Weekly pay lawsuits have increased recently and despite several attempts to dismiss workers claims, courts have denied these motions and kept these claims alive. Hourly employees for retail giants, such as Zara USA Inc. and Walmart, have been able to continue forward with their case for untimely pay after being paid biweekly instead of weekly. Hourly workers in the retail industry, as well as other manualworkers in New York State, should be paid their wages within seven calendar days after the end of the week in which these wages were earned as required by the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”).
The NYLL protects manual workers in New York with regard to frequency of pay and allegations that despite getting paid their full wages, the delay in receiving them should constitute as an injury under the NYLL’s requirement to pay manual workers weekly. There are several points that are helpful in understanding your rights:
• Manual Worker Status– If a worker spends more than 25% of their time doing physical labor, they are considered a manual worker under the NYLL. The definition of manual labor under the NYLL is very broad, and a chauffeur, mechanic, or make-up artist may be considered manual workers under the law.
• Weekly Pay Precedent – existing and previous cases surrounding these claims have argued that a one-week delay in pay is in fact harmful to workers due to simple economics. There is a time value to the possession of money and if you aren’t paid on a weekly basis, you suffered a concrete harm and are entitled to damages.
• Private Right of Action – these cases have also had significant rulings that allow for private right of actions and liquidated damages on fully paid but late wages allowing individuals to monetarily remedy these wrongs.
Our firm, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP, is currently handling the untimely weekly pay matter against Zara USA Inc. which continues to successfully move forward in representing all similarly situated manual workers for the retail giant. In the state of New York, jobs that spend the majority of their shifts completing tasks that are labor intensive or manual in nature, should be paid weekly. Common positions include:
• Retail Workers
• Food Service Workers
• Construction Workers
If you’d like additional information on this case, or believe you may have a similar claim as a manual worker in this or a different industry, give us a call for a free and confidential consultation at (212)300-0375. You can also view our website here for additional helpful information regarding your employment rights.