Employers in New York City must now accommodate a pregnant woman that requires minor job modifications to continue doing her job during her pregnancy. As reported in The New York Times, the New York City Council passed the Pregnancy Fairness Act because, although employers cannot discriminate against a women for becoming pregnant or refuse to hire a pregnant women, they are not required to accommodate them with any minor job modifications so that they can keep working during their pregnancy.

Federal and New York State laws protect against pregnancy discrimination. Pregnancy discrimination takes many forms, including

• Denying maternity leave
• Forcing a pregnant employee to take unpaid leave
• Treating an employee unequally because she is pregnant, may become pregnant, or has a medical condition related to her pregnancy or childbirth
• Demoting or firing an employee because of her pregnancy
• Forcing a pregnant employee to work in an unsafe environment
• Failing to hire or promote an employee because of her pregnancy
• Failing to provide a private space for breast-feeding

If you are pregnant, your employer must permit you to work as long as you are able to perform your job. If you are absent from work as a result of a pregnancy-related condition, your employer may not demand that you stay out of work until the baby is born. Additionally, your employer may not have a rule that prohibits an employee from returning to work for a predetermined length of time after childbirth. If you have a pregnancy-related absence from work, your employer is required to hold open your job for the same length of time that jobs are held open for employees on sick or disability leave.

If you believe that you have been a victim of pregnancy discrimination at work, you should consult an attorney and protect your rights.

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In a sex discrimination lawsuit bought on behalf of women employees at Merrill Lynch, which is now owned by Bank of America, the bank has agreed to settle the suite for $39 million. As reported in Bloomberg, the suite alleges that Merrill Lynch discriminated against women in their respective positions in terms of compensation and business opportunities as compared to their male counterparts. It was also reported that in addition to the monetary settlement, Merrill Lynch would also be required to implement changes to its practices, which would be overseen by an independent monitor.

Sex or gender discrimination occurs whenever an employee or prospective employee is subject to different treatment due to their gender. An employer cannot stereotype you based on your gender or sex. Employers are required to treat men and women the same in all phases of the employment process regarding:

• Policies and practices
• Hiring
• Compensation
• Job training
• Layoffs
• Promotions
• Working conditions
• Benefits
• Other privileges

Often the terms “sex” and “gender” are interchangeable. However, sex discrimination refers to discrimination based on an individual’s biological identity as male or female while gender discrimination refers to discrimination based on characteristics of an individual that are culturally associated with masculinity or femininity. Gender discrimination is one of the oldest and most prevalent forms of workplace discrimination.

It is often subtle, but its impact is very serious. If you believe that you are being discriminated against at work because of your sex or gender, consult an attorney and protect your rights.

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Recent stories in the news have described the campaign to stop employers from violating the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by classifying people as interns while having them do the work of regular employees without compensation. The campaign may be having some effect as a class action lawsuit has been filed in federal court in New York against Donna Karan International regarding company interns who are performing non-intern related work without  receiving the minimum wage. As reported in The Huffington Post, one plaintiff, who was an under grad, claims that he was told that interning for the company would be great learning experience; instead, he retrieved coffee, answered phones, entered data, and put clothes away.

Pursuant to the FLSA and as stated by the United States Department of Labor, for an employer to classify a position as an internship, the intern program must meet the following criteria:

1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment.
2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern.
3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff.
4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion, its operations may actually be impeded.
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship.
6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.

Additional violations that may break federal and New York State overtime regulations include

• Misclassification of job position as exempt from overtime
• Failure to pay due to lack of permission to work overtime
• Averaging hours over two work weeks
• Failure to pay for at-home work, on-call time, or short daytime breaks
• Comp time instead of overtime pay
• Off-the-clock work

Both the FLSA and New York law have set the minimum wage at $7.25 per hour since 2009. Under New York and Federal minimum wage regulations, certain occupations and employees, such as food service employees, are paid a different minimum wage because the employees’ total compensation includes tips. If you believe that your employer is violating your right to receive minimum wage or overtime compensation, you consult an attorney and protect your rights.