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New York

Employee or independent contractor? DOL issues new rules

08/13/2015
The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a new set of guidelines that clarify when employers can classify workers as independent contractors.

2nd Circuit says interns don’t necessarily have to be paid

08/13/2015
In two recent cases decided in July, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has held that in many instances, unpaid interns may not necessarily be employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New York Labor Law.

Al-Jazeera America hit with $15M retaliation suit

08/13/2015
A former supervisor at Al-Jazeera America is suing the cable news network—owned by the government of Qatar—claiming he was fired for raising concerns about a senior vice president’s “overt misogynistic behavior.”

AG investigates retailers for unpredictable scheduling

08/13/2015
State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has requested scheduling information from some of the nation’s largest retailers to determine if they are abiding by New York’s “reporting time” law.

Proposal would raise New York fast-food pay to at least $15 per hour

08/13/2015
New York’s Wage Board has endorsed a recommendation to raise the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $15 per hour. The new hourly rate will apply to employees of chains with at least 30 locations in New York.

Failure to renew contract can be basis for lawsuit

08/13/2015
Some employers mistakenly believe that if they offer annual contracts, they can’t be sued for not renewing a contract. That’s just not true if the former employee can prove she wasn’t rehired for a discriminatory reason.

Being yelled at isn’t grounds for quitting

08/13/2015
Not all workplaces are civil and pleasant environments. Supervisors and co-workers sometimes lose their tempers and raise their voices. If it doesn’t happen often and isn’t related to a protected characteristic such as race, occasional yelling  doesn’t justify quitting.

Don’t punish absences by taking away more leave than employee used

08/13/2015

You can punish employees who don’t show up as scheduled with a poor performance review or even discharge. But you cannot take away pay, either in the form of wages or by deducting days from the employee’s leave bank. Doing so may violate New York State’s Labor Law.

Electronic trouble: Subscription-based hiring software carries defamation risk

08/13/2015
Do you use software for hiring employees that shares candidates’ basic information with other employer-subscribers? If that software also allows you to mark candidates or former employees as not eligible for hire, be aware that doing so may subject you to defamation claims. That’s what one major bank just learned.

Rules aren’t made to be broken! Insubordination is grounds for demotion

07/23/2015
If you have employees like that, carefully document the behavior. Then apply appropriate discipline, especially if the employee is insubordinate. Just make sure that everyone else with a similar work record is also punished the same way.