ICYMI, the NYS Fashion Workers’ Act went into effect yesterday, imposing requirements on model management companies/ groups and their clients to protect fashion workers.
Under the law “model” means an individual who, in the course of such individual’s trade, occupation or profession, performs modeling services, regardless of whether an employee or independent contractor
Obligations For Model Management Companies/Groups include the duty to:
- Act in their models’ best interest/deal in good faith
- Ensure work secured does not put models at unreasonable risk
- Establish abuse, harassment and inappropriate behavior policies to protect models and share with models.
- Use best efforts to secure paid work for its models
- Ensure modeling work requiring nudity or sexually explicit content does not violate applicable law, and obtain informed and voluntary written consent before such content with models’ likeness can be created, shared, or distributed
- Provide models with a copy of their deal memo containing certain required items, including total compensation and payment terms, and the final booking agreement negotiated with clients (within 7 days model’s booking, and best efforts to sign the agreement before work begins)
- Provide clear communication of items models will pay for via pay deductions, and obtain written approval before making any upfront payments including charges model will be expected to pay out of final pay, providing an itemized recitation as to how each item is computed.
- Disclose financial relationship between client and group/company.
- Notify former models of royalties received that are owed after end of representation
- Obtain written approval from model to use their digital replica, separate from the representation agreement, and including the scope, purpose, pay rate, and duration the replica will be used.
Obligations For Clients include the duty to:
- Pay 1.5x overtime when a model works more than 8 hours in a 24-hour period, and a 30 minute meal break
- Not offer employment/engagement with unreasonable risk of danger
- Establish abuse, harassment, and inappropriate behavior policy that must be shared in writing
- Ensure employment, engagement, entertainment, or exhibition that requires nudity or sexually explicit material complies with applicable law
- Allow models to bring agent, manager, chaperone, or other representative to any employment, engagement, entertainment, exhibition, or performance
- Provide liability insurance to cover/ensure health and safety of models
- Provide digital replica agreement similar to that required by modeling management companies/groups
The law also contains registration requirements, which go into effect December 21, 2025.
Reach out to counsel to help draft policies and procedures if you have not done so already.