Legal Question in Business Law in New York

It depends on whether you are a salary or hourly employee. If you are salary, then yes they can make you attend. If hourly, then yes they can make you attend without pay as long as you are not performing any "work" in disguise. "Work" is defined as "any time that is controlled by employers and that benefits the employer." Specifically, you must be paid for training activities unless all of the following are true:

�You attend the event outside of regular working hours

�Attendance is voluntary.

�The instruction session isn�t directly related to your job.

�You do not perform any productive work during the instruction session.

If you feel your rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act you should file a complaint with the New York Labor Department. Your employer will not be allowed to retaliate for filing such a complaint; however, acts considered as "retaliation" are limited. For example, employers are allowed to schedule employees to more inconvenient work shifts or other reasonable, but inconvenient acts without being considered retaliatory.