In new draft guidance, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission proposes to recognize broad protections for LGBTQ+ employees in the workplace and allow bias claims premised on abortion-related decisions. It also...more
10/4/2023
/ Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sexual Stereotyping ,
Social Media ,
Training ,
Transgender ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance
At the end of a trial last month, a federal jury found Equinox Holdings Inc. (Equinox) liable for maintaining a hostile work environment and discriminating against a former employee on the basis of race and gender in...more
In addition to the increasing number of posters employers are required to physically display, effective December 16, 2022, New York employers must now furnish all employees with digital copies of all required posters via...more
Private sector employers throughout New York must meet new time, space and notice requirements for accommodating employees who pump breast milk in the workplace by June 7, 2023, under a new law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul on...more
New York State has launched two statewide, toll-free “hotlines” that aggrieved individuals can use to confidentially report workplace issues.
The first hotline, which addresses sexual harassment, was announced on July 19...more
New York State employers are now prohibited from releasing personnel records to retaliate against employees who oppose discrimination, and the state has pledged, by July 14, 2022, to establish a confidential hotline for...more
New York lawmakers are close to passing a law that creates automatic liability for general contractors when their subcontractors fail to properly pay their employees.
Existing New York law provides at least a modicum of...more
5/20/2021
/ Construction Industry ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
General Contractors ,
Joint Liability ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mechanics Lien ,
NYDOL ,
Proposed Legislation ,
State and Local Government ,
Subcontractors ,
Wages
As more individuals become eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, employers need to understand what policies and protocols they can establish in order to ensure compliance with applicable laws and continue to maintain a safe...more
2/8/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Incentives ,
NLRA ,
Popular ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Vaccinations
As we approach the end of the year, it is critical to remember and implement the new legal requirements that go into effect in New York on December 31, 2020 and shortly thereafter. Failure to comply with these requirements...more
12/15/2020
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Food Service Workers ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Minimum Wage ,
New York ,
Paid Sick Leave Act ,
Rate of Pay ,
Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Tipped Employees ,
Uniforms ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wages
Considering that many furloughs and layoffs are approaching six months in length (and are likely to last longer), employers need to reassess whether they are now required to issue employment-related notices under New York...more
9/8/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Furloughs ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Layoff Notices ,
Layoffs ,
New York ,
Notice Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour ,
WARN Act
New York City employers that are continuing, expanding or restarting operations during the COVID-19 pandemic face a complicated array of questions regarding employee leave requests related to the outbreak.
This helpful...more
New federal and state laws were enacted on March 18 that will require New York employers to provide paid sick leave to employees affected by COVID-19. Outlined below are key paid sick leave provisions affecting employers of...more
3/23/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EFMLA ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
EPSLA ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Quarantine ,
Relief Measures ,
Sick Employees ,
Sick Leave ,
Sick Pay ,
State Labor Laws ,
Tax Credits ,
Unemployment Insurance
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently rejected an assertion by employees that they were entitled to the proceeds of the delivery fee charged by their grocery store employer. In its March 5 ruling...more
The recent outbreak of respiratory disease (COVID-19) caused by the novel coronavirus presents many issues for hospitality establishments. Employers should be vigilant and plan for a potential outbreak, as the United States...more
New York City’s Fair Workweek Law survived a challenge on Feb. 13 when Justice Arthur Engoron of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County rejected a suit brought by a coalition of industry groups.
While...more
The New York Department of Labor recently issued guidance to clarify the parameters of its prohibition on employers (or their agents) asking for any information about a job applicant’s salary history.
The ban on salary...more
The New York City Council may soon make co-working spaces potentially liable for sexual harassment between their tenants. Recently introduced legislation would make it an unlawful discriminatory practice under the New York...more
As we approach the end of the year, it is critical to remember and implement some of the new legal requirements that go into effect in New York on December 31, 2019. Failure to comply with these requirements could subject an...more
Effective immediately, the New York Labor Law includes a section banning discrimination based on an employee’s “reproductive health decision making.” Prior to Governor Andrew Cuomo signing this bill into law, New York City...more
As detailed in a prior Alert, the Westchester County Board of Legislators passed a stand-alone safe leave law in May 2019 that provides employees who are victims of domestic violence or human trafficking with 40 hours of paid...more
Employee emails referencing an employer’s unfair labor practices may be protected under the federal National Labor Relations Act, even if such speech may seem inappropriate. An NLRB (Board) ruling on this issue was affirmed...more
The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed a new rule to allow employers who do not take a tip credit to establish “nontraditional” tip pools that include back-of-the-house employees and others who are not traditionally...more
Chicago’s Fair Workweek Ordinance imposes a sweeping, predictive scheduling obligation on employers to provide employees with advance notice of work schedules and pay employees “predictability pay” for late changes to an...more
8/5/2019
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Workweek ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Local Ordinance ,
Manufacturers ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Retailers ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules
New York State is poised to prohibit employers from relying on or inquiring about an applicant’s or employee’s wage or salary history.
An amendment recently passed by the state legislature would bar employers in New York...more
New York State will vastly expand the scope of its Equal Pay Act to cover all characteristics protected under the New York Human Rights Law, including age, race, creed, national origin, sexual orientation and disability....more