Can my employer hold me responsble for an orverbooking?

New York State's Department of Labor prohibits deductions unless such deductions are for an employee's benefit AND the employee consents in advance to such deduction. That's why the new law is called Wage Theft Prevention Act (WTPA). Part of the law's purpose is to make certain that employees are paid for all work performed. Your employer could write you up or take other actions but taking your earned wages would be like its playing with fire.

The WTPA protects employees as well as employers. Few employers realize that prevailing attorneys recover their reasonable attorney's fees and costs for helping employees in these types of cases. The fees and costs can be very substantial. For example, if your employer deducted a booking such as you describe and such deduction brought you below the minimum wage for that week's pay your employer could be forced to pay substantial damages including attorneys' fees and costs. Both federal and state laws protect you.

Contact the NYS Department of Labor or a labor and employment lawyer if your employer continues to threaten you:

https://labor.ny.gov/formsdocs/wp/LS605.PDF

posted by V Jonas Urba  |  Jul 21, 2016 12:42 PM [EST]