New York Blog — Employment Defense
Labor and Employment Defense
Welcome to the NYC Employment Law Blog! This blog is an online publication of Stephen D. Hans & Associates, P.C., a New York City law firm that has been representing small and mid-sized businesses throughout the New York metropolitan area in all types of employment and labor law matters for over thirty years. We hope this blog will be an interesting and informative resource for our readers, whether they are current or past clients, or simply compliance-minded business owners looking for ways to stay up-to-date with the ever-changing employment law landscape. To that end, we will endeavor to offer regular blog posts highlighting legislative developments, significant court and agency decisions and noteworthy news stories from the employment and labor law realm. We hope that as a reader you will find ours blog enlightening, useful and above all, interesting.
If you are the owner of a small or mid-sized business in New York State and have questions regarding any of our blog posts, or if you would like to consult with us regarding any employment or labor law issues, please feel free to give us a call at (718) 275-6700 or contact us online to schedule an in-person consultation at our offices.
Thank you for visiting our blog and we hope that you check back often!
Sincerely,
Stephen D. Hans & Associates, P.C.
Blogs
Guidelines for Classifying Workers as Independent Contractors or Employees
Why is worker classification important?
If a worker is an employee, you as the employer must withhold income taxes and pay Social Security, Medicare taxes and unemployment tax on the wages paid to the worker. Workers who are independent contractors are responsible for paying their own Social Security and Medicare taxes, which is called self-employment tax. The employer pays half of the employee’s self-employment tax and the employee pays the other half. Independent contractors pay the full amount of self-employment tax themselves.
What Factors Determine Whether a Worker is an Independent Contractor or Employee?
According to the IRS website, the three main factors that help an employer decide whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor are:
Behavioral control
Financial control
Relationship
Misclassifying Workers as Independent Contractors
How Would Your Small Business Fare with the IRS for Worker Status?
Did you know that misclassifying workers is one of the top problems that small business owners face? Many small businesses hire independent contractors as part of running their businesses and delivering services or products. It is vital for employers to ensure that they classify workers correctly.
What Can Happen as Result of Misclassifying Workers as Independent Contractors?
Digital Devices, Social Media and Employers: Bring Your Own Device
Where should you draw the lines as employers?
A trend exists where employers increasingly allow employees to use their own mobile devices, including laptops, tablets and smart phones, in the workplace to do their jobs. They can use their own devices to access applications and company information, post on social media accounts and send emails or texts related to business. In fact, an acronym has emerged to describe this practice: BYOD (Bring Your Own Device).
Although technology has advanced quickly, federal and state laws are still in the process of catching up with technology’s advances.
What legal issues can exist with BYOD?
Do Your Work Policies Discriminate Between Men and Women?
One Set of Rules for Men and a Different Set of Rules for Women
Having company policies that discriminate between men and women can be lethal for an employer in today’s work environment. If you haven’t had an attorney review your employee handbook or policies in recent times, it would be wise to do so.
Recent Lawsuit Filed by the EEOC Against the New Orleans Saints
Employee Salary Histories
Can Employers Ask Employees About their Salary History?
On May 4, 2017, the New York City Council passed a bill that limited what an employer can ask job candidates about their salary history, compensation history and other past benefits when interviewing them for a job. The law went into effect on October 31, 2017.
The National Law Review explains that new law was part of the New York City Human Rights Law. What this means for employers is that violations are subject to compensatory damages, which could include back pay, front pay, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, emotional distress, etc.