Wage and Hour Category Archives — Page 3 of 4 — Long Island Employment Law Blog Published by Long Island Employment Law Attorneys

December 27, 2017

New York Class Action Lawsuits

In employment law, discrimination and unpaid wage and overtime cases are sometimes brought as class actions. Class actions allow one or more employees to represent a larger group of employees who have been harmed in a similar way as the “class representatives.” By bringing a case as a class action, the court can hear the dispute in a more efficient way than hearing perhaps hundreds of individual employees’ cases. Today’s Long Island employment law blog explores an unsettled question about settling cases involving class actions.

What is a Class Action?

On December 12, 2017, in Desrosiers v. Perry Ellis Menswear, LLC, a class action case, the New York Court of Appeals, the highest New York state court, was asked to decide whether members of a class need to be notified when a court dismissed the case or when a settlement occurred, even if the class action had not yet been certified by the court.

December 21, 2017

Do I Have to Pay Interns?

by Famighetti & Weinick

Employers often wonder whether they have to pay their interns. This is a question courts have also grappled with over the past few years. Today’s Long Island employment law blog explores the question of whether interns are employees, requiring that employers pay them at least minimum wage.

Employees Must be Paid At Least Minimum Wage

Both federal law and state minimum wage laws generally require that employees earn at least the minimum wage. In New York, the minimum wage varies depending on several factors such as, among other things, location (county), the type of work performed, and the size of the business.

December 20, 2017

Arbitrating Employment Wage Cases

by Famighetti & Weinick

Many employers include an arbitration clause in their employment contracts. An employee who signs this contract, gives up his or her right to sue in court over any job-related issues that may arise such as claims for wrongful termination, minimum wage payment violations, and overtime pay violations. Today’s employment law blog discusses recent developments about the applicability of arbitration clauses to claims of unpaid wages and overtime in New York.

Employers like to include arbitration clauses because the arbitration process is generally a quicker and cheaper alternative to a proceeding in court. Yet, a worker recently disagreed with a court’s decision requiring that he use arbitration instead of filing his Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) claim in court.

On December 12, 2017, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals was asked to decide whether claims under unpaid wage and overtime claims underthe FLSA are in fact subject to arbitration.

November 1, 2017

$39,541 Judgment Obtained for Worker

by Famighetti & Weinick

On October 25, 2017, Long Island employment lawyers Famighetti & Weinick, PLLC obtained a $39,541 judgment for their client, a former cook in a restaurant. The lawsuit, filed in Supreme Court, New York County, alleged that the restaurant did not pay the client overtime and failed to provide with her wage statements as required by New York Law.

New York Overtime Laws

In New York, employers are required to pay their employees overtime pay for all hours worked over 40 in a week. Generally, overtime is one and one half times the employee’s regular rate of pay. In F&W’s case, the employee worked as much as 75 hours per week, but was paid only a flat “salary” rate of $520 in cash. So, F&W argued that the $520 represented payment for only the first 40 hours worked in the week, meaning the employee was owed regular wages plus overtime wages for up to 35 hours per week. Justice Nancy Bannon agreed with F&W and further agreed that the employee was entitled to unpaid wages totaling $17,452 for the 6 months the employee worked for the restaurant.

September 20, 2017

Judge Grants FW’s Motion in Potential Class Action Case

by Famighetti & Weinick

Long Island employment lawyers, Famighetti & Weinick, PLLC, represented a Long Island limousine company accused in a class action lawsuit of not paying its employees’ tips and overtime. On September 15, 2017, a Nassau County Supreme Court justice granted F&W’s motion to dismiss the case. The situation is discussed below.

F&W’s client operates a limousine company. According to the plaintiff in the case, he alleged that the company did not pay its drivers proper overtime for the hours he, and other employees, worked over 40 in a week. The plaintiff further alleged that the company collected gratuities from its customers and told the customers that the tips would be given to the drivers, but that the company then kept the tips, instead of paying them to the drivers. Additionally, the plaintiff alleged his pay stubs did not meet the requirements of the New York Labor Law’s Wage Theft Prevention Act (WTPA). The plaintiff attempted to bring his claims as a class action, on behalf of himself and all of the limousine company’s drivers.

F&W partner and Long Island employment lawyer Matt Weinick filed a motion on behalf of the limousine company seeking to dismiss the lawsuit in its entirety. Among other things, Weinick argued that the plaintiff’s last pay stub proved he was paid properly, that the overtime claim was otherwise not sufficiently stated and supported by facts in the complaint, that the allegations relating to the tip issue were not sufficiently stated in the complaint, and that since those claims failed, the wage statement claim was also required to be dismissed under the law.

