrine, which traditionally has defined the employer-employee relationship in New York. These safeguards provide fast food workers with job security similar to protections traditionally available only to union or governmental workers. The legislation takes effect on July 4, 2021, giving fast food employers six months to bring their policies and practices into compliance.

This new legislation expands New York City's 2017 Fair Work Week Law, which the City Council passed in response to fast food workers' advocacy for higher wages and greater workplace conditions and protections in the city. (In 2012, the advocacy movement began in the city with the "Fight for $15" protest to increase minimum wage from $7.25 to $15.00.) The Fair Work Week Law improved the predictability, stability, and transparency of fast food and retail employees' working hours in New York City. The COVID-19 pandemic motivated the City Council to build on these protections for fast food workers by enacting this legislation. In recognition of the fact that fast food workers were designated as "essential workers" not subject to the Governor's stay-at-home orders, the City Council sought to eliminate their fears of job loss and to increase safeguards for raising health and safety concerns in the workplace. See Press Release, New York City Council, Council Votes to Prevent Fast-Food Workers From Being Fired Without "Just Cause" (Dec. 17, 2020).