NYC Freelance Act Goes Into Effect

Local Law 140 of 2016 takes effect on May 15, 2017.
NYC's web site  describes this new statute as follows:

The law establishes and enhances protections for freelance workers, specifically the right to: •    A written contract•    Timely and full payment•    Protection from retaliation
The law establishes penalties for violations of these rights, including statutory damages, double damages, injunctive relief, and attorney’s fees. 
Individual causes of action will be adjudicated in state court. 
Where there is evidence of a pattern or practice of violations, the Corporation Counsel may bring civil action to recover a civil penalty of not more than $25,000. 

The Press Release the Mayor signed when the law was enacted is available here.

House Passes Bill Authorizing Private Sector Employers To Pay Comp Time Instead of OT

On May 2, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives passed HR 1180. A CNN news story about that Bill is available here. If the Senate passes the Bill in its current form, President Trump indicated that he will sign it into law.

The Bill amends the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act with respect to private sector employers only. The Bill authorizes, but does not mandate, private sector employers to provide compensatory time off at time and half for overtime. An employer can only provide compensatory time off under the conditions as stated in Bill as follows:

An employer may provide compensatory time to employees under paragraph (1) only if such time is provided in accordance with—
(A) applicable provisions of a collective bargaining agreement between the employer and the labor organization that has been certified or recognized as the representative of the employees under applicable law; or

(B) in the case of an employee who is not represented by a labor organization that has been certified or recognized as the representative of such employee under applicable law, an agreement arrived at between the employer and employee before the performance of the work and affirmed by a written or otherwise verifiable record maintained in accordance with section 11(c)—
(i) in which the employer has offered and the employee has chosen to receive compensatory time in lieu of monetary overtime compensation; and
(ii) entered into knowingly and voluntarily by such employee and not as a condition of employment. . . .

If enacted into law, I suspect that the highlighted provision above will generate a significant amount of litigation in situations where some employers may mandate that employees agree to compensatory time off in lieu of overtime in order to maintain their jobs.