Wage & Hour Law

Starting on October 26, 2009, employers in New York State must give newly hired employees written notice of their regular hourly pay rate. For employees who are entitled to receive overtime pay, employers also must state their overtime rate. Employers also need to obtain written confirmation from new employees, confirming they received the required information.

These new requirements are an amendment to New York Labor Law Section 195(1). Their purpose is to “allow workers to determine whether their paychecks properly reflect the hourly wage rates their employers agreed to at the time of hiring, including the overtime rate.” They are a response to the fact that many employees are only told their annual or weekly salary when they are hired, which makes it difficult to determine their hourly and overtime pay rates. The new law also should help minimize any confusion about whether employees are entitled to receive overtime pay, by requiring employers to address the issue up front.

If you work in New York or New Jersey and believe your employer violated your right to receive overtime pay, or another one of your rights as an employee, you should consider contacting an experienced employment lawyer.

On January 22, 2009, the United States Senate voted to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. If into becomes law, the Act would reverse the United States Supreme Court’s 2007 decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 550 U.S. 618 (2007), which requires an employee to bring a federal claim of pay discrimination in violation of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) within 180 days (or in some states, including New York and New Jersey, within 300 days) of the decision that caused the pay disparity.

In the Ledbetter case the Supreme Court ruled that Lilly Ledbetter was too late when she filed her gender discrimination lawsuit against Goodyear. In her case, Ms. Ledbetter as seeking damages because she was paid a lower salary than men in comparable positions at the company. The Supreme Court ruled that her claim was untimely because she did not file a charge of discrimination with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 180 days after the company’s initial discriminatory decision, even though she was still underpaid due to the past discrimination, since her salary remained lower than her male coworkers throughout her career.

The Ledbetter decision has been highly criticized ever since it was decided. One problem with it is that employees generally do not know how much their coworkers are paid, often making it difficult or impossible for them to determine that their employers are discriminating against them with respect to their compensation, As a result, employees who have been underpaid because of their race, color, sex (gender), religion, national origin, or disability are unlikely to know about it until long after the 180 (or 300) day EEOC filing deadline.

Articles Posted in Wage & Hour Law

New York Requires Employers to Provide Written Notice of Overtime Rate

Senate Votes in Support of Fair Pay Act