Changes to New York state law that prohibit employer inquiries into the salary history of applicants and employees took effect on January 6, 2020. Recently, the New York Department of Labor released a series of Frequently...more
1/27/2020
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Covered Employer ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gender Equity ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Job Promotions ,
Labor Regulations ,
Local Ordinance ,
NYCHRL ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Gap ,
Salary/Wage History ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
On July 10, 2019, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation significantly expanding the protections of New York’s Pay Equity Law, which previously required equal pay for women and men performing “equal work.” The...more
7/12/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
New Legislation ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Gap ,
Salary/Wage History ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
The New York City Council has approved a bill that makes it an “unlawful discriminatory practice” for employers to inquire about the salary history of a prospective employee, or to rely upon salary history unless the...more
In the early morning hours of June 12, 2016, 49 innocent people lost their lives in a mass shooting in the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. This mass shooting, the deadliest in U.S. history, has left the City of Orlando...more
6/17/2016
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
COBRA ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hate Crimes ,
LGBTQ ,
Life Insurance ,
Mass Shootings ,
Natural Disasters ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
PTSD ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Terrorist Acts ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Violence
On October 21, 2015, Governor Cuomo signed into law five bills that will provide greater protection for women in the workplace. These bills, which are part of the Women's Equality Act, strengthen New York's equal pay...more
11/4/2015
/ Attorney's Fees ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
New Legislation ,
NLRA ,
NYSHRL ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Title VII ,
Wage and Hour ,
Women's Equality Act ,
Women's Rights
March 3, 2015 Authors: Jean L. Schmidt The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a Final Rule revising the regulatory definition of "spouse" under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to ensure that same-sex married...more
In a March 17 press conference, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that later this week he will sign into law two bills that significantly expand the provisions of the New York City Earned Sick Time Act (Act). The Act,...more
In Windsor v. United States, No. 12-307 (June 26, 2013), the Supreme Court ruled that the section of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that required federal laws to ignore same-sex marriages that are legally entered into...more
7/16/2013
/ Civil Unions ,
Compliance ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
DOMA ,
Domestic Partnership ,
Employee Benefits ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Marriage ,
Paid Leave ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS ,
US v Windsor
On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decisions in two same-sex marriage cases. In Hollingsworth v. Perry, No. 12-144, the Court ruled that the proponents of a popular voter initiative that reversed...more
6/28/2013
/ Discrimination ,
DOMA ,
Due Process ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Equal Protection ,
Estate Tax ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hollingsworth v Perry ,
Proposition 8 ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Standing ,
US v Windsor
If at first you don't succeed, try and try again. That is what the New York City Council (the Council) has done since 2009. And after four years, the result is a controversial sick leave law, the Earned Sick Time Act (the...more