New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (“DCWP”) unveiled its Workers’ Bill of Rights website on March 1, 2024. The Workers’ Bill of Rights outlines rights and protections for employees, independent...more
On January 9, 2024, the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) released a final rule (the “Final Rule”) setting forth new standards for determining whether an individual may be classified as an independent contractor under...more
1/17/2024
/ Congressional Review Act ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Freelance Workers ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Tax Penalties ,
Totality of Circumstances Test ,
Wage and Hour
On October 2, 2023, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued its long-awaited proposed guidance regarding harassment in the workplace (the “Guidance”). In January 2017, the EEOC published...more
10/18/2023
/ Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
EEO ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Identity ,
Hostile Environment ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Title VII ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance
On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court in Groff v. DeJoy clarified employers’ obligations when accommodating an employee’s religious beliefs under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”). As a result of this...more
7/18/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
De Minimus Doctrine ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Substantial Burden ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
USPS
On April 11, 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the New York State Department of Labor (“NYDOL”) has finalized its updated model sexual harassment prevention policy and training resources....more
Effective November 6, 2022, a new wage transparency law, amending the Westchester County Human Rights Law, prohibits employers from advertising a job, promotion, or transfer opportunity without also including the minimum or...more
On March 22, 2022, the New York City Commission on Human Rights (the “Commission”) released guidance (the “Guidance”) regarding employer obligations under Int. 1208-B (the “Law”). As we previously reported, the Law requires...more
On Thursday, March 3, 2022, President Biden signed into law the “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021” (the “Act”), following the earlier passage of the Act by both the United States...more
On November 8, 2021, Governor Hochul signed a bill into law that requires private New York employers to provide written notice to employees before monitoring their telephone, email, and internet access or usage. This law...more
On October 5, 2021, Governor Phil Murphy signed A-681 thereby amending the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”) to provide new protections against age discrimination for applicants and employees over the age of 70...more
On August 19, 2021, the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (the “Commission”) published its long-awaited first set of Personal Use Cannabis Rules (the “Initial Rules”) regarding recreational cannabis use for adults age...more
On July 8, 2021, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed three (3) bills into law aimed at further penalizing employers for misclassifying employees as independent contractors. New Jersey employers that engage in employee...more
On February 22, 2021, Governor Phil Murphy signed the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act (“NJCREAMMA”), which legalizes the recreational use of cannabis for adults age 21...more
3/2/2021
/ Adverse Action ,
Cannabis Products ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Contractors ,
Governor Murphy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Off-Duty Employees ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Private Right of Action ,
Protected Class ,
Recreational Use ,
Workplace Safety
Last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued guidance clarifying that, in certain circumstances, employers will have the ability to require that employees receive the COVID-19 vaccine (the...more
12/22/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Required Documentation ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On Thursday May 7, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) updated and clarified its previous guidance as to how employers should treat employees with underlying medical conditions amidst the COVID...more
On January 21, 2020, Governor Murphy signed into law Senate Bill 3170, the most expansive WARN Act in the nation. This law emanated from last year’s closure of Toys R Us, which left 2,000 New Jersey employees unemployed. The...more
On July 25, 2019, New Jersey enacted a law banning salary history inquiries, joining 18 other states in doing so, including New York and many municipalities.
The law, NJA1094, becomes effective on January 1, 2020. The law...more
On March 1, 2019, New Jersey became the first state to enact legislation, Senate Bill No. 1567 (“An Act concerning pre-tax transportation fringe benefits”), requiring employers with 20 or more employees to offer pre-tax...more
On March 18, 2019, Governor Phil Murphy signed Senate Bill 121 into law. The new law prohibits the use of arbitration clauses and jury waivers that relate to claims of discrimination, retaliation, and harassment in...more
On February 19, 2019, Governor Murphy signed into law A3975, which significantly expands New Jersey’s paid family leave insurance program (“PFLL”) and temporary disability benefits law. By way of background, the PFLL has been...more
On February 4, 2019, Governor Phil Murphy signed into law a bill (A-15) that will increase New Jersey’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2024 for the majority of New Jersey’s workers. ...more
As we have previously blogged, the New Jersey Earned Sick Leave law goes into effect on October 29, 2018. In connection with implementation of the law, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development has issued a...more
As we previously reported, New York State launched the Combatting Sexual Harassment in the Workplace website in August 2018 to host resources for employers and employees about the new legal obligations arising from the New...more
The new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”) makes many changes to federal tax law, but one provision of the Act should be of interest to employers and claimants settling claims of sexual harassment and abuse.
In the wake of...more
While sexual and other unlawful harassment issues have been present in the workplace for decades, the current news cycle has made the term a household name. One cannot turn on the television, open a newspaper or surf the web...more