On May 11, 2021, the City Council of New York enacted a local law to establish a retirement savings program for certain employees of private entities.
What are the Details?
The new law creates a mandatory...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) declined to modify its “contract bar” rule. Under NLRB procedure, once a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is executed, the Board will not process a request for a representation...more
New York employers may need to change their approach to workplace health and safety rules significantly under the New York Health and Essential Rights Act (HERO Act), signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo on May 5, 2021...more
5/14/2021
/ Best Practices ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Enforcement ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Health and Essential Rights (HERO) Act ,
Health and Safety ,
Masks ,
OSH Act ,
OSHA ,
Risk Management ,
Safety Programs ,
Social Distancing ,
State and Local Government ,
Workplace Safety
1. On March 31, 2021, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Acting General Counsel Peter Sung Ohr issued a memorandum stating his office will return to “vigorous enforcement” of employee rights under Section 7 rights of the...more
Changes to Philadelphia law will further restrict employers’ use and reliance on applicant, current employee, and independent contractor background information and affect the employee application and employee management...more
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation legalizing recreational marijuana on March 31, 2021. The legalized use of marijuana is effective immediately, even though retail sales of marijuana are not expected to begin...more
4/2/2021
/ Cannabis Products ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Drug Testing ,
DUI ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act (MRTA) ,
Medical Marijuana ,
New Legislation ,
Off-Duty Employees ,
Recreational Use
Effective immediately, New York State employers must provide employees with up to four hours of paid time off per COVID-19 vaccination. The new law sunsets on December 31, 2022...more
3/15/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
New York ,
Paid Leave ,
Popular ,
State and Local Government ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
1. On February 4, House and Senate Democrats introduced the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. The sponsors described the bill as comprehensive labor legislation aimed at bolstering workers’ collective bargaining...more
3/11/2021
/ Appellate Courts ,
Biden Administration ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Disputes ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Right to Strike ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
1. President Joe Biden summarily removed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel (GC) Peter Robb from office on January 20, 2021, and removed Robb’s deputy, Alice Stock the following day. On January 25, 2021,...more
3/1/2021
/ Bureau of Labor Statistics ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Financial Reporting ,
Joe Biden ,
Minimum Wage ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Nominations ,
Secretary of Labor ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
1. Directing a union election among dockworkers and clerks at a California distribution center, a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) official rejected the employer’s argument that an appropriate unit must also include...more
Following Mayor Bill de Blasio’s non-action on the bill passed by the New York City Council in December expanding the scope of New York City’s Fair Chance Act (FCA), the amendments have become law. The amendments, which go...more
On January 5, 2021, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law two pieces of legislation passed by the New York City Council, Int. No. 1415-A and Int. No 1396-A, that, when effective in early July 2021, will impose...more
The New York City Council passed a bill expanding the scope of New York City’s Fair Chance Act (FCA). The bill significantly extends employment protections for applicants and employees with criminal charges or arrests. New...more
1. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) provided guidance on the propriety of mail or manual ballot elections. Aspirus Keweenaw, 370 NLRB No. 45 (Nov. 9, 2020). In this case, the NLRB set forth the considerations...more
The New York City Council has passed two bills, Int. No. 1415-A and Int. No 1396-A, that, when enacted and effective, will impose significant obligations on covered New York City fast food industry employers.
These bills...more
The New York State Paid Sick Leave Law and the amendments to the New York City Paid Safe and Sick Leave Law expanding employees’ paid sick leave entitlements will go into full effect on January 1, 2021.
The state law went...more
1. Thus far in 2020, unions prevailed in mail ballot elections at the same rate as in-person elections. According to an October 16 Bloomberg report, although voter participation was low, unions won seven out of 10 National...more
11/18/2020
/ 401k ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Mail-In Ballots ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Office of Administrative Law Judges (OALJ) ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
An amendment to the New York State Worker Adjustment and Retraining (NYS WARN) Act adds certain governmental entities to the list of individuals and entities that must receive advance notice of a WARN-triggering event. The...more
1.National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Peter Robb has issued guidance addressing employer assistance in union organizing and decertification elections. In Memorandum GC 20-13 (Sept. 4, 2020), “Guidance...more
10/19/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Furloughs ,
Hazard Pay ,
Interpreters ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Protests ,
Unions ,
Unpaid Leave ,
Wage and Hour
Hawaii has narrowed the scope of what employers can consider regarding an individual’s conviction history when making employment decisions.
Hawaii employers have long been required to limit their consideration of felony...more
Changes to New York City’s Paid Sick and Safe Leave Law (NYCSL) took effect on September 30, 2020.
On September 23, 2020, the New York City Council enacted Int. No 2032-A, and Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the bill on...more
As Election Day approaches and despite the anticipated uptick in absentee ballots, employers should ensure they are in compliance with state law requirements related to employee voting rights. While not all states impose...more
1. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) upheld an administrative law judge’s (ALJ) ruling directing an unfair labor practice trial to be conducted by videoconference because of the COVID-19 pandemic. William Beaumont...more
9/21/2020
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Boeing ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Furloughs ,
Layoffs ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Social Media ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
New York State will soon require all employers to provide sick leave to employees. The New York State Sick Leave (NYSSL) law goes into effect September 30, 2020, but employees are not entitled to use NYSSL until January 1,...more
President Donald Trump has authorized the creation of the Lost Wage Assistance (LWA) Program to support individuals unemployed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the LWA Program, the Federal Emergency Management...more