Workers at three Brooklyn Walgreens stores and three Astoria Kinship Coffee shops are among more than 1,600 employees set to receive restitution under settlements totaling more than $2.3 million. 

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Sam Levine announced Monday that the city reached settlements with Walgreens, Allstar Security & Consulting, Calzedonia, the owner of Intimissimi, and Kinship Coffee over violations of New York City worker-protection laws.

The four companies will pay a combined $2.1 million in restitution to workers, along with more than $218,000 in civil penalties and costs, according to the administration. 

“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,” Mamdani said in a statement.

“These laws exist because working families deserve stability on the job. If corporations choose to break them, they will pay what they owe.”

The largest settlement is with Walgreens, which will pay $1,803,740 total, including $1,639,800 in employee relief, $155,445 in civil penalties and $8,495 for the settlement administrator.

The Walgreens settlement covers 579 eligible workers at stores at 1847 Rockaway Pkwy., 755 Broadway and 3000 Church Ave. in Brooklyn. The violations covered June 1, 2018, through Nov. 30, 2025.

The DCWP found that Walgreens violated the city’s Fair Workweek Law by canceling or shortening some workers’ shifts within 72 hours, requiring some workers to work additional hours without proper notice and written consent, and failing to consistently provide or post work schedules 72 hours in advance.

The consent order says the agreement does not constitute a judicial or administrative determination of any disputed issue of fact or law.

The Walgreens order also requires the company to implement written Fair Workweek policies at the three Brooklyn stores, train managers and supervisors, appoint compliance leaders and create internal audit procedures to identify noncompliance.

Walgreens must also post the city’s “You Have A Right to a Predictable Work Schedule” notice at all of its New York City locations.
Kinship Coffee’s Steinway Street location in Astoria, one of three Queens shops included in the city’s labor-rights settlement with the company.Photo by Google Street View

Kinship Coffee will pay $76,500 total, including $67,500 in employee relief, $1,121.82 in civil penalties and $7,878.18 for the settlement administrator.

The settlement covers more than 90 workers at three Astoria shops: 23-92 21st St., 30-05 Steinway St. and 30-14 Broadway. The violations covered Feb. 1, 2022, through Jan. 31, 2025.

The DCWP found that Kinship Coffee failed to provide paid safe and sick time to eligible employees, failed to maintain a written safe and sick time policy, failed to provide workers with notice of their employee rights and failed to provide pay statements or other written documentation showing sick time accrued, used and available.

The consent order states that the company and DCWP entered into the agreement to avoid further litigation and resolve the matter without a hearing.

Kinship Coffee agreed to pay the employee relief through a 165-day payment plan.

The agreement is backed by an affidavit of confession of judgment allowing DCWP to seek the remaining balance, a $26,010 default penalty and 9% annual interest if the company misses a payment and does not cure the default within 10 days.

The Kinship order also requires the company to adopt a written safe and sick time policy, distribute it to employees, train managers, post a notice about the settlement for two years and provide current employees with documentation showing their safe and sick time balances.

The company also agreed to give DCWP investigators access to its business premises, with or without notice, to inspect for compliance.

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 the city’s Protected Time Off Law, according to the administration.

Calzedonia, the 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.

The city said the company violated the Fair Workweek Law by failing to provide 72 hours’ advance notice of schedules, requiring workers to take additional hours without proper notice or consent, and canceling shifts with insufficient notice.

Walgreens, Allstar Security & Consulting, Calzedonia/Intimissimi and Kinship Coffee did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Levine said the city’s Fair Workweek and Protected Time Off laws are meant to protect workers from last-minute scheduling changes and wrongly denied time off.

“For too many workers, receiving a work schedule at the last minute or being wrongly denied time off can disrupt child care arrangements, interfere with educational opportunities, and make it harder to make ends meet,” Levine said in a statement.

The city’s Fair Workweek Law requires retail employers to provide work schedules at least 72 hours in advance, bars on-call shifts and prohibits employers from canceling scheduled shifts with less than 72 hours’ notice. 

The city’s Protected Time Off Law, formerly known as the Paid Safe and Sick Leave Law, entitles covered workers to up to 40 or 56 hours of time off each year, depending on employer size, along with unpaid protected time off and paid prenatal leave.