Tailored Solutions For Employment Law Matters
NPK Foods Inc., the operator of a Subway restaurant franchise in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, fired an employee during an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. This restaurant learned a hard lesson by first failing to properly...
Today, a new version of the Form I-9 was released by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. The I-9 is a form that must be used by employers to document their efforts to verify the identity and employment eligibility of its employees. The new version of the form can be found here: https://www.uscis.gov/i-9. This form must be used by…
In light of the recent weather that has taken over national attention with Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, it is as good a time as any to discuss how these natural disasters impact the employment world in the United States, including an employer’s obligation to provide leave under laws such as the Family and Medical Leave Act (the “FMLA”). The FMLA…
On June 7, 2017, the United States Department of Labor (the “DOL”) announced that prior interpretations by the Wage and Hour Division on independent contractors and joint employment were being withdrawn. The guidance on independent contractors came from an Administrator’s Interpretation released in 2015, in which the DOL concluded that under the broad definition of “employ” under the Fair Labor…
You may have a claim for wrongful termination if your firing is considered illegal. A termination may be illegal for a variety of reasons—from discrimination to retaliation for asserting your rights. In most situations that involve discipline, a termination will not be illegal. That is, if an employee is terminated because they are doing something wrong or they are not…
On July 21, 2017, the Southern District Court in New York held that Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (the “ADA”) covers claims by disabled individuals who seek to use a company’s resources online. The case is Markett v. Five Guys Enters. LLC. In this case, the plaintiff, who is blind, sought to order food from the defendant-restaurant…
Mayor Bill de Blasio recently signed the Fair Workweek legislation, which is a series of laws that go into effect on December 1, 2017. The laws are designed to create more predictable work scheduled for fast food workers in New York City. Law Number 1 requires fast food employers to provide written notice to the employee of his/her work schedule,…
It should go without saying that employees battling cancer are entitled to equal protection from discrimination and adverse treatment in the workplace. However, sadly, this is not always the case – and cancer-based discrimination cases are unfortunately on the rise. Recently, the Journal of Oncology Practice published a groundbreaking study concerning the effects of a cancer diagnosis on an employee’s…
On January 1, 2018, New York’s Paid Family Leave law will go into effect. The benefits are to be funded by a weekly contribution of each employee’s weekly wages, which is now 0.126% of the weekly wage (capped at New York State’s current average weekly wage of $1,305.92). Employees will be eligible if he/she: (1) regularly works a schedule of…
As the New Year is just around the corner, now is an opportune time to remind individuals of some the upcoming changes in New York’s employment landscape. Wage Increases: The minimum wage for non-exempt employees in New York will increase as scheduled on December 31, 2017. The following new hourly minimums will apply: New York City, 11 or more employees:…
