On November 22, 2023, New York City’s law banning discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations on the basis of an individual’s height and/or weight went into effect. The law, signed on May 26, 2023 by...more
11/29/2023
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
City of New York ,
Discrimination ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
New York ,
State and Local Government
On September 6, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a new law (A6604 / S4982) that prohibits New York employers and employment agencies from discriminating or retaliating against employees who refuse to attend...more
On July 5, 2023, the New York Department of Consumer and Workplace Protection (“DCWP”) will begin enforcing NYC Law 144, which regulates the use of AI-driven hiring tools, referred to as Automated Employment Decision Tools...more
On December 21, 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a statewide pay transparency measure into law. The new law, which goes into effect on September 18, 2023, requires covered employers and employment agencies to list...more
1/3/2023
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Ads ,
Job Descriptions ,
Job Promotions ,
New Legislation ,
New York ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Salary/Wage History ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Last week, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo joined the agency’s regional prosecutors in concluding that some NCAA student athletes are employees, instructing the Board’s regional prosecutors to pursue unfair labor claims...more
New York has passed a new law intended to ensure that workers are permitted to take lawful absences from work without being penalized. The new measure amends Section 215 of the New York Labor Law to prohibit an employer from...more
On July 26, 2022, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (“CROWN”) Act. Among other things, the law prohibits discrimination based on “traits...more
On January 15, 2022, New York City passed Local Law 32 of 2022, which requires employers in New York City to post the “minimum and maximum salary” for “advertisements” in a “job, promotion or transfer opportunity.” This...more
4/6/2022
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Job Ads ,
Job Applicants ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
Pay Transparency ,
Salaried Employees ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour
On March 24, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled in Patel v. 7-Eleven that the test for independent contractor status set forth in the Massachusetts independent contractor statute applies to the...more
3/29/2022
/ ABC Test ,
Business Litigation ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Franchisee ,
Franchisors ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
On December 13, 2021, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued a highly-anticipated opinion, recognizing the concept of joint employment under the Massachusetts Wage Act (“Wage Act”) and setting forth the...more
On December 17, 2021, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (SJC) held that an employee has a cause of action against an employer for wrongful discharge where the employer terminates the employee for exercising the...more
As technological advances have given employers artificial intelligence (AI) based tools to assist them in the hiring process, New York City has taken note. Recently, New York City adopted a new measure restricting the use of...more
On November 8, 2021, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law a bill requiring employers to provide written notice to and obtain employee acknowledgments from new hires before they may engage in electronic monitoring of...more
On May 17, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its COVID-19 guidance to employers, instructing employers to refer to recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance for...more
5/19/2021
/ Best Practices ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Masks ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Social Distancing ,
State and Local Government ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
This morning, Governor Charlie Baker made a major announcement accelerating the Massachusetts COVID-19 reopening plan.
On May 29, 2021, the Commonwealth will lift all industry COVID restrictions and lift all capacity...more
On April 3, 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the New York State Paid Sick Leave Law, which provides New York-based employees with up to 56 hours of paid sick leave per year. Covered employees began...more
December 23, 2020 On December 22, 2020, in response to the escalating concerns about the potential of a post-Christmas COVID-19 surge like that experienced after Thanksgiving, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker issued...more
On July 24, 2020, Governor Charlie Baker issued an Executive Order imposing a mandatory 14-day quarantine for travelers entering Massachusetts. The Order, which goes into effect on August 1, 2020, applies not only to...more
On July 17, 2020, the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in an issue of first impression, ruled that an Amazon delivery driver who brought a class action misclassification claim against the company was a transportation...more
On May 18, 2020, Governor Baker announced a four-phase reopening plan for Massachusetts. Of particular importance for Massachusetts business, the Reopening Plan will allow many businesses to reopen in a phased manner, albeit...more
On Sunday, May 10, 2020, a groundbreaking New York City law went into effect prohibiting most employers from requiring job applicants to submit to marijuana or tetrahydrocannabinols (THC) tests during the hiring process. The...more
On May 11, 2020, Massachusetts released a set of mandatory safety standards that will apply to businesses as they begin to open their doors in the coming weeks pursuant to the Commonwealth’s four-phased plan. The workplace...more
On August 1, 2016, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed the Pay Equity Act (the “Act”) into law. The Act, which goes into effect on January 1, 2018, is designed to close the wage gap between men and women. Although...more