DEAR CARRIE: Who is responsible for paying for employer-mandated training? The new owner of a nursing-home rehabilitation facility requires all employees to take a CPR course, something that was previously required. But unlike the previous owner, the new employer expects the workers to pay for the training. If an employer requires training, shouldn't it foot the bill? _ Who Pays?
DEAR WHO: I checked with the New York Labor Department, and the answer was simple:
"If an employer requires certain training, then they may not charge workers for it," a spokesman said.
DEAR CARRIE: I started a new job as an exempt employee of a major utility company on a Monday. During that week I received a better job offer from another company and told the utility company I would resign on Friday, which I did. Later, I inquired when I would be paid for the week I worked there. The company told me it did not intend to pay me because I worked for only a week. I countered that I fully expected to be paid, and the company eventually paid me. Would the company have had any legal basis for not paying me because I quit after the first week? _ Short-Timer
DEAR SHORT-TIMER: No, it would have had no legal basis, and that is probably why it eventually paid you. You worked for the week, and the company had to pay you. I imagine its initial decision not to pay you was said out of anger because many companies these days have trouble finding qualified employees in such a tight, local labor market. The employer was probably upset that it had to fill your position again so soon.
But since New York is an employment-at-will state, not only can employers fire an employee at any time for any reason, unless a contract is involved, employees, in turn, can also quit at any time, again unless a contract forbids it. Your employer may not have liked the fact that you exercised that right and were still entitled to receive your pay. But it's the law.
DEAR CARRIE: My son has a job making deliveries for a company using its commercial vehicle. He was never instructed not to go on highways where commercial vehicles are not allowed. Well, he went on a parkway and was pulled over and fined $525. The company at first said it would consider paying the fine but then told him he was responsible for the entire amount. Is he responsible for this fine? _ Drive Fine
DEAR DRIVE: Unfortunately, he is responsible, an employment attorney said. That's because the ticket was issued against him, rather than against the vehicle, as is the case with red-light-camera infractions.
"The ticket was issued against the driver, not the company, and so the driver is responsible for paying it," said employment attorney Richard Kass, a partner at Bond, Schoeneck & King in Manhattan.
I think the responsibility here runs two ways. The company probably needs to do a better job of informing its young drivers about what to expect on Long Island roads, and, of course, it's important for drivers to be attentive to traffic signs.
In the meantime, perhaps your son could gingerly ask the company for help toward paying the fine since a $525 ticket would probably blow a gaping hole in most young people's finances.___
ABOUT THE WRITER
Carrie Mason-Draffen is a columnist for Newsday and the author of "151 Quick Ideas to Deal With Difficult People." Readers may send her email at carrie.draffen@newsday.com.
