In the retail environment, customer service is paramount. Workers spend their time answering questions, stocking shelves, organizing displays, sourcing and sizing, and, yes, even gift-wrapping sometimes. They do it all. They're on the go and on their feet most of the day. But they're not assembling the products, so they certainly aren’t “manual workers,” right? Not necessarily. Guidance provided by the New York Department of Labor has long held that an individual is a “manual worker” if they spend at least 25% of their working time engaged in physical labor. Courts have interpreted the term “physical labor” to include common tasks such as lifting and carrying items, cleaning a store, sweeping the floor, wiping down workstations, standing for long periods of time, stocking shelves, and arranging inventory. Accordingly, individuals like grocery store workers, janitors, cooks, and even home care workers, have been found to be engaged in “physical labor” and thus subject to manual worker rules.
Why is this important? Most employers pay biweekly. However, the New York Labor Law (NYLL) § 191(1)(a) provides that “a manual worker shall be paid weekly and not later than seven calendar days after the end of the work week in which the wages are earned.” Recently, multiple large retailers have been named as defendants in class action lawsuits alleging that their biweekly pay structures violate the NYLL. In 2022 alone, Apple, Urban Outfitters, and the Cheesecake Factory, to name a...
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has urged political parties to focus on state’s real issues during elections and warned that those making what it describes as false or baseless allegations could fac...