On January 15, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor issued two opinion letters addressing tip-related issues. The first, FLSA2021-4, addresses whether, and in what circumstances, a restaurant that takes a tip credit for its...more
1/20/2021
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Food Service Workers ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Minimum Wage ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
On December 22, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule solidifying tip credit issues under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The rule becomes effective 60 days after its publication in the Federal...more
12/24/2020
/ Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Food Service Workers ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tipped Employees ,
Wage and Hour
While most people will not be sad to leave 2020 behind, employers across much of New York State will see an increase to their labor costs in 2021, even though much of the state is navigating recession-like conditions caused...more
On Tuesday, December 15, 2020, the New York City Council’s Committee on Civil Service and Labor voted to approve two bills, Proposed Int. No. 1415-A and Proposed Int. No. 1396-A, that would fundamentally alter the...more
12/17/2020
/ At-Will Employment ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Food Service Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Just Cause ,
Labor Regulations ,
Local Ordinance ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State and Local Government ,
Termination
On April 22, 2020, the New York City Council introduced a series of bills in response to the COVID-19 crisis that is ravaging the city. In addition to proposals in this legislative package affecting the real estate industry...more
New York State recently enacted a new law (A 6330/S 4278) mandating a study of the proportion of female members on the boards of corporations authorized to do business in the state. To implement the study, the law requires...more
1/6/2020
/ Board of Directors ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Equity ,
New Legislation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sex Discrimination ,
State and Local Government ,
Woman Board Members
For over a year, New York State employers harbored concerns that New York State would enact rules that would eliminate their ability to apply a tip credit towards the wages of employees who earn tips. ...more
1/2/2020
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Food Service Workers ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Labor Regulations ,
Local Ordinance ,
Minimum Wage ,
Municipalities ,
NYDOL ,
Resorts & Restaurants ,
Restaurant Industry ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Tip Credit ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Orders ,
Wages
New York has amended its Limited Liability Company Law (LLC Law) to hold the top 10 members of a foreign limited liability company liable for wages owed as a result of work performed within New York State, effective February...more
12/17/2019
/ Amended Legislation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Liability ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Out-of-State Companies ,
Personal Liability ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
In recent years both New York State and New York City have actively amended their anti-discrimination laws to expand worker protections. For example, both the state and city have passed laws requiring most employers to...more
9/16/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Local Ordinance ,
NYCHRL ,
Pending Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government
As we discussed here, New York State passed an amendment to its election leave law as part of the state’s 2020 budget. This law is now in effect and provides that: (i) registered voters must be granted leave of up to three...more
6/12/2019
/ Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Elections ,
Local Elections ,
Political Candidates ,
Posting Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Elections ,
Voting Leave ,
Voting Rights
In 2017 and 2018, the New York State Department of Labor (NY DOL) issued two sets of proposed regulations to amend the Minimum Wage Order for Miscellaneous Industries and Occupations, which governs most employers in New York...more
It has never been easy for businesses to keep up with and ensure compliance with New York State’s and New York City’s employment laws, but calendar year 2018 presented a unique amount of new challenges for employers. ...more
1/31/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Gender Identity ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Minimum Wage ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Protected Class ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft ,
Work Schedules
On December 7, 2018, the New York Department of Labor (NYDOL) proposed a new set of “predictable scheduling” regulations in an effort to discourage on-call shifts and require employers to pay employees for cancelled shifts....more
As previously reported, this year both the State of New York and the City of New York enacted legislation requiring employers to distribute sexual harassment prevention policies and to train their workforce about the...more
11/15/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Corporate Culture ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Entertainment Industry ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Local Ordinance ,
Nightclubs ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government
On November 8, 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reissued and adopted a nearly decade-old opinion letter to clarify how employers must pay tipped employees who perform dual jobs. ...more
11/12/2018
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Food Service Workers ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Job Duties ,
Opinion Letter ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tipped Employees ,
Wage and Hour
In the past year, both New York State and New York City have been active in amending their human rights laws. Most notably, both the city and state passed comprehensive anti-sexual harassment laws that require most employers...more
As addressed in our previous ASAP, New York State enacted new legislation in April 2018 targeting workplace sex discrimination and sexual harassment. ...more
9/10/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Corporate Culture ,
Employee Rights ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
On August 23, 2018, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order that contains a model policy, model complaint form, and model training in accordance with the state’s new sexual harassment law....more
8/27/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Corporate Culture ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Internal Investigations ,
Internal Reporting ,
Risk Management ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment
Enacted this past January, New York City’s “Temporary Schedule Change” law becomes effective on July 18, 2018. The law provides employees with the right to request two temporary schedule changes per calendar year for...more
Last June, New York City passed legislation that significantly reduced fast food and retail employers’ flexibility in crafting schedules to meet their legitimate business needs. This “Fair Workweek” legislative package also...more
On Tuesday, June 19, 2018, residents of the District Columbia voted to approve Initiative 77, which will incrementally phase out the “tip credit” that many employers use as an offset towards their minimum wage obligations to...more
6/22/2018
/ Ballot Measures ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Food Service Workers ,
Minimum Wage ,
Pending Legislation ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Restaurant Industry ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Tip Credit ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
On March 27, 2018, President Donald Trump signed into law Congress’s $1.3 trillion, 2,232-page omnibus budget bill, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018. ...more
4/12/2018
/ Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Deregulation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Food Service Workers ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Minimum Wage ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
On December 19, 2017, on the heels of the effective date of the New York City Fair Workweek Act, the New York City Council passed another scheduling law that provides employees with additional rights to demand changes to...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a proposed rule to rescind the Department’s position that employers must comply with tip-pooling requirements even when paying the full minimum wage. ...more
12/6/2017
/ Comment Period ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Food Service Workers ,
Franchises ,
Minimum Wage ,
NPRM ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Wage and Hour
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a proposed rule to rescind the Department’s position that employers must comply with tip-pooling requirements even when paying the full minimum wage. ...more
12/5/2017
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Food Service Workers ,
Franchises ,
Minimum Wage ,
NPRM ,
Public Comment ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Tip Credit ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Tipped Employees ,
Wage and Hour