1. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel directed NLRB regions to seek preemptive injunctions for alleged unlawful threats during union campaigns. NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memorandum...more
3/11/2022
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Independent Contractors ,
Mandatory Arbitration ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
1. The National Labor Relations Board General Counsel’s office is advocating for overturning Trump-era Board cases defining the scope of National Labor Relations Act-protected activity. In a brief filed on January 14, The...more
2/7/2022
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Bureau of Labor Statistics ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Foreign Workers ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Unions
While most of our focus over the last year has been on COVID-19-related developments, New York State and New York City employers also must ensure compliance with other recent and upcoming legal changes...more
1/27/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Biometric Information ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Fair Workweek ,
Health and Essential Rights (HERO) Act ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Immunization Records ,
Masks ,
Minimum Wage ,
New York ,
NYDOL ,
OSHA ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Posting Requirements ,
Quarantine ,
Recreational Use ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Retirement Plan ,
State Labor Laws ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage Theft ,
Whistleblowers ,
Workplace Safety
1. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced on Dec. 10 that it will again revisit its joint employer standard. The agency’s 2022 regulatory agenda includes plans to engage in the formal rulemaking process on the...more
As New York City Mayor Eric Adams did not take action within 30 days of receipt from the New York City Council, the Council’s legislation requiring most New York City employers to include salary ranges on job advertisements...more
As New York City Mayor Eric Adams did not take action within 30 days of receipt from the New York City Council, the Council’s legislation requiring most New York City employers to include salary ranges on job advertisements...more
Beginning December 20, 2021, federal contractors must comply with the federal Fair Chance Act (FCA), which prohibits contractors from inquiring about a job applicant’s criminal background in certain cases in the initial...more
The New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time Act has been expanded to require private employers provide parents with four hours of paid COVID-19 child vaccination time for each vaccine injection for each child, whether to use...more
Starting December 27, 2021, workers who are onsite in New York City or interact with the public during the course of business are required to show their employer proof of having received at least one dose of a COVID-19...more
1. On Nov. 19, 2021, the House passed a version of the Build Back Better Act that would vastly expand employer liability under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The bill adds aggressive “civil penalties,” on top of the...more
12/15/2021
/ Back Pay ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Foreign Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NCAA ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Reinstatement ,
Student Athletes ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
Following her announcement of a broad COVID-19 mask mandate for New York businesses effective December 13, 2021, Health Commissioner Mary Bassett has published an order and frequently asked questions clarifying certain...more
Employers continue to have to keep up with changing COVID-19 standards nationwide. New York is one example.
On a state-wide level, on December 10, 2021, Governor Kathy Hochul announced a mandate that requires masks to be...more
1. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), its Regions 2 (New York), 22 (Newark), and 29 (Brooklyn) and the Consulate General of México in New York have signed an agreement formalizing the relationship between the NLRB and...more
As Election Day approaches, employers should ensure they are in compliance with state law requirements related to employee voting rights. While not all states impose requirements on employers, some impose time off obligations...more
1. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel (GC) Jennifer Abruzzo mandated the seeking of more aggressive remedies in unfair labor practice (ULP) cases. Office of General Counsel Memorandum GC 21-06, Seeking Full...more
10/12/2021
/ Budget Reconciliation ,
College Athletes ,
Compensation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Health Insurance ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Premiums ,
Private Property ,
Remedies ,
Right of Access ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions ,
Universities ,
Wage and Hour
The New York State Commissioner of Health designated COVID-19 as a “highly contagious communicable disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public” on September 6, 2021. Originally set to expire on September 30,...more
1. Democrats now hold a majority of seats on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The new Democratic majority on the NLRB became official on Saturday, August 28, when President Joe Biden’s nominee David Prouty was sworn...more
1. The Senate confirmed Jennifer Abruzzo to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel post and Gwynne Wilcox and David Prouty as NLRB members. Approved on July 21 by a narrow 51-50 vote, with Vice President...more
8/23/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Email Policies ,
First Amendment ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions ,
USPS ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
The New York City Council amended New York City’s Fair Chance Act (FCA) to significantly expand the scope of protections for applicants and employees with criminal charges or arrests. The amendments are effective on July 29,...more
1. The U.S. Supreme Court held California’s union access regulation constitutes an unconstitutional taking of an employer’s property. Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, 141 S.Ct. 891 (June 23, 2021). The California Agricultural...more
7/19/2021
/ Agricultural Workers ,
Cedar Point Nursery v Hassid ,
Corporate Counsel ,
GAO ,
Joe Biden ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
SCOTUS ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions
After the May passage of the New York Health and Essential Rights Act (HERO Act), and June amendments, the New York State Department of Labor (DOL) has issued guidance including the model general standard and model airborne...more
With 70 percent of adult New Yorkers having received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, as of June 15, 2021, New York lifted restrictions imposed on most industries under the NY Forward and COVID-19 Safety Plan rules that...more
President Joe Biden has nominated union-side attorney Gwynne Wilcox to fill a vacant seat on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Wilcox is a partner at the union-side labor and employment firm Levy Ratner P.C. Among...more
6/16/2021
/ Arbitration ,
Boeing ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Credit Unions ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Rights ,
Joe Biden ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Nominations ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
Amendments to New York’s Health and Essential Rights Act (HERO Act) give the state Department of Labor more time, until July 5, 2021, to create industry-specific model safety standards and to clarify when employers must...more
On June 8, 2021, New York State updated the NY Forward Guidance for several industries, including office-based and food services employers, with changes that many people feel are overdue...more