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).
I read the response to the question of whether certain types of libraries must abide by the minimum wage in New York (https://wnylrc.org/raq/minimum-wage-public-library-employees).
Before I answer, let’s confirm: sometimes, base pay (hourly wage or salary) is the only compensation an employee gets, while sometimes, compensation is base pay plus a robust combination of benefits.
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).
There is no case law or regulatory guidance directly on this point.
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.
Our Library Director was hired 5 years ago and has always been paid for her attendance at monthly Trustee meetings. In 2021 the Town Supervisor stopped this long-standing practice. Our Town pays our Library Director.
Is this legal without letting the Trustees and Director prior to stopping the practice?
"Is this legal?" Not likely.
But before I say more, I just want to offer a quick primer on how things work at "Ask the Lawyer."
It is not uncommon in small non-profits and higher education institutions to find an employment class called Salaried/Non-Exempt. If this person is not paid annually above the minimum salaried/exempt threshold AND their standard work hours fall below 40 hours, what are the laws governing the hours between standard work hours and 40 per week, and how are they applied?
This is a complicated array of questions, involving a high-stakes area of law…so we’ll take this in stages.
Salaried/Non-Exempt
The member starts by evoking an interesting phenomenon: “Salaried/Non-Exempt” employees; workers entitled to mandatory overtime, but paid via a salary.
Are municipal public libraries obligated to provide retirement benefits for all employees? Does the library board need to approve a motion to provide retirement benefits for all employees or selected employees? Does the number of hours pertain? Or does the employee qualify for state retirement system benefits through the municipality? Again - is it based upon hours worked?
Retirement benefits play a critical part in employee recruitment and retention. Library leadership should carefully consider—and routinely re-evaluate—the role of retirement in the suite of benefits they use to attract and nurture personnel.
