EMPLOYERS MUST GIVE NOTICE TO NEW EMPLOYEES OF PAY RATE IN WRITING AS OF OCT. 26, 2009

NOTE FOR EMPLOYERS


NEW LAW EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 26, 2009

THE LABOR LAW IN NEW YORK [SEC. 195(1)]REQUIRES NEW EMPLOYEES
TO GET WRITTEN NOTICE OF THEIR PAY RATES

Effective October 26, 2009, New York law now requires employers to provide a special notice to new employees about their pay.

Newly hired employees must be given written notice of their pay rate, pay day and, if applicable to the employee, overtime rate of pay. Employers must also obtain a written acknowledgment from employees that the employees have received the notice. See Labor Law §195(1) at the end of this posting.

The law states indicates that the acknowledgment must meet requirements established by the Department of Labor (DOL).

The DOL has now issued notice and acknowledgment forms to complying with Labor Law
§195(1), but there are some issues with the form DOL has issued.

The form does not seem to address situations in which commissions or bonuses must be included in the overtime calculation, so the overtime rate cannot be known in advance. It also does not say how to inform employees of their overtime rate if that overtime will fluctuate from week to week

The law seems to indicate that employers must use the form of acknowledgment issued by the DOL, but it does not specifically require use of the exact notification form published by the DOL. If employers must use that form, it would be potentially problematic given these open issues.

A copy of the "Notice and Acknowledgement of Wage Rate and Designated Payday, Hourly Rate Plus Overtime" form can be found at the DOL's website.


Just cut and paste the below web site into your internet browser to get to the new DOL forms and information on the new law.

http://www.labor.state.ny.us/workerprotection/laborstandards/workprot/lshmpg.shtm

While there are open issues with the form and its sufficiency that need to be cleared up, employers would be well advised to, at minimum, use the form published by the DOL until there is further guidance or clarification from DOL about changes or updates to the form.

Please confirm with your Human Resources staff that you are complying with the above requirement for all hires brought on after October 26, 2009.

_____________________

NY Labor Law § 195(1)

§ 195. Notice and record-keeping requirements. Every employer shall:
1. notify his or her employees, in writing, at the time of hiring of
the rate of pay and of the regular pay day designated by the employer in
accordance with section one hundred ninety-one of this article, and
obtain a written acknowledgement from each employee of receipt of this
notice. Such acknowledgement shall conform to any requirements
established by the commissioner with regard to content and form. For all
employees who are eligible for overtime compensation as established in
the commissioner's minimum wage orders or otherwise provided by law or
regulation, the notice must state the regular hourly rate and overtime
rate of pay;

Robert G. McDermott
McDermott Law Offices
110 Marcus Boulevard, Suite 300
Hauppauge, New York 11788
Tel: 631-414-0094
Fax: 631-414-0098
Email: bob@mcdermottlaw.com
Internet: www.mcdermottlaw.com

NY DIVORCE LAW AMENDED

NEW YORK DIVORCE LAW AMENDED
AUTOMATIC RESTRAINING ORDERS AGAINST TRANSFER OF ASSETS
IMMEDIATELY IN EFFECT WHEN DIVORCE CASE STARTED

A new law has gone into effect for New York divorce cases as of September 2009.

Starting September 1, 2009 automatic orders will now immediately go into effect whenever someone is served with both a summons and a copy of the automatic orders.

These automatic orders are basically concerned with preserving the financial
status quo of the parties.

The automatic orders:

(1) Restrict a party from disposing of property in any way without
the consent of the court or the other party.

(2) Restrict any funds, stocks or other assets from being disposed or
altered.

(3) Prevent unreasonable debts from being incurred against the parties'
interests or property.

(4) Require that all health insurance policies be maintained and unaltered
for the parties and their families.

(5) Requires that all life, home and auto insurance policies will be
maintained and shall not be altered.

These automatic orders may reduce the need for early motions to restrict such funds and property in divorce actions.

Below is a sample of the text of the automatic orders to be served with the summons:


AUTOMATIC ORDERS

Pursuant to New York DRL Section 236(B)(2) the following automatic orders are binding upon the Plaintiff immediately upon the filing of the summons, or summons and complaint, and upon the Defendant immediately upon the service of these automatic orders with the summons. The automatic orders shall remain in full force and effect during the pendency of this action, unless terminated, modified or amended by further order of this Court upon motion of either of the parties or upon written agreement between the parties duly executed and acknowledged. The automatic orders are as follows:

(1) Neither party shall sell, transfer, encumber, conceal, assign, remove or in any way dispose of, without the consent of the other party in writing, or by order of the court, any property (including, but not limited to, real estate, personal property, cash accounts, stocks, mutual funds, bank accounts, cars and boats) individually or jointly held by the parties, except in the usual course of business, for customary and usual household expenses or for reasonable attorney's fee in connection with this action.

(2) Neither party shall transfer, encumber, assign, remove, withdraw or in any way dispose of any tax deferred funds, stocks or other assets held in any individual retirement accounts, 401k accounts, profit sharing plans, Keough accounts, or any other pension or retirement account, and the parties shall further refrain from applying for or requesting the payment of retirement benefits or annuity payments of any kind, without the consent of the other party in writing, or upon further order of this Court.

(3) Neither party shall incur unreasonable debts hereafter, including, but not limited to, further borrowing against any credit line secured by the family residence, further encumbrancing any assets, or unreasonably using credit cards or cash advances against credit cards, except in the usual course of business or for customary or usual housing expenses, or for reasonable attorney's fees in connection with this action.

(4) Neither party shall cause the other party or the children of the marriage to be removed from any existing medical, hospital and dental insurance coverage, and each party shall maintain the existing medical, hospital and dental insurance coverage in full force and effect.

(5) Neither party shall change the beneficiaries of any existing life insurance policies, and each party shall maintain the existing life insurance, automobile insurance, homeowners and renters insurance policies in full force and effect.

- Robert G. McDermott, Esq.
Copyright September 2009