New York Employee Benefits Legal Questions

Garnishment is by definition a judicial proceeding. That means that a court order would need to be pursued and entered or recorded by some clerk of court. Apparently you have cut and pasted a part of an agreement with your former employer. The language appears to mean business. In other words it looks like no nonsense terms. It would not be unusual to find prevailing party's attorneys' fees and costs awardable as well since you apparently agreed to this remedy. As a side note, if prevailing party attorneys' fees and costs are available you might owe several times the amount you fear being garnished plus interest and possibly other remedies. The wisest option might be to have a skilled employment lawyer review all documents which governed your prior employment relationship. Most of these matters are resolved pre-litigation since employees sometimes lose their former and current jobs if they failed to disclose everything they were obligated to disclose to secure a new position. The worst case scenario might be losing the former job, being let go from your current position, and owing several times the amount you suspect you may have to repay. And if you did not report that money on your tax return, there may be IRS or state or local tax penalties for not doing so as well. Speak with a tax lawyer. Calling a payment "not wages or earned compensation" does not mean that you are not subject to reporting the amount on your taxes or paying taxes on it yourself. Were I facing this scenario I would lawyer up immediately because waiting longer is very likely to cost much more than resolving it pre-litigation. Just a suggestion from New York's Employment Law Reality Check law firm.... Read More

Any qualified physician may treat mental health issues. All M.D.s are authorized to prescribe medication including for mental health issues although most will defer to specialists. I am without knowledge of any law or regulation which prohibits your OB practitioner from opining about mental health issues. Although, I suspect that if the employer retained a mental health expert your OB would probably defer to your own mental health expert as well. You should meet with your employer. They have the right to counsel and/or direct you regarding your duties for work. Regardless of what they have done in the past, if you wish to keep this job you may want to consider meeting with them. If for no other reason than to ask them what else they need from you. They could suggest your consulting with an independent medical expert at the employer's expense. If they did so you may wish to prepare your own mental health provider with advance notice of same. This is not legal advice. We have no lawyer client relationship. But if you have been performing your duties well remotely, there appears to be no reason that you will not continue doing so in the future. Some employers feel or presume that some pregnant employees may not return to work after giving birth. Meeting with them may aleviate their concerns. Caring for a newborn is time-consuming and they may suspect that you will no longer devote the hours which most professionals have given during COVID working remotely. They may want assurance from you that you will continue doing the presumably great work you have done so far. I personally know several employees who are much more productive working remotely, partly because their mental health challenges were overwhelming in-person, pre-COVID, when they needed to work in a confined office. If your mental health expert believes that applies to you maybe discussing this now is a good option. If this employer intends to bring everyone back into the office, maybe that's not for you? But you need to assure them why that's necessary for you and how the employer will continue to receive outstanding or acceptable performance from you. If they believe your performance was not what they expected pre-pregnancy maybe this is the time to discuss accommodations which may have nothing or little to do with pregnancy. Good luck. Not legal advice. No lawyer client relationship. Accommodations are all about communication and give and take between employer and employee.... Read More

More facts are required before any lawyer could provide you with a definitive answer.   If you Google the internet for your question there are quite a number of posts which are inaccurate or wrong.   See this attachment:   https://dol.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2022/01/osh-te-2022-2023-rfp-clean-01.31.22-1_0.pdf   I believe your answer may be found on page 5.   The caution here is that if you deny an employee wages to "suffer labor", meaning for your benefit, you do so at your own risk. If, on the other hand, the training is broadly applicable, maybe, depending on the position, a CPR certificate, it might be for the employee's benefit which benefits you as well. Whoever provides you with an opinion, on this issue, which this certainly is not, should charge you because providing the incorrect one could cost you dearly. Good luck. Not legal advice.... Read More