Attorneys have noticed a growing trend of employees suing their employers over late wages under New York labor law.
A New York State appellate court decision clarified that manual workers can sue companies over late wages, even if the wages have been fully paid.
Manual workers must be paid on a weekly basis, not biweekly. The key element is knowing who should be considered a manual worker, not an administrative employee.
"There are shades of gray," said Alex Granovsky, a lawyer with Granovsky & Sundaresh in New York City. "If you want to be the safest, err on the side of being conservative," meaning lean toward classifying people as manual laborers.
"Compared to the liability, it seems like a small price to pay," he added. "The exposure is high, and it's a funky little law that a lot of business owners don't know about. … It's an area where the liability and the standards against an employer are pretty strict."
Employers that violate the pay frequency law must pay the full amount of delayed wages, plus attorney fees and interest. Paying liquidated damages (an estimate of losses to the plaintiff) is mandatory even if the manual workers were paid in full the following week, explained Kathryn Barcroft, a lawyer with Bleakley Platt & Schmidt in White Plains, N.Y.
"The extent of liability in actions brought by employees is unsettled and is being actively litigated," said Stephanie Schuster, an attorney with Morgan Lewis in Washington, D.C.
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