The media cycle of the past year has been flooded with hundreds of stories of sexual harassment committed by those in positions of power. People are becoming less afraid of sharing their experiences with sexual harassment, which has sparked the #MeToo movement which seeks to unveil the sexual harassment and assault that too often has been concealed. Many of the stories of sexual harassment that have come into the spotlight have been those that have allegedly occurred between employers and employees such as those allegedly involving Harvey Weinstein and Matt Lauer. Continue reading “What You Should Know About the “Stop Sexual Harassment in NYC” Act”
Author: Steven Sack
What You Should Know Before Hiring an Intern
Whether or not an intern is paid is usually a deciding factor in considering hiring one. While many internships are not paid, labor laws usually allow the intern to work for college credit. However, there are restrictions to this exception. An internship must abide by specific criteria in order to be exempt from the Minimum Wage Act and Orders, which outlines New York’s laws regarding pay and overtime. In order to be exempt from this law, an intern cannot be considered an employee and an employment relationship cannot exist between the for-profit business and the intern. It can be determined that an employment relationship does not exist if the relationship meets all of the following criteria:
Continue reading “What You Should Know Before Hiring an Intern”
The Supreme Court and The Debate Over Joint Employment
On January 8th of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari to take another look at the case of DirecTV, LLC v. Hall. The issue in this case was whether or not the Fourth Circuit misinterpreted the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which ultimately decides minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, youth employment, and other employment issues. The FSLA issue the Supreme Court declined to hear is joint employment.
Continue reading “The Supreme Court and The Debate Over Joint Employment”
AG Files Lawsuit against Brooklyn Car Wash for Wage Theft
On January 25, 2018, New York State Attorney General Eric Scheiderman announced he filed a lawsuit against Tropical Breeze Car Wash in Brooklyn, alleging its managers cheated its employees out of more than $540,000 in wages and deliberately filed false information to the state regarding the number of employees and payroll to avoid paying unemployment insurance. The lawsuit names the owner/manager and managers as defendants.
Continue reading “AG Files Lawsuit against Brooklyn Car Wash for Wage Theft”
New York State’s Paid Family Leave Program Begins
What constitutes paid family leave and whether employers should be required to offer it has been a widely debated topic for decades. Recently, New York State has taken a step forward in this issue by granting employees new rights regarding family leave. As of the first day of the new year, the laws outlining employees’ eligibility for paid family leave have been improved in New York State to make it one of the most generous plans in the nation. The program for New York State will be phased in over the course of the next four years, beginning with 8 weeks of paid leave and eventually growing to 12 weeks of paid leave by 2021.
Continue reading “New York State’s Paid Family Leave Program Begins”
Age Discrimination Is Illegal
Recently, a federal lawsuit was filed against Amazon and T-Mobile, among others, for discriminating against older employees in violation of the Age Discrimination Employment Act (ADEA). According to the complaint, these companies posted recruitment advertisements on Facebook, a social media platform, which targeted only specific age groups.
Continue reading “Age Discrimination Is Illegal”
Amendment to NYC Human Rights Law For Reasonable Accommodation Requests
A recent amendment to the New York City Human Rights Law now requires employers to handle employee requests for reasonable accommodations in a specific manner. The New York City Council amended the law, which takes effect on October 15, 2018, in response to employers’ failure to acknowledge and appropriately handle requests for reasonable accommodations by their employees. The amendment requires employers to participate in a cooperative discussion with an employee who needs accommodations for:
Continue reading “Amendment to NYC Human Rights Law For Reasonable Accommodation Requests”
FMLA Does Not Mean Employees are Ineligible for Termination
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) gives qualifying employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year. It allows employees to take a reasonable amount of unpaid leave time for medical or family reasons such as:
Continue reading “FMLA Does Not Mean Employees are Ineligible for Termination”
Microchip In The Workplace
Recently, a company in Wisconsin will be the first in the United States to put microchip implants in its employees. According to reports, over 50 employees at Three Square Market (32M) are expected to voluntarily have microchips implanted between their thumb and forefinger. The chips are radio-frequency identification chips (RFID) that will be used to perform common office tasks by waving their hand. According to Todd Westby, the implant is the size of a grain of rice.
Updates To The New York State Paid Family Leave Law
The New York State Paid Family Leave Law requires that every New York State employer provide employees with up to 12 weeks of paid leave for the following:
- the birth, adoption, or placement of a new child
- to care for a family member with a serious health condition, or
- for a qualifying exigency arising from a family member’s military service.
Continue reading “Updates To The New York State Paid Family Leave Law”
