Legal Question in Employment Law in New York
Unfair employment practices
I work for a debt collection company in NY and was working in a management position at my company when without warning I was told that the position had been phased out and I would have to go back to collecting. I was made to sign a statement for my file saying this move was not derogatory nor performance based. However the position was not phased out as people are still in that position, people who I had seniority over. My hourly pay stayed the same however I was previously required to work overtime and now cannot and also am not receiving a guaranteed bonus that I was, therefore my income has been significantly reduced. In addition the working conditions at my company are extremely abusive as upper management is verbally abusive to staff, as well as threatening job termination if employees take a sick day. Collectors are penalized for taking any weekend days off for sick or personal time by having their commission taken away from them. Do I have any recourse in any of this?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Unfair employment practices
Hmmmm. I've had experience with some debt collectors in your neck of the woods and they don't exactly play by the rules.
First, do you have an employment agreement. Look at that. Assuming you don't, there is no guarantee that an employee will get overtime, so by itself, there's nothing actionable there.
Are you being discriminated against because of your gender? age? race? Is this change of position a pretext for some illegal reason to "phase you out"? If so, contact the NY State Division of Human Rights and get some information. You may be entitled to file a complaint and start an investigation.
As for the abuse and taking away commissions for sick days, etc., it seems to be an unfair labor practice and you may wish to contact the Labor Department to find out more information. There are laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and a parallel state statute that require employers to treat sick or disable employees with respect and pay them for sick time. Check with the Labor Department as to the specifics.
Re: Unfair employment practices
Yes. These are unfair labor practices that are governed by various statutory provisions of the State or Federal Government.You need to distinguish first whether you feel that you are the target of discrimination or harassment, and second if you are a member of a protected class
under one of the anti-discrimination statutes.
If you aren't you may still have recourse from the department of labor. Fe.eral or State,
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