Posts by Webmaster
DOL/DOT Trucking Initiative – Posted March 29, 2022
The Biden-Harris Administration has announced a new initiative in which the Department of Labor and the Department of Transportation are working together to address workforce challenges in the trucking industry, including high turnover rates, long hours away from home, time spent waiting–often unpaid–to load and unload at congested ports, warehouses, and distribution centers, and predatory…
Read MoreRemembering Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
On Friday, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away at 87. She was a champion of women’s rights and stood up for the American worker. Her legacy of scathing dissents – including the 2018 dissent in Lewis v. Epic Systems, a decision which has now left us with forced arbitrations – will be remembered…
Read MoreHistory of Labor Day
“We believe hard work nourishes the soul and should nourish the body and support the family as well. We believe every one of us has an equal claim to the prosperity of America. And that it’s our job to ensure a better life for the generations that come after us.”—John Sweeney, Former President of the…
Read MoreMisclassification – Posted August 4, 2020
Workers in many fields are misclassified as independent contractors, when by law, they are really employees who would be entitled to minimum wage, overtime at the rate of time and one half, and would be entitled to have the employer bear the cost of work related expenses. By misclassifying workers, employers deny their workers the…
Read MoreGig Economy Updates – Posted July 17, 2020
As workers throughout the country are laid off as a result of the coronavirus, they are increasingly turning to gig work to make ends meet. Companies like InstaCart and Postmates have seen a surge in new workers. Online platforms, like Fiverr and UpWork, which allow people in different industries to sell their skills, have also…
Read MoreCoronavirus Challenges for Workers
The coronavirus has presented a number of challenges to workers around the world. From temporary layoffs, to working from home, the workforce has had to adapt to keep everyone safe. But are employers playing fair, or are they using these extenuating circumstances to exploit workers? One of the potential violations we may see going forward…
Read MoreHome Health Aides during Covid
Home health aides are some of the many healthcare providers who have been hard-hit during the Covid-19 pandemic. Home health aides (HHAs) provide care for the elderly and infirm, working up to 24 hours in a shift, usually earning only the minimum wage. And HHAs in New York typically aren’t paid for the full 24…
Read MoreNY EMPIRE Act – Posted January 29, 2020
Yesterday, workers and lawmakers gathered in Albany to show support for New York’s EMPIRE Act. The “Empowering People in Rights Enforcement Worker Protection Act” was introduced as a bill to protect workers from wage theft. Corporations and employers use forced arbitration agreements to compel workers to waive their right to be heard by a judge…
Read MorePostmates Arbitration – posted January 15, 2020
Employers fight hard to enforce their arbitration provisions, until they realize it’s not really what they want. Over 5,200 people filed individual arbitrations against Postmates pursuant to their arbitration agreement that Postmates created. Just to cover the initial filing fees for the cases to begin would cost Postmates over $13 million, so it has now…
Read MoreAddressing Retaliation Concerns – Posted June 19, 2019
One of the most common questions we hear from people who want to bring a case or join an existing case is “can my employer come after me?” Section 15(a)(3) of the FLSA states that it is a violation for any person to “discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any employee because such employee has filed…
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