State and Federal Employment laws protect employee's civil rights to overtime pay and benefits while protecting against workplace harassment and discrimination.
New York Overtime Pay
Federal and State labor laws offer strict guidance on subjects such as minimum wage, overtime pay, deductions, breaks, tips, benefits, and more. With new federal regulations on overtime pay established in 2004, employers often misclassify employees, intentionally or accidentally, to avoid paying overtime wages.
- Qualifications for overtime pay: paid hourly vs. salary, earn less than $455 per week or $23,660 per year, job duties are not classified as "administrative", "professional", or "executive". (U.S. Department of Labor)
- Overtime hours: If you worked more than 40 hours per week (or 44 hours per week for residential employees), you may qualify for overtime pay. Overtime pay is one and half times your regular hourly wage. For example, if you're usually paid $10.00 per hour, your overtime rate would be $15.00 an hour. If you qualify, you may be able to receive compensation for lost overtime wages.
New York Discrimination in the Workplace
State and Federal laws also protect employees against harassment or discrimination in the workplace. Discrimination often prevents employees from employment opportunities or benefits.
- Workplace Discrimination can include racial or national origin discrimination, religious discrimination, age discrimination, gender or sexual orientation discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, or reverse discrimination.
- According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the fastest growing areas of reported discrimination cases include pregnancy discrimination and religious discrimination.
New York Harassment in the Workplace
Harassment is any form of unsolicited, deliberately offensive behavior. Workplace harassment can be instigated by a manager, a co-worker, a vendor, or even a client. In many harassment cases, the victim does not have to be the person harassed but simply one person or multiple persons affected by the offensive conduct.
Workplace harassment can include racial/ ethnic harassment, gender or sexual orientation harassment, sexual harassment, and stalking or bullying.
New York Employment Law Articles
One New York City Employer not Taking Time with Paying Overtime
There has been widespread controversy throughout America over unpaid overtime. Many employers have dodged the overtime bullet for several years labeling employees as salaried. Companies with salaried employees feel the title of "salaried" is a safe haven to skirt paying overtime. They believe salary indicates a certain amount of pay no matter how many hours an employee actually works. But, employers are beginning to see where they need to proceed with caution with salaried workers.
Register your New York Employment Law Complaint
If you are employed in the State of New York and feel that your employer or a co-worker has violated an employment law, you may qualify for damages or remedies that may be awarded in a possible lawsuit. Please click the link below to submit your complaint.
