As we have previously reported, an early focus of the second Trump administration has been to oppose and dismantle Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, both in the federal government and in the private sector,...more
The first weeks of the second Trump administration have been marked by a flurry of executive orders, several of which are targeted toward fulfilling President Donald Trump’s campaign pledge to eliminate Diversity, Equity, and...more
Should an employee’s burden to plead and prove workplace discrimination differ depending upon whether they are considered in a “majority” or “minority” group? The U.S. Supreme Court is now set to decide whether an arguably...more
A Federal Court has blocked the Federal Trade Commission’s Final Rule (the “Rule”) that was set to broadly ban nearly all forms of non-compete agreements.
On August 20, 2024, Judge Ada Brown of the Northern District of...more
8/26/2024
/ Employment Contract ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Statutory Authority ,
Texas
The wait is over, but the fight is just beginning. Will U.S. employers need to break up with non-compete agreements forever? The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted “yes” earlier this week in pushing through a Final Rule...more
4/24/2024
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Popular ,
Restrictive Covenants
New York is closing out 2023 by ushering in sweeping amendments to its law governing non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in certain settlement agreements. The amendments represent the next step in New York’s ongoing effort to...more
After more than three years, both the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have ended their classification of COVID-19 as a public/global health emergency. In conjunction...more
Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights: New Jersey Enacts Trailblazing Protections -
New Jersey has recently trailblazed a path in the temporary staffing market by enacting a “Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights.”...more
Employers who have made use of pre-dispute nondisclosure and nondisparagement agreements will now have to change those practices and reevaluate their existing agreements thanks to the “Speak Out Act” (the “Act”) – a...more
12/13/2022
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Biden Administration ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms
When Albert King sang “Born Under a Bad Sign,” he was not referring to a document containing an invalid electronic signature. Nevertheless, in a post-COVID world with large numbers of remote workers, employers can take...more
New York employers, take heed: sweeping expansions to New York Labor Law (NYLL) Section 740 have fundamentally redefined the protections afforded to whistleblowers within the state. The revised law took effect on January 26,...more
2/7/2022
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Internal Reporting ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
New York ,
Punitive Damages ,
Retaliation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
The wait is over for employers seeking clarity on the details of the Biden Administration’s vaccine and testing rules for private employers, first announced by President Biden in early September and now slated to take effect...more
11/5/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Essential Workers ,
Health and Safety ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Rules ,
OSHA ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
With COVID-19 vaccines now available to every adult in the United States, employers are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel after a year of uncertainty. But for employers whose workforces spent a year away from...more
2021 is here, and with the new year comes changes for New York employers seeking to ensure full compliance with newly effective laws, or changes to the law, throughout the State. Employers are well-advised to review the...more
12/31/2020
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Just Cause ,
Labor Regulations ,
Minimum Wage ,
Sick Leave ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Tip Credit ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
New York employers waiting for clarification on the newly effective New York State Sick Leave Law (“Sick Leave Law”) need wait no longer: on October 20, 2020, the state issued initial guidance – titled the New York State Paid...more
Your employee has just cursed at you, calling you every racist and/or sexist name in the book. Naturally, that employee must go! Just as you are ready to sign off on the termination, a thought occurs to you: “Uh-oh. He was...more
Although there have only been a handful of confirmed cases of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV or the “coronavirus”) within the United States so far, employers are nevertheless well-advised to take affirmative steps to...more
2/11/2020
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
China ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Emergency Response ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Foreign Workers ,
Health and Safety ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Incident Response Plans ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Travel ,
Labor Regulations ,
OSHA ,
Public Health ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Risk Management ,
Traveling Employee ,
Workplace Safety
Last month, New York City joined an emerging national trend toward increased protections for independent contractors and freelance workers, adopting a new law, Int. 136-A, extending to independent contractors and freelancers...more
11/25/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Employee Definition ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Local Ordinance ,
Misclassification ,
NYCHRL ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour
Companies should take steps to ensure that their websites and mobile apps are accessible to persons who are blind or vision impaired, based on the Supreme Court’s recent refusal to review an appellate court decision that...more
11/18/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Public Accommodation ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Title III ,
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ,
Website Accessibility ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court declined a petition for certiorari in Domino’s Pizza v. Guillermo Robles, letting stand the Ninth Circuit’s decision holding that Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)...more
New York State is on its way to enacting comprehensive reforms to broaden the scope of its discrimination and harassment laws, including one of the most robust anti-harassment bills in the #MeToo era, amendments to the...more
7/3/2019
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Mandatory Arbitration ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Punitive Damages ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statute of Limitations
New York State is on its way to enacting comprehensive reforms to broaden the scope of its discrimination and harassment laws, including one of the most robust anti-harassment bills in the #MeToo era, amendments to the...more
7/3/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Arbitration ,
Corporate Culture ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
New Legislation ,
NYSHRL ,
Pay Discrimination ,
Pay Gap ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Employers may need to begin collecting pay and hours data to report on EEO-1 forms, now that a federal district judge revived the controversial requirement put in place during the Obama administration....more
3/19/2019
/ Data Collection ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
OMB ,
Pay Data ,
Pay Discrimination ,
Pay Gap ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Wage and Hour
The new year has brought a new Congress, an ongoing government shutdown, and rumblings of the first formal campaign announcements for 2020. With more voters participating in last year’s election than ever before, employers...more