Employment Law and Litigation

New York Developments

Attention NYC Retail Employers! On-Call Scheduling to End

Jill L. Rosenberg and Lisa LupionPosted on June 5, 2017

Effective November 26, 2017, retail employees in New York City will be entitled to advance notice of their scheduled shifts, and the practice of “on-call shifts”–where an employee is required to be available to work but not necessarily called to work–will be prohibited. These provisions are part of new “Fair Workweek” legislation aimed at providing “predictable schedules and predictable paychecks” for retail and fast food workers in New York City.

Statutory Protections for Freelance Workers: New York City Paving the Way for a New Category of Workers?

Jill L. Rosenberg and Lisa LupionPosted on October 31, 2016

Wage and hour laws have traditionally drawn, or at least attempted to draw, a bright line between employees, who are entitled to the protections of wage and hour and other employment laws and independent contractors, who are not covered by most employment-related statutes. In the growing gig economy, however, some have suggested that there should be a third category of worker – one that has some, but not all, legal protections of an employee but whose relationship is freelance, transient and potentially for multiple entities. In the first-of-its-kind legislation, the New York City Council has passed a bill that provides statutory wage protections for freelance workers. The law awaits signature from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. If signed, the law would become effective 180 days after it is signed and would apply to contracts signed after the effective date.