WSNYC Blog: The Latest in Employment Law

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the “Stop Sexual Harassment in NYC Act” in May of 2018. In a statement, Mayor de Blasio said, “Society has been stacked in favor of men for far too long, leading many to believe they can harass women without fear of punishment. New York City will not allow that [to] continue.” De Blasio continued by saying that “we are taking action to protect workers against sexual harassment and saying loudly and clearly that anyone

Salary secrecy impacts the gender wage gap in subtle ways. Pay transparency might have a significant benefit: closing the gender wage gap. When salaries are kept secret, pay discrimination becomes a lot easier for employers. Without salary transparency, workers may not know if they are being underpaid. Could pay transparency eradicate the gender wage gap altogether?

Subtle Discrimination

Salary secrecy may particularly affect the gender wage gap, which is subtle in nature. For example, men are seen as more likeable during salary

Low wage employees at McDonald’s are assaulted far too often. Just since the beginning of 2019, there have been cases of customers physically abusing McDonald’s workers. For example, a cashier in St. Petersburg was grabbed by a customer who was enraged that he did not receive a plastic straw. In a viral video, we can see that she physically defended herself by punching him in the face. In South Carolina, a man threw hot coffee on a 16-year-old worker because

The recent government shutdown left many federal workers without pay for weeks. Although President Trump agreed to end the government shutdown, going without pay will continue to affect federal employees. As Snoop Dogg recently pointed out, unpaid wages violate the trust between an employee and his or her employer. Unpaid wages are the hallmark of an abusive employer. Therefore, this significant period of unpaid wages will likely change how federal employees feel about their employer for years to come.

Snoop

Daryl Robinson, a former sales executive of Mariott Vacations Worldwide, is suing his former employer for racial discrimination, race harassment, failure to prevent race discrimination and harassment, and retaliation for opposing forbidden practices. Robinson, who says that he was the only African American employee in the entire office, claims that he was asked to dance as entertainment for fellow employees and that a photo of the character Buckwheat was used to represent him during a team-building exercise.

Instances of Racial Discrimination

The

According to the New York City Health Department, workers at diners and coffee shops have sued nearly 25% of these employers for underpayment over the last decade. Of the 92 suits, only 12 have been ruled on or settled. This lengthy legal process may deter workers from even filing lawsuits in the first place. Too often, diner owners escape having to pay their employees. For example, they declare bankruptcy, transfer assets to friends and relatives, or even sell the business

Discrimination against pregnant mothers is far too common in the American workplace. Pregnancy discrimination seems to be occurring in an organization that claims to champion women’s rights: Planned Parenthood. Interviews with several employees have raised issues of pregnancy discrimination among the women’s healthcare provider. For example, employees have alleged that the organization has not provided appropriate rest breaks for pregnant employees and considered pregnancy a negative factor in the hiring process.

The Challenges of Pregnant Planned Parenthood Employees

Most Planned Parenthood

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently filed a class-action religious discrimination lawsuit against UPS. UPS has a policy that prohibits male employees in certain positions from having beards or growing their hair below collar length. The EEOC claimed that, as a result of this policy, UPS refused to hire or promote individuals whose religious practices conflict with this appearance standard. Furthermore, the EEOC alleged that individuals who maintained beards and long hair for religious reasons were segregated to

A new law in Hungary allows employees to work up to 400 hours of overtime every year. However, the new law also permits employers to delay overtime wage payments for up to three years. Critics call the new legislation a slave law. Labor unions have pointed out that Hungarians already struggled with low wages and poor working conditions. This new law may further damper workers’ rights in Hungary. “And now to give employers, especially multinational companies who want even lower

A recently leaked memo from Qantas, an Australian airline, asked employees to consider working voluntary and unpaid shifts during the holiday season. This volunteer initiative has angered employees and customers alike. Many have claimed that asking employees to perform unpaid work during this especially busy travel period is wage theft.

Qantas’ Request

The memo reads: “To support our airport teams at [Sydney International Terminal] over the 2018 peak Christmas travel period, we’re trialing a new volunteer program for our Campus-based people who’d