Legal Question in Employment Law in New York

Re: work schedules

I think you are asking whether an employer; say 'joe hirer,' is being nice enough to one employee, 'jill tuesday,' who says she really really needs that second job and will be thrown out of her little apartment with her young child, if joe hirer does not work around her hours. At the same time, joe hirer will not allow grumpy 'john friday' to have a second job.

Simply put, giving preferential treatment to one employee over another is unfair, but generally does not impact state or federal laws protecting employees.

I assume joe hirer is not violating any employer-employee contract or is violating that employer handbook that jill and john signed. But what if that handbook stated "under no circumstances shall employee have a second job" and john sees jill advertising the fact that she has a second job without consequence, and john thereupon takes a second job and is promptly fired because of same? John may have a breach of implied contract there, as he was only following the job site's customary rules.

Of course, some employees fall under a protected class of workers, where preferential treatment may be construed as discrimination against such protected class, but you have not brought such facts up (not yet).