EntertainHR: Advice from Anora: Classify Correctly!
I have said it many times – summer is for movies! Blockbusters, indies, and comedies (or whatever films you enjoy) just make a summer night better. Summer is also halfway to the film industry’s most illustrious awards show, the Oscars. That got me thinking, which films are frontrunners for Oscars glory?
Well, if the 97th Academy Awards were any indication, a romantic comedy-drama with a fresh storyline is likely the way to go (apologies to all the superhero buffs out there). I’m specifically thinking of Anora, which received six nominations at the 2024 Oscars and won the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. It was quite the performance.
But what is Anora about (if you have not yet seen the film), and what does it have to do with employment law? Well, Anora is the story of a young exotic dancer, Anora “Ani” Mikheeva (played by Mikey Madison), living in Brooklyn. One night at work, Ani meets a club patron, Ivan “Vanya” Zakharov (played by Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of a Russian oligarch. Vanya is immediately smitten with Ani, and the two begin seeing each other more and more frequently.
Eventually, they take an impromptu trip with friends to Las Vegas, where Vanya suddenly proposes to Ani. The two elope at a Las Vegas chapel, and that’s where the craziness begins (hard to believe, I know). News of Vanya’s marriage reaches his parents in Russia, and they are most disappointed.
Eager to undo their son’s rash decision, the Russian oligarchs put in motion a plan to annul the marriage. The rest of the story? You’ll have to see for yourself.
But what does any of that have to do with employment law? Anora reminded me of a slew of cases that spread throughout the country a few years back. These cases involved exotic dance clubs. The common issue was: are exotic dancers employees, or are they independent contractors? This is a fact-intensive issue, but the courts overwhelmingly found that the dancers were, in fact, employees. The clubs’ problem? They classified all the dancers as independent contractors.
Why is that important? Because independent contractors and employees are entitled to different protections under both federal and state law. For federal law specifically, the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) requires employers to pay employees at least $7.25 per hour for the first 40 hours worked in a one-week period. When an employee works more than 40 hours in a one-week period, they are entitled to overtime, which means they make time and a half ($7.25 X 1.5 = $10.875) for any additional hours they work in that one-week period. In other words, it is eminently important that employers properly classify workers as employees or independent contractors.
Under the FLSA, this question is analyzed using the “economic reality” test, a multifactorial test that examines the economic relationship between the employer and the worker. When an employer improperly classifies workers, say by treating them as independent contractors and not as employees, liability grows quickly. Improperly classified workers can sue to recover lost wages and potentially liquidated damages.
Moreover, workers could certify a class of plaintiffs and sue an employer together, the route taken by many of the exotic dancers in the cases I mentioned above. Either way, improper classification is bad news for employers.
So, what advice can we pull from Anora? First, watch some good films this summer! You will not regret it. Second, ensure you properly classify workers. To be safe, it is always best to hire a knowledgeable and experienced employment attorney, preferably one with ample wage and hour experience, to assist you with this process.
It is unlikely that a Russian oligarch will seek you out for improperly classifying workers. But those workers, the Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, or one of the many state agencies just might.
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