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If you work as a superintendent, janitor, porter, or cleaner in a New York residential building, the ordinary wage-and-hour rules may not tell the whole story. New York’s Building Service Industry Wage Order (12 NYCRR Part 141) establishes special wage and employment protections for certain building-service workers, including residential janitors and superintendents. These rules can differ…

Many employees assume that once an employer puts them on salary, they are no longer entitled to overtime. That is not necessarily true. Being paid a salary does not, by itself, mean you aren’t entitled to overtime. Under federal and New York law, an employee’s actual job duties, compensation, and the particular overtime exemption claimed…

My Employer Won’t Pay Me for Work Before or After My Shift—What Can I Do? Your shift starts at 9:00 a.m., but your manager expects you to arrive at 8:45 to prepare for the day. Or your shift ends at 5:00 p.m., but you regularly spend another 20 minutes closing the workplace, finishing paperwork, responding…

Can My Employer Change My Timecard in New York? You clock out at 6:15 p.m. But when you check your timecard later, it says 6:00 p.m. Or your manager removes time you spent opening the store, closing out, answering work messages, or finishing tasks after your scheduled shift. Can an employer change an employee’s timecard…

My Boss Cut My Hours After I Complained—Is That Retaliation in New York? You complain to your manager or Human Resources about discrimination, harassment, unpaid wages, or another workplace problem. Soon afterward, your schedule changes. Maybe you were regularly working 40 hours per week and suddenly receive only 20. Perhaps your best shifts disappear. Or…