Brooklyn Judge Finds 13 Hours Pay for 24 Hour Case Lawful, Creating Split Among Kings County Justices

Executive Summary:

On May 4, 2015, Kings County Supreme Court Justice David I. Schmidt issued a decision in Adriana Moreno, et al. v. Future Care Health Services, Inc., et al., Index No. 500569/13, which concerned live-in home health aides (“live-ins”) who asserted they were not properly compensated for 24-hour shifts. Justice Schmidt decided that the plaintiffs did not meet the requirements as set forth under New York law for class certification to apply to all similar workers, and further deferred to the New York State Department of Labor’s (“NYDOL”) 2010 Opinion Letter (“2010 Opinion”), disagreeing with the live-ins, and upholding the homecare agency’s payment of the minimum 13 hours for 24-hour shifts.

Background:

The NYDOL 2010 Opinion considered the issue of live-in compensation for third-party agency employers, stating such employers were permitted to pay live-ins for 13 hours for a 24-hour shift, provided the live-in: (a) slept 8 hours (with at least 5 of such hours uninterrupted); and (b) received 3 uninterrupted hours for meals. The 2010 Opinion can be viewed here: http://labor.ny.gov/legal/counsel/pdf/Other/RO-09-0169%20-%20Live-In%20Companions.pdf.

The affordability of employing live-ins has been a hot topic in the homecare industry, which ultimately turns on how a live-in’s “hours worked” are defined. For more information on how an agency can defend itself against a private lawsuit targeting live-ins, view our firm’s December 12, 2014 LegalAlert: “Can Your Home Care Agency Afford to Employ Sleep-Ins?” here: http://www.fordharrison.com/can-your-agency-afford-to-employ-sleep-ins-1.

Decision:

Justice Schmidt relied on the framework outlined in the 2010 Opinion and found no “evidentiary detail” that demonstrated the live-ins in Moreno did not receive the necessary uninterrupted sleep or meal breaks to warrant more than the 13 hours’ pay they received. Moreover, Justice Schmidt noted the live-ins failed to show an “across the board policy” by their Employer which violated their right to compensation for all “hours worked.”

Justice Schmidt’s Moreno decision is welcome news for homecare agencies operating in Kings County and New York generally, as it signals a deviation from the harsh holding of fellow Kings County Supreme Court Justice Carolyn Demarest in Andreyeyeva v. New York Health Care, Inc., 45 Misc. 3d 820 (Sup. Ct., Kings County, Sept. 16, 2014). Just nine months ago, Justice Demarest’s Andreyeyeva decision sent shockwaves through the homecare industry, declaring that 24-hour shift workers should receive compensation for every single hour of their 24-hour shift, regardless of sleep or meal time. Judge Demarest’s decision is currently on appeal.

In December of 2014, Justice Schmidt had declined to grant a motion to dismiss in Melamed v. Americare Certified Special Serv., Inc., 2014 N.Y. Slip. Op. 33296 (Sup. Ct., Kings County, Dec. 11, 2014) and cited Andreyeyeva in support of his decision. In that case, Justice Schmidt declined to decide the issue of how many hours of pay was required on a 24-hour shift, stating that “any argument over whether or not the plaintiffs should be paid for every hour on site is irrelevant at this point since a grant of dismissal, in defendants’ favor, is not hinged upon such issue.” Id.

Conclusion

The disagreement between Supreme Court Justices in Kings County evidences how complicated the issue of compensable time is with regards to 24-hour shift workers. Although New York Labor Law (“NYLL”) requires that employees receive pay for “each hour worked,” reasonable minds (i.e. two Supreme Court Justices) now “split” and differ on what “hours worked” means in this context. If you have any questions regarding this Alert, please contact Danielle Moss at dmoss@fordharrison.com or Stephen Zweig at szweig@fordharrison.com of FordHarrison’s New York City office.