What Are the Three Main Types of Property Law?
Yuriy Moshes October 12, 2026 10:32 am
What Are the 3 Types of Property Law and Property Rights? Property law inside the
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A hybrid wage lawsuit combines two legal claims in one case: an FLSA collective action, where workers must opt in, and a New York Labor Law (NYLL) class action, where workers are automatically included unless they opt out. New York federal courts allow both to run together when they arise from the same employer conduct — giving workers the broadest possible protection and recovery.
AUTHOR YURIY MOSHES, ESQ
Founding Member of Moshes Law, P.C.
During his years of practice, Yuriy has concentrated in litigation
and real estate transactions as his areas of expertise
If your employer failed to pay overtime or wages you earned, you may have rights under federal and New York law. Contact an experienced New York wage attorney today for a confidential consultation.
If your employer has not paid you the overtime or wages you are owed, two separate laws protect you.
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the federal law that sets a national floor for minimum wage and overtime pay. Under the FLSA, most workers are entitled to time-and-a-half for every hour worked beyond 40 in a week.
The New York Labor Law (NYLL) is the state law — and in most situations it is stronger than federal law. The NYLL gives New York workers a longer window to recover back wages (6 years versus 2–3 under the FLSA), broader remedies, and additional protections that the FLSA does not cover.
When your employer violates both laws at the same time — which is almost always the case in unpaid overtime situations — you do not have to choose between them. You can pursue both.
Employees facing unpaid wages or overtime issues often pursue claims under these laws through legal action or settlements.
| Feature | FLSA Collective Action | NYLL Class Action |
|---|---|---|
| Governing Law | Federal (FLSA § 216(b)) | New York state law + Rule 23 |
| How You Join | Must opt in — sign a consent form | Automatic — included unless you opt out |
| Who Is Covered | Only workers who actively join | All eligible NY workers by default |
| Lookback Period | 2 years (3 if willful) | 6 years |
| Liquidated Damages | Up to 100% of unpaid wages | Up to 100% of unpaid wages |
| Retaliation Risk | Higher — you are a named participant | Lower — passive members stay protected |
| Best For | Workers willing to actively participate | Maximum worker coverage automatically |
Why both matter together: The FLSA opt-in strengthens individual participation and evidence. The NYLL opt-out ensures that workers who fear retaliation — or simply never see the notice — are still protected and can still recover.
The authority for combining these two claims in one New York lawsuit comes from Shahriar v. Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group, Inc., 659 F.3d 234 (2d Cir. 2011) — a landmark ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
In that case, current and former waiters sued their employer for requiring them to share tips with managers who did not regularly serve customers — a violation of both the FLSA and the NYLL. The Second Circuit held that workers could pursue both claims simultaneously in one case, so long as they arose from the same workplace facts.
The court made a point that is especially important for workers who fear speaking up: an employee afraid of retaliation may not assert FLSA rights openly, but the NYLL class action automatically protects them without requiring them to step forward. That dual protection is exactly why hybrid cases are so powerful.
Courts in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York continue to certify hybrid actions regularly. See Beckman v. KeyBank, N.A., 293 F.R.D. 467 (S.D.N.Y. 2013).
New law your attorney needs to know — no competitor page has covered this from the worker’s perspective.
On May 4, 2026, the Second Circuit issued a significant ruling in Provencher v. Bimbo Foods Bakeries Distribution LLC, No. 24-3112-cv (2d Cir. 2026), that limits the geographic reach of FLSA collective actions filed in New York federal court.
What the court decided: Before a court can send notice to potential opt-in plaintiffs from other states, it must have personal jurisdiction over the employer with respect to each out-of-state worker’s claims — not just the named plaintiffs from the forum state. The Second Circuit joined the Third, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits in this holding, applying the Supreme Court’s 2017 Bristol-Myers Squibb decision to FLSA cases.
What this means in plain English: If you work in New York for an employer headquartered in New York, nothing changes. Your FLSA and NYLL claims are fully protected in New York federal court. The ruling primarily affects whether workers from other states — say, New Jersey or Pennsylvania — can be swept into a New York-filed FLSA collective against an employer that has no real home in New York.
You do not need to be a U.S. citizen or have any specific immigration status to bring a wage claim in New York. All workers are entitled to their lawful wages under New York law.
If your employer has not paid you the wages or overtime you are owed, time limits apply — and the sooner you act, the more you can recover. A New York wage and hour attorney can evaluate your claims under both the FLSA and NYLL and advise you on whether a hybrid lawsuit is the right path forward.
An FLSA collective action requires workers to opt in by signing a consent form. A NYLL class action automatically includes all eligible workers unless they affirmatively opt out. Both can proceed together in a single hybrid lawsuit.
Yes — through the NYLL class action. You are automatically included as a class member unless you choose to opt out. Only the FLSA portion requires a signed consent form.
Not necessarily. The NYLL class action covers you automatically. Opting in to the FLSA collective action may increase your individual recovery, but you can still recover under the NYLL without doing so.
For New York workers, the NYLL is generally more favorable because it has a 6-year lookback period (versus 2–3 years under the FLSA) and broader remedies. The best approach is usually to pursue both through a hybrid lawsuit.
Under the NYLL you have 6 years from the date of the violation. Under the FLSA the limit is 2 years, or 3 years if your employer's violation was willful. Acting promptly protects the maximum amount of back wages.
If you work in New York and your employer operates in New York, your case is not significantly affected. The ruling limits whether workers from other states can join a New York-filed FLSA collective against a non-New York employer. Your New York wage and overtime rights remain fully protected.
Most New York wage attorneys handle these cases on a contingency basis — you pay nothing unless you win. If you prevail, the employer pays your attorney's fees under the FLSA and NYLL fee-shifting rules.
Yes. Tipped workers — including servers, bartenders, delivery workers, and bussers — are among the most common plaintiffs in hybrid FLSA/NYLL cases, particularly for illegal tip-pooling, tip credit violations, and failure to pay the correct tipped minimum wage.
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