Submission Date:
Question:
We have 12 employees of the Library. 3 are salaried the rest are minimum wage. Are Library employees subject to NYS DOL Minimum Wage Law as well as the Wage Orders for salaried employees? We are unsure where we would fall. Our funding comes from taxes/aid/grants. We are looking for an answer as soon as you are able as we are preparing our budget for next year. Thank you so much for your help.
Answer:
First things first: as private entities (much like private colleges or historical societies) association public libraries in New York are without question subject to both state and federal laws governing minimum wage and overtime, as well as other worker protections that apply to private entities.
So, if you are reading this from the perspective of an association library:
- Your library MUST pay hourly workers at least the state minimum wage;
- Your library MUST provide (paid or unpaid) sick leave as required by law;
- Your library MUST pay time-and-a-half (“overtime”) for any hours over 40 in a standard workweek;
- Your library MUST offer Paid Family Medical Leave; and
- Your library MUST disclose the pay range and duties along with published opportunities for hiring and promotion.
Okay. With that out of the way, we’ll handle the slightly more awkward part of this question: do non-association public libraries have to pay state minimum wage?
The answer is tricky. Non-association public libraries[1] are subject to many state and federal laws, but New York Labor Law Article 19, which controls minimum wage, specifically exempts employees of a “municipal government or political subdivision thereof.”[2] It also exempts school district employees (except “non-teaching” employees).[3]
So, the question really is: Is a non-association public library a “municipal government or political subdivision thereof” under Article 19 of the Labor Law (and thus exempt from state minimum wage)?
The law, regulations, case law, and agency[4] guidance are all SILENT AS THE GRAVE as to this question. Scour as I might, I have not found a definitive answer.[5]
More frustratingly, I suspect the answer could vary from library type to library type.
The reason why is summarized in the 2014 case Tongring v. Bronx Cmty. College of the City Univ. of N.Y.:
Although there is no provided definition for “political subdivision,” New York courts engage in a “particularized inquiry into the nature of the [organization] and the statute claimed to be applicable to it” … “to determine whether—for the specific purpose at issue—the public benefit corporation … perform[s] an essential government function … [and therefore] should be treated like the State… ([the] court must consider “the nature of the employing organization” in determining whether an entity is a political subdivision under the New York Labor Law).
How “particularized” does this “inquiry” get? In 2021, in Matter of Executive Cleaning Servs. Corp. v New York State Dept. of Labor, the State Department of Labor argued that a public library was a “political subdivision”, and thus the cleaning company they contracted with had to pay the prevailing wage for the services. Ruling against the Department of Labor, the Court wrote:
The library at issue undoubtedly performs a public function and is closely intertwined with the school district that it serves, but it is not itself “a municipal corporation, school district, district corporation [or] board of cooperative educational services”—the entities that are considered to be “[p]olitical subdivision[s]” of the state for purposes of public contracts (General Municipal Law § 100 [1]; see General Construction Law § 66 [2]).
...
Consequently, we hold that the library at issue is not a public agency within the meaning of Labor Law § 230 (3).
Now, does not being a political subdivision “for the purposes of public contracts” mean a library is not a political subdivision for purposes of Labor Law Article 19?
NO.
Is either Tongring v. Bronx Cmty. College, or Matter of Executive Cleaning Servs., directly applicable to this issue?
NO.
Is there any clear authority on this issue anywhere?
NO.
Because of this dearth of guidance, I have to answer that it is wise not to rule out the application of New York State Labor Law Article 19 unless an attorney retained by a particular library reviews the specific position of that particular library and offers a very particular written opinion advising otherwise.[6] When generating the opinion, the lawyer should consider the library’s “type” as well as the other aspects of the state Labor Law that apply to that library (or don’t apply).
Of course, I wish I could give a more definitive answer. But without more to work with from case law and enforcement guidance, I must urge caution.
Thank you for a frustrating but important question
[1] By which I mean: municipal public libraries, school district public libraries, special district public libraries, and Indian libraries.
[2] Labor Law Article 19, § 651(5) defines “employer” to exclude a “municipal government or political subdivision thereof.”
[3] New York Labor Law § 651(5)
[4] What agencies? The NYS Department of Labor, the NYS Comptroller, the NYS Attorney General.
[5] If you find a definitive answer, please send it in. I am not too proud to take help from the outside.
[6] Lawyers for municipal libraries might find this case helpful: Vlad-Berindan v. N.Y. City Metro. Transp. Auth., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43613.
Tag:
NY Labor Law, Public Libraries, Association Libraries, Salaries and Wages
