Articles Discussing New York Wage & Hour Laws.

Following the trend set by the Pay Transparency Executive Order 13665 and Governor Jerry Brown’s signing of the California Fair Pay Act, this week New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo (D) signed a series of bills aimed at significantly strengthening fair pay, “pay transparency” and other legal protections available in the workplace.

On September 10, 2015, the New York Department of Labor issued an order increasing the minimum wage for fast food employees at certain fast food chain restaurants in New York State to $15 per hour.1 This increase fixes the fast food minimum wage at more than double the federal minimum wage of $7.25, and 60% beyond the New York State minimum wage, which is currently $8.75 per hour and scheduled to increase to $9 per hour on December 31, 2015. This new fast food minimum wage will be phased in over several years, reaching $15 for New York City restaurants by December 31, 2018 and for restaurants in the entire state by July 1, 2021.3

Executive Summary. Last week, a Manhattan Supreme Court Justice denied a motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit against Chinese–American Planning Council Home Attendant Program, Inc., brought for unpaid wages, overtime, and failing to pay workers properly under the Wage Parity Act, among other alleged violations. That alone is not newsworthy. What is newsworthy is the court’s statement that “(a)rguably, 12 NYCRR 142-3.1(b) ( a NYS Department of Labor Wage Order) indicates that an employee who works a 24-hour shift is entitled to 24 hours pay ….” Decisions from justices in both the Manhattan and Brooklyn Supreme Courts have now reached this same conclusion, which is very troublesome for agencies continuing to service these cases.

Today, Acting Commissioner of Labor Mario Musolino adopted the Fast Food Wage Board’s July recommendations, in an Order available here. The Order takes effect within thirty days of its publication in ten New York newspapers. Employers covered – or arguably covered – by the definition of “Fast Food Establishment” contained in the Wage Board’s recommendations must prepare for the “phased in” increases to the minimum wage called for by the Order.

In prior posts, we have summarized the New York State Department of Labor’s most recent rulemaking processes, comprised of two separate wage boards. The first, in 2014, addressed the hospitality industry as a whole, while more recently, in 2015, another highly publicized wage board addressed the subset of that industry deemed “fast food.” Employers should be aware of the cascade of new rules flowing and likely continuing to flow from these wage boards. “Wage Boards” are authorized to make recommendations to the Commissioner of Labor regarding changes in regulations, which the Commissioner can either accept or reject.

In a televised meeting this afternoon, New York’s recently-convened Fast Food Wage Board confirmed industry employers’ fears and announced its unanimous recommendation that the wage for “fast food employees” in “fast food establishments” be increased to $15/hour by December 31, 2018 in New York City and by July 1, 2021 in the rest of New York State. Prior to issuing their recommendations, the Wage Board elicited testimony from James Brown of the NY Department of Labor’s Division of Statistics regarding the cost of living in New York and the insufficiency of average wages in the industry.

Several states have limited or regulated employers’ use of debit cards for payment of wages in response to concerns raised by employees and advocacy groups. Most recently, the New York State Department of Labor has published proposed rules addressing the payment of wages by payroll debit cards. If an employer intends to pay an employee using a payroll debit card, the employer must comply with the following requirements:

On April 10, 2015, the New York State Office of the Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman sent letters to 13 major national retailers, requesting detailed information concerning the companies’ New York staffing and scheduling policies and practices.

The New York State Department of Labor (“NY DOL”) has consistently enforced the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”) as permitting third-party employers of 24-hour home care attendants to pay their employees for 13 hours of a 24-hour shift, provided the employee is afforded eight hours of sleep, five of which are uninterrupted, and three uninterrupted hours for meals.1 A recent decision by the New York State Supreme Court (the highest trial-level court for civil cases in the New York state court system) has rejected the NY DOL’s interpretation of the NYLL and refused to find binding a New York federal court decision that relied on a 2010 NY DOL Opinion Letter addressing wage practices for home care attendants.2 Instead, in Andryeyeva v. New York Home Attendant Agency, the New York state court found that sleep and meal periods must not be excluded from the hourly wages of a home attendant who does not “reside” in the home of his or her client, and certified a class action of over 1,000 home care attendants who worked 24-hour shifts.3 There are additional cases raising these same issues pending in the New York state court, including at least one other filed by the same plaintiff’s firm.4 Therefore, home care agencies operating in New York are at risk of copy-cat litigation and should be diligent with their pay practices.

Executive Summary: On February 24, 2015, the Commissioner of Labor accepted the recommendation of the New York State Department of Labor’s (NYSDOL) Wage Board (the “Wage Board”) for a 50 percent increase in the minimum hourly rate for tipped workers, from $5.00 to $7.50 an hour. As discussed in our February 4, 2015 Alert, The Diminishing Tip Credit: Another Reason it is becoming Harder to Comply with Wage & Hour Laws in New York, the increase takes effect December 31, 2015.

Executive Summary: On January 30, 2015, the New York State Department of Labor’s (“NYSDOL”) Wage Board (the “Wage Board”) voted to recommend a fifty percent increase in the minimum hourly rate for tipped workers, from $5.00 to $7.50 an hour.

Executive Summary: On December 29, 2014, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill into law that amends the New York Wage Theft Prevention Act (the “Act”). While the amendments relieve New York employers from some administrative burdens, that is where the good news ends for employers.

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law legislation to repeal the notice provision of the Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2010. Effective January 2, 2015, the law (Chapter 537) removes the notice requirement that, under the previous act, required employers annually to provide employees with a written notice regarding wage information.

After a delay of nearly six months, on December 29, 2014, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into a law a bill (A 8106-C, S5885-B) that amends the state’s Labor Law, including the Wage Theft Prevention Act (the WTPA), and the law’s application to limited liability companies, contractors and successor employers. The key provisions of the amendments, which become effective on February 27, 2015, (i) eliminate the burdensome annual wage notice requirement; (ii) significantly increase penalties for non-compliance with the WTPA; (iii) expand contractor accountability, successor liability and personal liability for violations; and (iv) create a Wage Theft Prevention Enforcement Account.

Effective December 31, 2014, the New York State minimum wage increases to $8.75 per hour (from $8.00 per hour).