Every year the Leadership Buffalo organization holds its Values Awards luncheon to honor a member of the Western New York Community in each of five categories. As a graduate of Leadership Buffalo’s 2011 Rising Leaders Program, I have attended this event for most of the past seven years. This year’s awards were presented on May 4, 2017. It was a pleasure to attend and be inspired by the honorees.

Since leadership is a valuable component of management, I thought I would take a break from the more legal topics on this blog to highlight the 2017 Values Awards winners.

The first four awards are based on Leadership Buffalo’s 4 core values: Service, Inclusion, Diversity, and Openness To Change. The final award is a more all-encompassing Community Impact Award.

Service

The 2017 Leadership Buffalo Service Award recipient is Chuck Collard. Mr. Collard is regional vice president with Heritage Christian Services.

Is your organization providing service to its community? Can you better engage your employees by enhancing the impact your business has on its neighborhood?

Inclusion

The 2017 Leadership Buffalo Inclusion Award recipient is Marlies Wesolowski. Ms. Wesolowski is the Executive Director of the Lt. Col. Matt Urban Human Services Center of W.N.Y.

Are you involving the right people, both inside and outside of your organization? Who could benefit from an opportunity you could provide?

Diversity

The 2017 Leadership Buffalo Diversity Award recipient is Vivian Ruth Waltz. Rev. Waltz is the Director of the Sisters of St. Joseph Karen Klimczak Center for Nonviolence.

It’s one thing to avoid discrimination as the law requires. But even better than defending claims of unequal treatment is being proactive in diversify your workforce.

Openness To Change

The 2017 Leadership Buffalo Openness To Change Award recipient is George W. Scott. Mr. Scott is the President of The Colored Musicians Club.

You don’t get anywhere exciting by standing still. What can you do differently to move your organization forward?

Community Impact Award

The 2017 Leadership Buffalo Community Impact Award recipient is JoAnn Falletta. Ms. Falletta is the Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.

As a Leadership Buffalo graduate, I occasionally reflect on the organization’s core values as a check on whether I’m on the right track. If you do the same, it can only improve your overall impact on the world around you.

Adopting Leadership Buffalo’s Values

Congratulations to all of these and the past recipients of the Leadership Buffalo Values Awards. Surely, these awards are not obtained by seeking them, but rather by demonstrating true leadership in one or more aspects of life. Likewise, this blog will not make you a leader. But I hope it will help you lead your organization’s employees on the path towards success!

President Donald Trump’s first nominee for the Secretary of Labor position, Andrew Puzder, withdrew from consideration in February. Enough Republican Senators had turned against Puzder that it seemed unlikely he would win confirmation. Puzder, who had been the President of a fast-food restaurant chain, had never held a government position. The new Secretary of Labor has a much stronger political resume.

On April 27, 2017, the U.S. Senate confirmed Alexander Acosta as Secretary of Labor by a vote of 60-38. Acosta has served as Dean of Florida University Law School since 2009. He previously held three different Senate-approved federal government positions: member of the National Labor Relations Board, Assistant Attorney General, and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

Acosta is the first Latino member of President Trump’s Cabinet, which is now complete with his confirmation.

Key Issues Facing the Secretary of Labor

Secretary Acosta will have to fill approximately 200 positions among various sub-agencies of the U.S. Department of Labor. This includes a Solicitor of Labor and department heads such as the administrator of the Wage and Hour Division, the assistant secretary for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the director of the Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs (OFCCP). These selections will ultimately affect the implementation and enforcement of Acosta’s policies regarding federal labor laws.

Two important issues that have constantly been in the news will definitely have to be addressed by the Department of Labor in the coming months.

2016 Rules on Overtime Salary Threshold

In 2016, President Obama’s administration, under then Secretary of Labor (now Chair of the Democratic National Committee) Tom Perez, introduced new Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations affecting overtime. The new rules would have raised the salary threshold for several common overtime exemptions from $455 per week to $913 beginning December 1, 2016 (with indexed increases every three years thereafter). However, a federal judge in Texas issued an injunction in late November that prevented the new rule from taking effect.

