New York Employment Lawyer Blog

Our Employment Lawyers are often asked about employment issues concerning teenagers during the summer. Each state has specific requirements about the hours a minor employee may work. Contact one of our attorneys to discuss any specific questions you may have as below is general information.

Minors can work in certain circumstances. In general, minors are permitted to be paid at least the minimum wage for the hours they work with many exceptions. The U.S. Department of Labor also permits sub-minimum wages or stipends to be paid to workers as part of a bona fide training program or as a part of a bona fide student intern program. If the state in which the minor is employed does not have the same minimum wage exemption as federal law, then the federal exemption will not apply.

It is not appropriate to circumvent wage & hour laws by compensating young employees non-monetarily and calling them volunteers.

Connecticut
In order to be employed, all minors must receive an employment certificate or "working papers", which is also known as a Statement of Age Form from their local school district.

Minors of the age of 14 and 15 years old may work as babysitters or in offices, summer camps and hospitals or rest homes but may not work in restaurants or food services. Minors of the age of 16 or 17 years old may not work in hazardous occupations such as roofing, excavation or any job that includes driving. However minors, who have recently graduated from high school but are not 18 years old yet, may work in the same industries as adults and for the same number of hours as adults.

New York
Minors who are the age of 14 years must obtain an employment certificate or "working papers" from their local school district prior to beginning employment. However, working papers are not required for the following activities: babysitting, entertainment/performance work, and casual employment.

Minors who are 14 and 15 years old must have a Student Non-Factory Employment Certificate. They may only work after school hours and during vacations. They may do office work or delivery work only by foot, by bicycle, or by bus. They may not work in construction or manufacturing. They also may not paint, clean the exterior of a building, act as a helper on a motor vehicle, or operate machinery. When school is in session, they may work a maximum 18 hours per week, with a 3 hour daily maximum on weekdays. During vacations, they may work up to 40 hours per week for a maximum 8 hours per day. From the day after Labor Day until June 20, they may only work between the hours of 7 AM and 7 PM. From June 21 through Labor Day, they may work between the hours of 7 AM and 9 PM.

Minors who are 16 or 17 years old and in school are required to obtain a Student General Employment Certificate. Minors of this age also may not work in construction or manufacturing, act as a helper on a motor vehicle, or operate hazardous machinery. When school is in session, they may work a maximum 28 hours per week, with a 4 hour daily maximum on weekdays. During vacations (meaning school is closed for an entire week or longer), they may work up to 48 hours per week for a maximum 8 hours per day. Generally, they may not work between 10 PM and 6 AM.

Minors who are 16 and 17 years of age and have left school must obtain a Full-Time Employment Certificate. This certificate allows minors to be employed in non-hazardous jobs. However, they may not perform hazardous activities, such as operating certain power-driven machines, working in construction, helping on a motor vehicle or cleaning, oiling, wiping, or adjusting belts to machinery.

Disclaimer: 

Thank you for visiting our Blog. This blog provides general information and thoughts about various employment law issues primarily in the New York Tri-State area and occasionally in other areas. You are welcome to read the posts. However, do not construe any content on this blog as legal advice or the creation of an attorney-client relationship. Again, we provide the content only for informational purposes. You should not make decisions based information on our blog since the application of the law depends on the facts and each situation may be different. In addition, the law in most jurisdictions is different and changes constantly and we make no representations that any information on our blog has been updated. The Blog should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from an experienced employment law attorney in your state or jurisdiction.

Our Employment Attorneys have noticed a significant increase in the number of audits by the United States Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) branch of the Department of Homeland Security. In fact, the agency has stated that it is increasing its efforts to crack down on employers who do not comply with immigration laws in the workplace. Employers who hire undocumented workers or who fail to complete the required immigration forms upon hiring are at risk for serious penalties for their legal deficiencies. The department recently announced that it intended to audit the hiring records of 1,000 employers of all sizes across the country. During the fiscal year 2011, in total, there have been approximately 2,500 I-9 audits. Although the audits are supposed to be random, our employment lawyers expect certain industries to face greater scrutiny - such as the agricultural, construction and hospitality industries.

In addition, employers who have access to sensitive government information could be subject to an increased likelihood of audits. Examples of industries at greater list include financial services, transportation services (air, rail and train), healthcare (hospitals and medical providers) and food providers. Businesses who have a history of compliance with the law and who are already enrolled and use the E-Verify program may be less likely to be selected for an audit. Conversely, employers who have a history of employment-based immigration violations are more likely to be audited.

