Including the Right Language in an Offer Letter Can Pay Significant Dividends Later

Posted on March 23, 2010 by Joseph Dole

Often the simplest and most straightforward cases serve as helpful reminders of best practices. This is certainly true of a recent federal court decision applying New York contract law and the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”) to a claim for bonus compensation. In that case, including the right language in an offer letter made it easy for the court to dismiss the claims.

There are a number of best practices applicable to offer letters. At a minimum, of course, the offer letter should include an employment at-will statement, unless the employment is not intended to be at-will. But simply including that statement does not mean the offer letter cannot be contractual in nature for purposes unrelated to the right to discharge. Representations made in the offer letter can be enforceable, particularly representations about bonus compensation. If the offer letter refers to potential bonus compensation, it should also incorporate by reference the terms of the bonus plan, and explicitly describe any eligibility requirements, including, if applicable, the requirement of active employment on the payout date. Most important, if the bonus plan is a discretionary plan – meaning that whether there will be a payout and how much the payout will be is entirely discretionary with the employer -- that fact should be stated. Language like that can provide a complete defense to a claim by a discharged employee that he was entitled to bonus compensation as unpaid wages under the NYLL. Bonus compensation can be “wages” under the NYLL, but only if it has already been “earned” at the time of termination. It is not “earned,” if, at the time of discharge, the payment is conditioned on some future event or left to the discretion of the employer.

On the less intuitive side, consider including what lawyers refer to as a “merger clause.” A merger clause states that the offer letter supersedes prior discussions and agreements, if any, between the parties. When such a clause is included in an offer letter, it can be used to defeat a breach of contract claim based on an alleged oral promise of something different than what was stated in the offer letter.

Some employers do not like to complicate an offer letter or make it too lengthy. In many cases that is not necessary, but in others inserting some complication in the letter is just prudent risk management, which can pay significant future dividends.
 

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New York Federal Court Dismisses Donning and Doffing Collective Action

Posted on September 29, 2009 by Joseph Dole

Since the Supreme Court’s decision in IBP, Inc. v. Alvarez , 546 U.S. 21 (2005), “donning and doffing” claims have been filed with increased frequency against employers in many industries. In some instances, these claims take the form of a collective and or class action. Recently, the United States District Court for the Western District of New York granted summary judgment dismissing wage and hour claims brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the New York Labor Law in a case defended by Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC (“BS&K”). Albrecht v. The Wackenhut Corp., slip op. no. 07-CV-6162 (W.D.N.Y. Sept. 24, 2009). The court’s holdings are discussed below.

 

The action was commenced on behalf of current and former security guards at the Ginna Nuclear Power Plant in Ontario, New York. The plaintiffs sought additional compensation for donning and doffing activities that allegedly occurred before and after their scheduled workdays; specifically, the time spent “arming up and clearing through security and arming down.” In ruling for the employer, the court acknowledged that under the Portal-to-Portal Act (an amendment to the FLSA), employers need not compensate employees for activities that are “preliminary to or postliminary to" their “principal” work activities. In Alvarez, the Supreme Court held that such activities are only compensable if they are “an integral and indispensable part of the principal activities.” In finding that the activities involved in the case before it were not “integral” to the performance of the guards’ principal activities, the Albrecht court analogized the tasks at issue to those found to be non-compensable by the Second Circuit in Gorman v. Consolidated Edison Corp., 488 F.3d 586 (2d Cir. 2007) and Reich v. New York City Transit Auth., 45 F.3d 646 (2d Cir. 1995). The court in Albrecht further ruled that the time spent arming up and arming down involved non-compensable preliminary or postliminary activities because the tasks could be accomplished with minimal effort and were not difficult or time consuming.

In addition, the court supported its ruling on an alternative ground. It held that to the extent the donning and doffing activities might otherwise be compensable, they were nevertheless de minimis in nature. Relying on the Second Circuit’s decision in Singh v. City of New York, 524 F.3d 361 (2d Cir. 2008), the court noted that the “continuous workday rule,” which generally requires inclusion of all time after the start of an employee’s workday, is not triggered when an employee engages in principal activities that are de minimis. The court observed that while there is no “bright line” test for determining how much time is de minimis, several courts have found time periods of fifteen minutes or less to be de minimis. The court then found that even if all of the pre- and post- shift activities alleged were considered, the time period at issue was de minimis under that standard.

The defendant in Albrecht was represented by Robert A. LaBerge and Christa R. Cook of BS&K. This is the second donning and doffing case in the past year in which BS&K has successfully represented the employer. In Delitta v. City of Mount Vernon, current and former police officers brought a similar suit which was withdrawn after limited discovery. Equally significant, the resolution did not require the City to pay any monies to the plaintiffs. BS&K attorneys Terrence M. O’Neil and John S. Ho represented the City in that case.
 
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Employers Be Aware of Recent Amendments to New York Labor and Employment Laws

Posted on August 24, 2009 by Louis DiLorenzo

Despite our State Legislature’s distractions this summer, it continues to crank out laws which further regulate New York employers. Here are some recent changes about which employers should be aware.

On July 28, 2009, New York State Labor Law 195(1) was amended to require employers to provide all new employees hired on or after October 26, 2009 with written notice of their rates of pay and the employer’s regular pay days. See our August 11, 2009 blog post for details.

Some other notifications required by New York Law include:

 

  • Terms of employment between an employer and commissioned salesperson must be in writing and signed by both parties. The agreement must include a description of how wages, salary, drawing account, commissions and all other monies earned and payable will be calculated.
  • Employees must be notified in writing or by public posting of the employer’s policy on sick leave, vacation, personal leave, holidays and hours.
  • Employers must notify employees of any changes in pay days prior to such changes.
  • Employers must also notify employees of the date of termination and exact date of termination of employee benefits. The notice must be in writing and be given within 5 working days after termination.

Effective July 7, 2009, the New York State Human Rights Law prohibits employers from discriminating against employees who are victims of domestic violence. See our August 3, 2009 blog post for details on this new law.

Additionally, employers should keep in mind that as of July 6, 2009, the Human Rights Law provides for civil fines and penalties, payable to the State, of up to $50,000 for unlawful discriminatory acts, and up to $100,000 for willful, wanton or malicious discrimination. Our July 20, 2009 blog post describes that amendment.

Finally, an amendment to the New York State Insurance Law “mini-COBRA” provisions, creates an extension of the general continuation under a group health plan for covered employees from 18 months to 36 months following termination of employment. The law applies retroactively to insurance policies and contracts issue, renewed, modified, altered or amended on or after July 1, 2009, but does not apply to self-funded group health plans. Although New York’s mini-COBRA statute generally covers insurance plans of employers with fewer than 20 employees, this 36 month continuation period will apply to all New York group insurance policies regardless of employer size. Therefore, if federal COBRA coverage is exhausted, qualified beneficiaries can extend coverage under New York law for an additional 18-month period up to a total of 36 months following the date of the beginning of federal COBRA coverage.
 
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