The Department of Labor has appealed the decision, but has delayed the appeal since President Trump took office. As Republicans strongly opposed the 2016 regulations, it seems unlikely that the current administration would fight to maintain the Obama-era rules. However, the regulations are still on the books, so Secretary Acosta likely will have to take some affirmative action to clarify this issue.

Immigration

The Department of Labor does not directly control U.S. immigration policy. That responsibility falls under the Department of Homeland Security. However, the Trump administration’s early approach to immigration issues has affected the Department of Labor’s enforcement of the laws within its purview. Recent reports indicate, for example, that employees have become reluctant to obtain unpaid compensation from their employers out of fear that they will be deported or suffer other negative consequences based on their immigration status.

Acosta, who was born in Miami to Cuban immigrants, has expressed pro-immigration sentiments in the past.

What To Expect from Secretary Acosta

It seems too early to predict what policies Acosta will pursue as Labor Secretary. Conservatives have expressed concern that he will be too pro-worker, while some Democrats lament that he is only somewhat better than failed-nominee Puzder. Some labor unions have endorsed him, while other worker groups question his commitment to push for employee rights.

This blog will continue to report on federal labor issues as developments occur. For now, we can only generally predict that on the whole, the current administration will be less restrictive on employers than the last one was. But that does not mean that there will be no changes that impact your workplace or require action to maintain compliance. Stay tuned!

The New York Wage Theft Prevention Act took effect in 2011. Among other things, the law required employers to give specific New York wage notices to their employees. The law originally required the notices to be given in three situations:

1. Within 10 days of hire.
2. When the information in the notice changed.
3. Annually, between January 1st and February 1st.

The law was amended in 2015 to no longer require the burdensome annual notice. However, employers still must give compliant wage notices to all new employees. In addition, new notices are required for most changes in the mandatory information.

Please note that additional notice requirements may apply for employees in the “hospitality industry,” as defined by New York regulations. This includes hotels and restaurants.

Federal, state and local government employers are NOT required to give these notices. However, charter schools, private schools, and not-for-profit corporations are covered, as they are not public entities under the applicable law.

Businesses do not have to give these notices to true independent contractors. However, it is important to be sure that you are not treating someone as an independent contractor if they should be considered an employee. (Stay tuned for a later blog post on that subject!)

Required Elements of New York Wage Notices

To comply with the law the wage notices must include:

• Rate or rates of pay, including overtime rate of pay (if it applies)
• How the employee is paid: by the hour, shift, day, week, commission, etc.
• Regular payday
• Official name of the employer and any other names used for business (e.g., DBAs)
• Address and phone number of the employer’s main office or principal location
• Allowances taken as part of the minimum wage (tips, meal and lodging deductions)

The New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) has created wage notices covering various employment situations. For example, there is a notice for employees paid hourly and a different notice for salaried, exempt employees. The sample notices are available on the NYSDOL’s website.

Employers must provide the notice in the employee’s primary language, if the NYSDOL has created a template notice in that language. They currently offer translations in at least the following languages: Spanish, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Korean, Polish and Russian.

In addition to providing the written notice, the employer has to get a copy signed by the employee and retain it for at least six years.

When Is a New Notice Required During Employment?

If any of the information required to be included in the New York wage notice changes, then the employer must provide a new notice and have the employee sign it.

The NYSDOL takes the position that except for employers in the hospitality industry, notice is not required where there is an increase in a wage/salary rate and the new rate is shown on the next wage statement (e.g., check stub). For any reduction of wage rate, an employee must be notified in writing before the employer reduces the rate. Employers in the hospitality industry must give a new notice every time a wage rate changes.

It is not necessarily a bad practice to obtain a new signed wage notice even for wage/salary increases. This would ensure that the employee’s file always contains a current acknowledgment of the appropriate compensation rate. However, this is not required (outside of the hospitality industry) and may not always be worth the administrative hassle.

What Is the Penalty for Not Providing Wage Notices?

The NYSDOL can assess damages of $50.00 per day per worker if a proper New York wage notice is not given.

Employees can also personally sue for damages on their own. The maximum amount an individual employee can recover is $5,000.00, and attorneys fees and costs may also be awarded.

Wage Notice Checkup

Even if you only have one employee who has not received timely notice, the potential penalty could be very costly. Make sure your notices are up to date. Check out the NYSDOL website for more information or email me if I can be of assistance.