Many New York City residents struggle with scheduling challenges at work and inadequate pay, according to a survey released by the ILR School’s Worker Institute with the New York City Office of Labor Policy and Standards (OLPS).

Among the key findings from “Working in NYC: Results From the 2017 Empire State Poll”:

• Workers report being subjected to work-related legal violations, and about 40 percent of New Yorkers said they struggle to pay household expenses. Most say the economy favors the wealthiest.
• Eighty-two percent of those polled want New York City to do more to protect immigrants, and 75 percent want the city to work harder at defending worker rights following the 2016 presidential election.

The Empire State Poll, which surveys 800 state residents, is conducted annually by the Cornell Survey Research Institute. Questions used were developed by The Worker Institute and the newly established OLPS.

Survey interviews were completed from February through April this year. Findings are based on interviews with 277 New York City residents, 174 of whom were employed when interviewed.

The city’s labor market has grown stronger, with its unemployment rate the first five months of 2017 averaging 4.2 percent, its lowest level in about 50 years, according to the survey. Wages are going up, and state minimum wage increases from 2017 through 2019 will provide an additional boost to many workers, the report said.

“Still, the survey findings suggest that many New Yorkers continue to struggle financially, and that most working New Yorkers believe today’s economy is not one in which everyone has an equal chance to get ahead,” wrote the report’s authors, Sanjay Pinto of The Worker Institute and Sarah Leberstein and Sam Krinsky of OLPS.

Other findings:

• 13 percent of workers said they were not paid what they were owed; 10 percent said they were harassed at work; and 10 percent did not receive paid sick leave.
• 55 percent of workers said they work roughly the same schedule every week, while 32 percent said their schedules change, but they control their working hours. Another 13 percent say their schedules vary, and they have no control over their hours.
• 64 percent of workers are happy with the hours they work; 22 percent would like to work fewer hours; and 14 percent would like more time on the job.
• 29 percent of the workforce is not working full time all year, including 21 percent who are part-time workers and 8 percent who work seasonal, temporary or contract positions.
• About 1 in 6 workers is paid as an independent contractor.

Findings “also indicate that, even as unemployment has decreased and labor force participation has risen to its highest level in many years, a sizable share of New Yorkers are in nonstandard work arrangements such as independent contractor arrangements or part-time work, which leaves them without dependable hours, income or benefits,” the authors report. “Responding to this set of challenges requires discussion of multiple approaches – increasing access to predictable and full-time hours, strengthening protections and benefits for all workers, and further developing benefit arrangements that are not tied a person’s current employment status.”

Brian Pappalardo is a freelance writer for the ILR School.