Our Top 10 Wage Dispute Questions, Answered

Q: Can overtime pay be waived if the employee agrees to it?
A. No.

Q: Does being paid a salary waive the requirement to be paid for overtime?
A. Not necessarily. You must be classified as an exempt employee based on what you actually do at work, not how your employer labels your position.

Q. Can an employer deduct expenses from my paycheck? (examples - breakage, customer walk outs).
A. No.

Q. What is the minimum wage in New York State?
A. In 2016, New York State minimum wage is $9.00 per hour.

Q. Are managers exempt from overtime pay?
A.  Not always. Only if the managers are classified as administrative, executive, or professional positions and paid a salary.

Q. When does an employee qualify for overtime pay?
A. Non-exempt employees must be paid overtime pay for working more than 40 hours in a week.

Q. What is the overtime pay rate?
A.  Overtime pay must be 1.5 times your regular rate of pay.

Q. If an employee works less than 40 hours in a week can they work more than 40 hours the next week and not receive overtime?
A.  No. Hours worked in a week cannot be averaged over multiple weeks.

Q. Can servers be paid by tips only.
A.  No. In New York State servers who are tipped, must be paid $7.50 an hour and tips must bring that pay rate to at least $9.00 an hour. Tips received by the tipped employee are the employee’s, except for a valid tip pooling arrangement for employees who customarily and regularly receive tips.

Q. What is “spread of hours”?
A.  In New York Sate, when an employee’s work day spans more than 10 hours in one day, the employee is entitled to an extra hour of pay, in addition to overtime pay.