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
Tip-Sharing Class Action Lawsuits Take Their Toll on Restaurant Owners
In recent years, restaurant owners have been subject to tip-sharing class action lawsuits that have cost them considerable amounts of money.
Zahav in Philadelphia
In July 2017, Eater.com published an article about Zahav, an award-winning Philadelphia restaurant that settled a tip-sharing class action lawsuit for $230,000. Toward the end of 2016, former server Tanya Peters filed a lawsuit against the restaurant and alleged that its tip-sharing practices violated the FLSA and Philadelphia Gratuity Protection Bill. Peters claimed that servers were required to share tips with silverware polishers during her 19 months of employment at the restaurant. This amounted to $5.00 per shift.
Overtime Myths in the Restaurant Industry
Overtime myths can circulate in any line of work, and the restaurant industry is no exception. Some of the most prevalent myths deal with wages and overtime. As an employer, it is vital that you don’t fall for these myths because they could lead to unnecessary disputes, lawsuits or compliance penalties.
An Employee Can Waive the Right to Overtime
Sometimes employers get the idea that if an employee is willing to work longer hours and waive overtime, it works out well for both of them. However, under the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) , when an employee who is not an exempt employee (not a manager, executive, etc.) works overtime (over 40 hours in a workweek), employers must pay the employee for overtime. A workweek can begin or end on any day that the employer designates.
In fact, an employee, who waived overtime, actually has the legal right to turn around and sue the employer for overtime pay.
Religious Discrimination and Undue Hardship
Religious discrimination in the workplace violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Employers must, for the most part, accommodate employees concerning their religious practices in regards to the following:
Flexible scheduling
Voluntary shift swaps or substitutions
Job reassignments
Modifications to workplace policies or practices
If a worker has to take day off for religious observance, the employer should make accommodations. Certain dress codes or grooming policies may need to be relaxed for wearing a Jewish yarmulke or Muslim headscarf, or for beards and long hair (Rastafarian dreadlocks or Sikh).
National Origin and Race Discrimination and Retaliation: EEOC Sues Long Island Company
Claims of national origin and race discrimination along with retaliation were the basis of an EEOC lawsuit brought against a Long Island Company headquartered in Massapequa, NY in August 2017.
A&F Fire Protection Co, Inc. is a sprinkler installation company that allegedly violated federal law by allowing a hostile work environment where black and Hispanic employees were routinely subjected to racial insults.
Details of the National Origin and Race Discrimination Allegations
New York City Faces Lawsuit for Trying to Enforce Menu Labeling Law
Although the federal menu labeling law was passed as part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, it has been stopped from going into effect several times. It was originally going to become effective in 2016. When the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) postponed menu labeling for a year in May 2017, the new date for it to go into effect was established as May 7, 2018.
Despite the federal delay, Restaurant.org reported that the New York City government intended to go ahead and enforce the labeling law anyway, and enforcement would begin on August 21, 2017.