August 30, 2017

Judge Recommends FW Client be paid $30,380

by Famighetti & Weinick

In October 2015, Long Island employment lawyers, Famighetti & Weinick, PLLC, filed a lawsuit alleging that a Long Island gas station did not pay their client overtime for the 35 hours per week that he worked overtime. The firm also alleged that the gas station did not provide the client proper notice about his wages or proper wage statements when he was paid. On August 30, 2017, United States Magistrate Judge Anne Y. Shields recommended to District Judge Spatt, that he order the gas station to pay $30,380 in damages, and $12,370 to F&W, for their work on the case.

Judge Recommends Answer Be Stricken and Default Entered

In the gas station case, F&W filed a lawsuit to which the defendants appeared in and submitted a response, called an answer. However, in the course of the lawsuit, the defendants or their lawyer failed to obey court orders, failed to respond to motions, and failed to participate in the discovery process. Further, after F&W filed an “amended complaint,” which sought to add a defendant, the defendants failed to respond to the amended complaint by submitting an answer. Magistrate Judge Shields recommended that the defendants’ existing answer be stricken and that a default judgment be entered against all the defendants because of their exhibited “willful” failure to defend themselves in the lawsuit.

June 23, 2017

Independent Contractor or Employee

by Famighetti & Weinick

Whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee is a question with important implications. Employers who misclassify their workers may be liable for workers’ compensation penalties, wage and overtime claims, and unemployment insurance penalties. Simply paying an employee on a 1099 does not mean that the worker is an independent contractor.

The ride sharing company Uber classified their drivers as independent contractors. Like many other businesses that call workers independent contractors, by doing so, the company did not have to pay costly employee benefits. On June 9, 2017, an Administrative Law Judge determined that three Uber drivers were employees, not independent contractors. Today’s employment law blog discusses the Uber case.

The Blurry Line Between Independent Contractor and Employee

June 14, 2017

Fair Workweek in New York City

by Famighetti & Weinick

On May 30, 2017, New York City passed a new law that will affect the retail and fast food industry in the city. This new law, which will be effective on November 26, 2017 includes five separate bills and is part of the Fair Workweek legislation package signed by Mayor Bill De Blasio.

Nearly one in five Americans have an unstable work schedule. Employees in the retail and fast food industry often have unpredictable schedules which make it difficult for them to seek additional employment, find care for their children, and further their education. This new law intends to provide these workers with not only more stability in the workplace but also in their personal lives. Although San Francisco and Seattle have passed similar laws, New York is the largest city to make such changes.

New York City Regulates Fast Food Workers’ Schedules

June 2, 2017

Teacher Overtime Case Decided

by Famighetti & Weinick

Are teachers in educational settings other than primary schools, secondary schools, or colleges entitled to receive minimum wage for out-of-classroom work and/or overtime pay when their classroom and out-of-classroom work exceed forty hours per week? New York’s highest federal court recently said “NO!”

The following facts are taken from Fernandez v. Zoni Language Ctrs., Inc. decided by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on May 26, 2017.

The plaintiffs were English Language instructors at a private, for-profit institution offering English classes to adult students. The teachers argued that their employer, Zoni Centers, was required to pay them minimum wage for hours worked outside of the classroom, such as when preparing for class and grading work, and overtime hours when their classroom and out-of-classroom work exceeded forty hours per week. The District Court held that although employers are generally required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) to pay employees minimum wage and overtime, teachers are considered bona fide professionals exempt from these FLSA requirements. Thus, Zoni Centers was not required to abide by the general FLSA requirements.

April 10, 2017

Overtime Pay in New York

by Famighetti & Weinick

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the New York Labor Law (NYLL) require that most employees receive overtime pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Overtime pay is one and one half times the regular rate of pay. Famighetti & Weinick PLLC are employment lawyers in New York and handle many of the issues discussed below relating to overtime pay in New York.

Who is Entitled to Overtime Pay in New York?

Only employees may be entitled to overtime pay. In other words, independent contractors are not employees and are, therefore, not entitled to overtime pay. Employers, however, frequently misclassify workers as independent contractors. Simply paying an employee “on a 1099” is not the end of the inquiry as to whether a worker is an independent contractor. As a matter of fact, being paid on a 1099 is probably the least important factor. Rather, courts will look at the level of control that the employer has over the worker, the worker’s ability to set work hours and pay, who supplies the tools and equipment, and the permanency of the work. The more control it appears that the employer has over the worker, the more likely it is that the worker is an employee and not an independent contractor.