During an audit, the ICE agency will seek to determine if your company has complied with all immigration laws regarding employees including but not limited to confirming that each employee is authorized to work in the United States and that a complete I-9 immigration form is completed for each employee. Employers who fail to follow immigration regulations in the workplace do so at great risk. It is very important for employers to review their own employment practices before a government audit is ordered because the time to respond to a government audit is very short (i.e., 3 business days) and the adverse consequences could be severe (e.g., costly monetary fines, required termination of undocumented workers and potential jail time). Proper documentation and employment practices are important for all businesses as the government has audited large employers such as Walmart and small local-businesses.

Our Employment Law Attorneys have assisted many companies with implementing best practices and learning how to be proactive in protecting your business' assets. Contact our law firm at (800) 893-9645 for a confidential consultation to learn how to develop proven human resources practices and how to best protect you against an audit and during an audit. It is much more cost-effective for a business to institute policies and procedures in place before an government audit is started. Finally, if your business has received an audit notice, our lawyers can defend and protect your business and represent you in the ICE proceeding.

Disclaimer: 

Thank you for visiting our Blog. This blog provides general information and thoughts about various employment law issues primarily in the New York Tri-State area and occasionally in other areas. You are welcome to read the posts. However, do not construe any content on this blog as legal advice or the creation of an attorney-client relationship. Again, we provide the content only for informational purposes. You should not make decisions based information on our blog since the application of the law depends on the facts and each situation may be different. In addition, the law in most jurisdictions is different and changes constantly and we make no representations that any information on our blog has been updated. The Blog should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from an experienced employment law attorney in your state or jurisdiction.

Our New York, New Jersey and Connecticut Physician Employment Agreement Attorneys provide advice and counsel to residents, fellows and experienced doctors regarding their employment contracts and partnership considerations. One of the most common questions our law firm receives concerns a significant consideration for every new medical position - the type of malpractice insurance offered. This blog post will discuss the general differences between the two types of malpractice coverage - claims made coverage and occurrence based coverage. In short, as discussed below, if a physician has an option between the two types of insurance, occurrence based coverage is more advantageous. Our employment lawyers have reviewed hundreds of medical professionals and can answer your specific questions. Contact our law office to protect your medical career and learn your rights in the workplace.

Limitations of Coverage

A Claims Made Policy will protect incidents arising on or after the policy's stated retroactive date if they are reported during the term of the policy. If an incident is reported after the policy expires and no tail coverage is purchased (as discussed below), the claim may not be covered.

An Occurrence Based Policy will protect incidents arising during the coverage period - regardless of when those claims are reported to the carrier. As a result, there is an expanded scope and reduced exposure for doctors.

Prior Acts Coverage

A Claims Made Policy can be endorsed and expanded to respond to incidents which occurred before the policy start date. This is sometimes referred to as a policy retroactive date. Generally, this endorsement is an additional expense.

No Prior Acts coverage is needed for an occurrence based policy.

Tail Coverage

A Claims Made Policy does not protect incidents that have not been reported to the company during the policy term. If such protection is sought, tail coverage must be purchased. Tail coverage can be very expensive. Some policies are over $25,000.00. It is worth noting that some companies will offer a free tail at retirement, subject to certain conditions.

For Occurrence Based policies, tail coverage is not needed because incidents that occurred during the policy period are covered no matter how much later they are reported.

Financial Considerations

A Claims Made policy typically involves a graduated process with premium increases over the first five years of coverage in increments proportional to the claims reporting for that experience. The initial premium and subsequent years' premium are substantially lower than an occurrence policy. By the fourth or fifth year the claims made premium reaches a mature level and premium adjustments are based on annual rate changes only.

Occurrence based policies generally are very expensive because the insured is prepaying for tail costs whether the tail gets used or not.

As you can see, there are significant differences between the types of professional liability insurance policies for physicians. It is very important for you to secure experienced legal counsel as soon as you receive your agreement so that your rights are protected. Call now to speak with one of our Employment Lawyers at (800) 893-9645 to learn your rights.

Disclaimer: 

Thank you for visiting our Blog. This blog provides general information and thoughts about various employment law issues primarily in the New York Tri-State area and occasionally in other areas. You are welcome to read the posts. However, do not construe any content on this blog as legal advice or the creation of an attorney-client relationship. Again, we provide the content only for informational purposes. You should not make decisions based information on our blog since the application of the law depends on the facts and each situation may be different. In addition, the law in most jurisdictions is different and changes constantly and we make no representations that any information on our blog has been updated. The Blog should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from an experienced employment law attorney in your state or jurisdiction.