Lawsuits for New York Manual Workers: Were You Denied Weekly Pay?
Last Updated on November 15, 2024
At A Glance
- This Alert Affects:
- Employees in New York who perform manual labor and are not paid on a weekly basis.
- What’s Going On?
- Attorneys working with ClassAction.org believe some employers in New York may be violating a state labor law by failing to pay manual workers—i.e., those who spend at least 25 percent of their time performing physical tasks—on a weekly basis. They’re investigating whether class action lawsuits can be filed on behalf of employees.
- How Could a Lawsuit Help?
- A class action lawsuit could help workers recover money for the weeks they may have received late paychecks. It could also force their employer to change how often employees are paid.
- What You Can Do
- If you worked in New York, spent at least 25% of your time performing physical labor, and were not paid on a weekly basis, fill out the form on this page to help the investigation.
Attorneys working with ClassAction.org are looking into whether class action lawsuits can be filed against employers in New York for possible violations of a state labor law that requires manual workers to be paid on a weekly basis.
Specifically, New York Labor Law § 191 provides that “manual workers”—which generally denotes employees who spend at least 25% of their time performing physical labor—must be paid no later than seven calendar days after the end of the week in which the wages were earned. Lawsuits filed over New York Labor Law violations have argued that if an employer pays manual workers bi-weekly or less frequently than every week, the workers are owed damages for late paychecks.
If you worked in New York performing physical labor for at least 25% of your time and were not paid on a weekly basis, fill out the form on this page to share your story and learn more about how you may be able to help start a class action lawsuit.
New York Weekly, Bi-Weekly Pay Laws: Manual Workers
The New York Labor Law (NYLL) states that manual workers must be paid weekly unless their employer is a non-profit organization or is authorized by the state to pay employees less frequently. Only certain employers who employ an average of 1,000 or more workers in New York can apply to pay manual workers less frequently than weekly and must still pay them at least semi-monthly.
The New York Department of Labor (DOL) states that a manual worker—defined by the NYLL as “a mechanic, workingman or laborer”—has been interpreted to mean individuals who spend more than 25% of their working time performing physical labor.
Some examples of physical labor may include:
- Standing
- Lifting
- Moving inventory
- Packing boxes
- Cleaning
- Loading and unloading merchandise
- Stocking shelves
- Using tools
- Operating equipment
- Digging
A company that fails to meet New York pay frequency requirements may be subject to a civil penalty and potentially legal action.
Examples of Manual Workers in NYS
Many types of jobs could incorporate manual labor, but some common examples include the following positions:
- Mechanics
- Day laborers
- Painters
- Plumbers
- Landscapers
- Construction workers
- Movers
- Retail store employees
- Stockers
- Restaurant employees
- Cooks
- Servers
- Warehouse workers
- Factory workers
- Janitorial workers/cleaners
- Maintenance workers
- Baggage handlers
- Airline workers
- Porters
- Mine workers
- Sanitation workers
- Pipefitters
- Farm workers
Bi-Weekly Pay Lawsuits Filed by Manual Workers
Various companies have already been hit with lawsuits alleging they violated the New York Labor Law by paying manual workers bi-weekly or less frequently than every week.
Employees of retailers such as Party City, Urban Outfitters, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond and Old Navy have claimed they spent much of their working hours on tasks such as stocking merchandise, reshelving returned items, cleaning, working the sales floor, operating the cash register, and loading and unloading trucks.
Lawsuits against restaurants and fast-food chains, including Panera, Five Guys, Boston Market and Smashburger, claim employees were not paid weekly despite being required to spend a significant amount of time on tasks such as making drinks, cooking, taking orders, restocking supplies, cleaning, running dishes to the dishwasher, and making repairs.
More recently, a lawsuit filed against Apple in October 2024 claims specialists, technical specialists, pros, genius bar administrators, technical experts, geniuses, lead geniuses, operation experts, inventory specialists and operation leads were paid bi-weekly instead of every week even though they spent more than 25% of their time on physical labor.
How Could a Lawsuit Help?
A class action lawsuit could help workers get back money for pay periods in which they were paid late. It could also force their employers to change how frequently manual workers receive their paychecks.
What You Can Do
Did you work in New York and spend more than 25% of your time on physical labor? If you were not paid weekly, help the investigation by filling out the form on this page.
After you get in touch, an attorney or legal representative may reach out to you directly to ask you some questions and explain how you may be able to help get a class action lawsuit started. It doesn’t cost anything to fill out the form or speak with someone, and you’re not obligated to take legal action if you don’t want to.
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