Sexual harassment in the workplace is a significant problem for New Yorkers, affecting all gender identities and all racial and ethnic groups, according to the New York at Work 2022-23 report, a compilation of research and policy briefs by ILR School researchers published Aug. 29.

Research, policies and tools related to New York state wages, job creation and employment are all addressed in the report, published around Labor Day each year by ILR Outreach; its state-focused experts are based in Ithaca, New York City and Buffalo.

“This Labor Day, workers, unions, communities and employers across the state face challenges around wages, working conditions and equity like never before. When the ground is shifting beneath you, you need tools and policies based on applied research,” said Ariel Avgar, Ph.D. ’08, the David M. Cohen Professor and senior associate dean for outreach and sponsored research at the ILR School.

Among the findings, people with transgender, nonbinary, nonconforming, questioning or other gender identities reported the highest rates of harassment (50%), followed by cis women (35.6%) and cis men (18.9%).

The report includes research showing that more than 40% of New Yorkers responding to ILR’s Empire State Poll engage in unpaid caregiving of family members or close friends. It also reports that 40 of the 62 counties in New York had higher eviction rates in 2022 than in 2019.

“ILR supports inclusive and equitable policies as a foundation for healthy employment relations,” Avgar said, “and New York at Work is one of the ways we provide policymakers, citizens and others with an understanding of tools and policy approaches that we hope will help them make informed decisions.”

Research and policy briefs in New York at Work 2022-23 were contributed by ILR’s Buffalo Co-Lab; the Climate Jobs Institute; the Criminal Justice and Employment Initiative; the Labor and Employment Law Program; the Worker Institute; and the Yang-Tan Institute on Employment and Disability.

This year’s report has 10 sections:

• Cornell ILR Eviction Filings Dashboard
• ILR Living Wage Atlas
• Public Mental Health Care Sector: Impact of Austerity and Privatization
• Tracking 2022 Inflation Reduction Act Manufacturing Investments
• Update Work Access Rules for People with Criminal Convictions: Policy Brief
• Drug Testing: Clarifying Rights and Responsibilities for Employees and Employers
• Equity in Focus: Job Creation for a Just Society
• Sexual Harassment and Gendered Violence Impact on Workers
• Public Mental Health Care Sector: Impact of Austerity and Privatization
• Unpaid Care Work and Its Impact on New Yorkers’ Paid Employment

The annual report underscores the ILR School’s continuing commitment to labor policy and practice in New York state, said Alex Colvin, Ph.D. ’99, ILR’s Kenneth F. Kahn ’69 Dean and Martin F. Scheinman ’76, M.S. ’76, Professor of Conflict Resolution.

“Improving labor relations and enhancing the lives of New York’s working people has been central to ILR’s mission since 1945, when the New York State Legislature established the school as part of Cornell’s land-grant mission,” Colvin said. “We are proud to continue to serve through our research, teaching and outreach.”

Previous New York at Work reports were published in 2021 and 2022.

Mary Catt is director of communications for the ILR School.