NY Labor Law

Our Library has a CSEA Collective Bargaining Agreement with Employees, and individual employment contracts with administrators. All documents codify how many accrued vacation days and sick days an individual employee can “sell back” or be reimbursed for upon separation from service (resignation or retirement).

Depending on the employer, there are a lot of types of “accrued time,” but for this answer,[1] we’ll address the Big Five: vacation, personal, sick leave, prenatal care, and flex/comp.

Spring is upon us, so I am going to answer this question with the help of some veggies.

Our association library is considering changing some librarian positions from salaried “professional” to hourly. Is that legal?

Unless a union contract or other binding document says otherwise, an employee can ALWAYS be converted from “salaried” (meaning they get paid an incrementally doled out annual salary) to “hourly” (meaning they get paid by the hour).

You have asked if a special legislative district library and other types of public libraries must follow New York State Labor Law Section 191 (Labor Law Article 6).

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.

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.

Are public library systems and public libraries (association, municipal, special district, school district) required to pay prevailing wage? It is highly recommended to pay the prevailing wage for work done using the NY State Aid for Library Construction Program funds. What about other projects - like electrician, snow removal, plowing, and plumbing that do not go out to bid?

The "Prevailing Wage Rate" (or "PWR") is a pay equity concept found in Article 8 and Article 9 of the New York State Labor Law.

Article 8 addresses PWR in construction contracts.

Article 9 addresses PWR in service contracts.

[NOTE: This submission is based on real-life questions about the new requirement imposed by New York State Labor Law Section 590(2).]

Great questions!

Let's tackle[1] them:

Is this true?

Yes.  If you would like to look up the text of the law, which went into effect on November 13th, 2023, you can find it here: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/LAB/590.

Should what we think of as the personnel policy be called Employee Handbook or Personnel Policy?

Ooh, an ontological question!

I am not sure about the basis of the past legal input mentioned in the question, differentiating a "policy" from a "handbook," but I (mostly) agree with it.

How does the NY HERO Act https://dol.ny.gov/ny-hero-act apply to the different types of libraries? Are Association Libraries included?

The letters in the "NY HERO Act" stand for "Health and Essential Rights."[1]

What "essential rights" does it protect?