Most laypersons have a preconceived notion of “manual labor” that heavily features “sweat equity”—work performed by janitors, mechanics, farmers, plumbers, etc. But what about retail store employees? They don’t make the products. They don’t typically exert a comparable amount of physical effort compared to a commercial janitor or an assembly-line worker. But a retail employee is on his or her feet the whole shift—stocking or organizing shelves, doing minor cleaning, and perhaps checking a stockroom to address a customer service need.

Guidance provided by the New York Department of Labor has long held that an individual is a “manual worker” if they spend at least 25% of their working time engaged in physical labor. Courts have interpreted the term “physical labor” to include common tasks such as lifting and carrying items, cleaning a store, sweeping the floor, wiping down workstations, standing for long periods of time, stocking shelves, and arranging inventory.

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