is this legal? I suspect it isn't (re: labor law)

[© tweed]

I work on a local election campaign.  Town Board/Supervisior and Suffolk County (NY) legislature.  they are planning to bring in a load of people for get-out-the-vote efforts the four days prior to the election, Nov 2-5.  as you can imagine the caliber of people who you'll bring in for a four-day gig at $10/hr are questionable at best.  thinking they only have to tread water for four days, max effort isn't in their vocabulary.  fine.

their job will be to knock on the doors of identified likely voters and encourage them to get to the polls.  the campaign is making them sign a statement that if they are not working up to caliber at any point during their shift they will be let go and not compensated at all for time worked.  so if Malcolm is found eating a double burger at McDonalds instead of knocking on Gertrude's door and telling her to vote on Nov 5, he will be let go and not be compensated.

I can't imagine not compensating people for time already worked because you were unhappy with the product is legal under labor law.

[Ban my account ffs!]

I'm sure they've found the loopholes necessary to make that legal.  Think about it... they're signing a contract. 

[© tweed]

I'm sure they've found the loopholes necessary to make that legal.  Think about it... they're signing a contract. 

or they're just banking that nobody will take them to court over twenty bucks.  or it's an empty threat.

[Zanas]

I would be able to give you a well documented and argumented answer in French law. But I've come to learn that your labor laws are somewhat more favorable to the employers, so I guess it can be legal in some way.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

The campaign isn't hiring people as employees, it's hiring people as independent contractors. There aren't a whole heck of a lot of protections in that (increasingly popular) latter category.

[Paul Kemp]

Huntington?

[© tweed]

The campaign isn't hiring people as employees, it's hiring people as independent contractors. There aren't a whole heck of a lot of protections in that (increasingly popular) latter category.

looks as if this is the right answer.  I straight-up asked the supervisor today and while she couldn't say exactly if they were going to be classified as independent contractors, she said that these people "will not be added to payroll" and will instead walk out with a handwritten check at the end of every shift.

[Torie]

It's a breach of contract. Breaches of contract are legal - indeed sometimes breaches of contract actually are in the public interest (not in this case), in the sense that they limit economic waste, but another time. In some states, some temporaries might actually be deemed temporary employees, rather than independent contractors, in which case the labor law remedies come into play, but that depends on a lot of additional boring factual details that need to be parsed. Another time for that too.