Increased wage recovery efforts have resulted in more cases of retaliation against employees, New York has amended its Labor Law to increase protections against employee retaliation.  The amendment increases the remedies and penalties against employers for failing to comply with their statutory wage obligations. 

The Massachusetts Supreme Court issued a ruling that increases the damages workers can receive if they have been misclassified as independent contractors instead of employees.  According to the court, the damages incurred "equal value of wages and benefits" individuals should have received as employees but did not.  The workers can therefore retain the fees earned as independent contractor and recover the value of holiday pay, vacation pay, and other benefits that they would have received as employees.