The New York City Pay Transparency Law is, as of November 1, 2022, in effect. As previously reported in our Blog on March 29, 2022 and May 6, 2022, the law requires all employers, with 4 or more employees, to include a "good faith" salary range in all advertisements for a job, promotion or transfer opportunity that is to be performed - in whole or in part - in NYC.

The following are additional requirements/clarifications of the Law:

• The Law covers full-time/part-time positions, interns, domestic workers and independent contractors.
• "Advertisements" include all written descriptions of an available job, promotion or transfer opportunity publicized to a pool of potential applicants including internal postings.
• The salary range must include both a minimum and a maximum salary (if employer has no flexibility, the minimum and maximum can be identical). 
• The stated amounts should be the annual salary or hourly rate. Other forms of compensation (e.g. bonuses, tips, commissions, insurance, over time pay, etc.) do not need to be included.
• The New York City Commission on Human Rights ("Commission") will investigate compliance with the new law (on its own and/or in response to complaints). 
• Potential applicants can file claims with the Commission or can file a lawsuit in court.
• The Commission will not assess a penalty for the first violation of the Law if cured within 30 days. However, the Commission may assess penalties of up to $250,000 for the first uncured violation and all subsequent violations. 

 Attorney Andrew Lieb joined FOX 5 to discuss the Trump Organization Tax Fraud Trial. 

 Attorney Andrew Lieb is interviewed by Newsweek on Kanye's legal fate. Read the story here. 

https://www.newsweek.com/kanye-west-alex-jones-george-floyd-lawsuit-1753525

Anna Faris recently made waves by claiming that deceased director Ivan Reitman inappropriately touched her while making the film "My Super Ex-Girlfriend." While this wrongful act clearly constitutes sex discrimination and would support a really good case, there is likely not going to be a successful lawsuit that results. Now you might be thinking that the reason for this is because Reitman is deceased, but that wouldn't stop a victim like Faris from suing his estate. Nonetheless, the real issue is how long ago the alleged incident happened, which was around 2006. Simply, there is no discrimination statute of limitations throughout the country that provides for a case from that long ago. That said, states, like New York, have extended the statute of limitations for victims of certain sexual crimes to 20 years and perhaps, if more happened than just the alleged slapping of her butt and it occurred, at least in part, within one of these states, she would still have a claim. Yet, on the facts that we know, there is no case. 

More analysis from Attorney Andrew Lieb in Newsweek here. 

If you are interested in wage and hour claims, or better yet if you are a business owner or manager, you are going to want to read this. 

On October 13, 2022, the Department of Labor opened the comment period, which runs through November 28, 2022, for it's revised analysis to determine if an individual is an employee or an independent contractor for a wage and hour claim (i.e., misclassification claim). As a reminder, independent contractors are also known as self-employed workers and freelancers, and are considered to be in business for themselves and therefore, not entitled to minimum wages and overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). 

However, if an employer gets this wrong, by considering an employee an independent contractor, tht employer can be subject to penalty, called liquidated damages, and more. It's a catastrophic mistake that really needs to be avoided at all costs. 

The Proposed Rulemaking is available here in full.

Comments can be made electronically at Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov.

In summary, the Proposed Rulemaking is attempting to reassert the Economic Reality Test, where "[t]he ultimate inquiry is whether, as a matter of economic reality, the worker is either economically dependent on the employer for work (and is thus an employee) or is in business for themself (and is thus an independent contractor)." In analyzing the test, the following, non-exclusive facts are generally examined, including: "the opportunity for profit or loss, investment, permanency, the degree of control by the employer over the worker, whether the work is an integral part of the employer's business, and skill and initiative." Under the Proposed Rulemaking, the Department of Labor will examine the factors in the Economic Reality Test by returned to a totality-of-the-circumstances analysis rather than focusing on core factors. No longer will two factors be considered most probative and carry greater weight. Now, all factors matter and should be analyzed when determining whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee who is subject to rights under the FLSA.