Employment Law

An H-1B visa allows qualified foreign workers to engage in temporary employment services in a “specialty occupation.” An H-1B visa may be obtained for an initial period of up to three years and may be extended for an additional three years. The employer must file the H1-B petition with a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) Service Center. Most employers…Read More

Unemployment insurance is temporary income for workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own; are ready, willing and able to work; and have earned sufficient compensation during a specified period of time in covered employment. When an individual performs all of his services within the Manhattan, NYC, that individual’s employer must make, to New York State, unemployment insurance contributions…Read More

Many individual owners of closely held businesses want to hire an employee for the business, but lack the cash flow to do so. Periodically, owners of a cash-strapped, closely held business in Manhattan, NYC, who want the business to hire a worker, will ask me whether, instead of paying the worker the minimum wage and any overtime pay, the business may…Read More

Under the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act,  N.Y. City Admin. Code § 6-134 (the “New York City Fair Wages Act,” the “Fair Wages Act,” the “Act,” or the “NYCFWA”) and then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's Executive Order No. 7 dated September 30, 2014 ("Executive Order No. 7"), companies or individuals who receive, from New York City or…Read More

From time to time, because of a mathematical or administrative error by the employer, an employer will, for one or more payroll periods, pay wages to an employee in excess of what the employee has earned. Periodically, owners of a business in Manhattan, who have overpaid an employee for an earlier payroll period or periods, will ask me whether, the employer may…Read More

On September 7, 2012, Manhattan Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law a statute, N.Y. State Assembly Bill No. A10785-2011, relating to permitted deductions from employees’ wages (“the Act”). Effective November 7, 2011, the Act amends Manhattan’s wage deduction statute, N.Y. Labor Law § 193, by (i) establishing new categories of wage deductions that employers, with the express written authorization of an employee, may…Read More

What Is An Income Execution, And Whom Does It Come From? A ” ‘judgment debtor’ ” is an individual or entity against whom a money judgment is entered. See N.Y. C.P.L.R. 105(m). Often, when the judgment debtor is an individual, he is also an employee of an employer. The ” ‘judgment creditor’ ” is the individual or entity in whose favor…Read More

In Manhattan, it is common for the owner of a residential building to furnish the building’s superintendent and the superintendent’s family with an apartment to live in, rent free. This practice raises the question: In New York State, does an employer receive credit toward the minimum wage for the rental value of an apartment provided, rent free, to a worker in…Read More

Yes, up to a point.  Regardless of the workers' gender, workers in New York State are eligible for up to twelve (12) weeks of family care leave at 67% of the employee’s average weekly wage, up to a maximum of 67% of New York State’s average weekly wage.  Among the circumstances in which a worker in New York State may…Read More

On March 13, 2013, the New York City Council, by a vote of 43 to 4, overrode then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s February 22, 2013 veto of Local Law 14 of 2013 (“Local Law 14” or the “Act”). Effective June 11, 2013, Local Law 14 prohibits any employer in New York City (including the borough of Manhattan) from basing an employment decision…Read More