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Wages & Hours

Snapshot: How many workers live paycheck to paycheck?

10/29/2013
36% of workers report that they always or usually live paycheck to paycheck, a recession-era low, down from its peak of 46% in 2008.

Victoria’s Secret employees claim online campaign victory

10/24/2013
Employees at the Manhattan flagship store of Victoria’s Secret received raises of between $1 and $2 per hour recently, and say it’s all because of a petition started on the advocacy website www.change.org.

Lady Gaga assistant’s suit moves closer to trial

10/14/2013
Jennifer O’Neill, former personal assistant to entertainer Lady Gaga, is one step closer to getting her day in court. She claims Mother Monster kept her on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for over a year. Her lawsuit seeks overtime pay for every hour of each of those days.

May we collect ‘walkout’ shortages from tips?

10/10/2013
Q. We operate several restaurants and have issues with customers who walk out without paying. We expect our ­servers to help prevent this and want to implement a program that makes servers responsible for these losses. May we deduct the amount of the shortage from employees’ gratuities instead of their wages?

State High Court rules that tips are always wages

10/10/2013
A class of 750 bartenders, waiters and security guards who worked for the now-defunct Drink and Spin nightclubs in Minneapolis has won a wage lawsuit that made it all the way to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

To pay or not to pay for donning & doffing?

10/10/2013
A few years back, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that chicken processing employees had to be paid for time spent putting on and taking off special protective clothing before and after their shifts. Since then, numerous lawsuits have challenged “donning and doffing” pay practices. Now, the 8th Circuit Court of Ap­peals has provided a bit of clarification.

You can’t force tip-pooling on waitstaff

10/10/2013
Here’s a reminder that Minnesota law prohibits employers from forcing waiters in traditional restaurant environments to share their tips with bartenders and other support staff. It doesn’t matter what you call those who play a supporting role, either.

Paying workers with debit cards isn’t as easy as it seems

10/10/2013
More employers are pushing their workers to receive pay via debit cards. But not all employees want to be paid that way—and the law is often on their side.

AG nails contractor for wage violations in Brooklyn

10/10/2013
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has announced a settlement with a masonry contractor working on New York City’s St. Mark’s senior housing project in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn.

SEC rule would highlight CEO compensation ratios

10/04/2013

The SEC voted on Sept. 18 to propose new rules that would require publicly traded companies to report the ratio between the compensation of chief executive officers and the median pay of their employees. Public companies must already report total CEO compensation.