Why the wording matters so much
New York law treats some pay as wages and some as something else, and that distinction carries real consequences. Commissions earned under an agreement are generally wages, and New York requires a written commission agreement for commissioned salespeople, describing how commissions are calculated and how they are paid after employment ends. Bonuses tied to company performance or left to the employer's discretion are often not treated as wages, while a bonus earned by meeting specific personal targets may be. Clauses that require you to be employed on the payment date, or that let the employer change the plan, are common, and courts look closely at how they are written.
What to have in hand
Collect the offer letter, the current compensation plan, any earlier versions, and the emails announcing changes. Keep your sales or performance reports and the statements showing how your pay was calculated. If you signed acknowledgments, keep copies. For employers, the drafting history and how the plan has been applied to other employees matter, since inconsistent application can undercut the written terms. Equity awards, deferred compensation, and retention bonuses each come with their own documents, and those often control over what was said in an interview or an email.
The first conversation
If you are an employee with a pay dispute, we look at whether the amount in question is a wage, since that affects the remedies, and whether the plan was changed properly. We also check for arbitration and choice-of-law clauses. If you are an employer drafting or revising a plan, we talk about how commissions and bonuses are defined as earned, what happens at termination, and how changes are communicated. Either way, the question is usually the same: what did the agreement say about when the money was earned, and was it followed.
