N.Y. General Business Law 1415 – Additional rights
* § 1415. Additional rights. 1. Except as otherwise provided by law, any provision of a contract purporting to waive rights under this article is void as against public policy.
Terms Used In N.Y. General Business Law 1415
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Freelance worker: means any natural person or organization composed of no more than one natural person, whether or not incorporated or employing a trade name, that is hired or retained as an independent contractor by a hiring party to provide services in exchange for an amount equal to or greater than eight hundred dollars, either by itself or when aggregated with all contracts for services between the same hiring party and freelance worker during the immediately preceding one hundred twenty days, but does not include:
(a) any person who, pursuant to the contract at issue, is a sales representative as defined in § 191-a of the labor law;
(b) any person engaged in the practice of law pursuant to the contract at issue and who is a member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of any state, possession, territory, commonwealth or the District of Columbia and who is not under any order of court suspending, enjoining, restraining, disbarring or otherwise restricting such person in the practices of law;
(c) any person who is a licensed medical professional; or
(d) any person who is a construction contractor. See N.Y. General Business Law 1410 - Hiring party: means any person who retains a freelance worker to provide any service, other than:
(a) the United States government;
(b) the state of New York, including any office, department, agency, authority or other body of the state including the legislature and the judiciary;
(c) a municipality, including any office, department, agency or other body of a municipality; or
(d) any foreign government. See N.Y. General Business Law 1410 - Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
2. The provisions of this article supplement, and do not diminish or replace, any other basis of liability or requirement established by statute or common law.
3. Failure to comply with the provisions of this article does not render any contract between a hiring party and a freelance worker void or voidable or otherwise impair any obligation, claim or right related to such contract or constitute a defense to any action or proceeding to enforce, or for breach of, such contract.
4. No provision of this article relating to freelance workers shall be construed as providing a determination about the legal classification of any such worker as an employee or independent contractor.
5. The provisions of this article shall not be construed or interpreted to override or supplant any of the provisions of chapter ten of title twenty of the administrative code of the city of New York.
* NB Effective August 28, 2024