Professional cheerleaders for the NFL around the nation are pushing for their rights. Some of these side line entertainers and half time performers for the Buffalo Bills are stepping forward and demanding an increase in wages and better treatment as employees. The main issue in their push for better wages stems from how cheerleaders are categorized by the Buffalo Bills and the NFL in general. It has become common practice in the industry to categorize cheerleaders as independent contractors which means they aren’t considered employees of the company. As a result, the performers in this situation would not be able to benefit from workplace and certain wage rights. In this case, the Buffalo Bills cheerleaders have been granted the initial go ahead to continue their case as a class action. This way, all cheerleaders and “ambassadors” for the Buffalo Bills since 2008 would benefit from any resolution as opposed to just the five individuals who brought the case.
As independent contractors, the cheerleaders should have had more discretion in determining certain aspects of their employment such as choice of costume but instead were forced to follow a strict dress code set by the Buffalo Bills which controlled everything from their physical appearance to their music selection. Due to the team’s direct management and control over the cheerleaders, the performers believe they should have been considered as employees of the Buffalo Bills. The lawsuit alleges that because of this misclassification the sports team was able to pay its cheerleaders below the minimum wage and even had them work unpaid events.
Although the Bills continue to fight the allegations, certain changes in industry standards have been unfolding recently. There have been additional lawsuits for better wages on behalf of cheerleaders against the Oakland Raiders, Cincinnati Bengals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and New York Jets. The Buccaneers’ cheerleaders were able to reach a settlement of $825,000, the cheerleaders for the Bengals settled for $255,000, and the cheerleaders for the Raiders settled for $1,250,000 after they’d claimed they’d been paid less than $5 an hour. Since these lawsuits started cropping up, states such as California and have passed laws to have cheerleaders be treated as employees and be paid at least minimum wage for time on the job including practices and promotional appearances.
It is not always easy to understand if you are being classified and paid correctly as an employee. Companies may willfully misclassify you as an independent contractor and fail to pay the proper minimum wage for all hours worked as well as overtime compensation for hours worked over forty per work week. If you feel your aren’t being paid correctly or have questions as to your employment classification give our firm a call at 212-300-0375 or visit www.fslawfirm.com for more information. We are strongly committed to protecting the rights of hard working employees.