On January 6, 2025, in the wake of the issuance of guidance by the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) about the New York State Paid Prenatal Leave Law, which came into effect on January 1, 2025, the New York City...more
On September 26, 2024, New York City published updated frequently asked questions (FAQs) for the New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) in light of the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection’s...more
1/17/2025
/ Amended Rules ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Local Ordinance ,
Paid Leave ,
Private Right of Action ,
Safe Leave ,
Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Telecommuting
New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed into law the “Freelance Isn’t Free Act,” which will provide protections for freelance workers, mirroring those already provided in New York City....more
On September 6, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a law that prohibits employers from requiring employees to attend employer-sponsored meetings the “primary purpose” of which is to communicate the employer’s...more
Under a recently introduced bill, employers across New York State could face new restrictions on the electronic surveillance of workers and the growing use of automated decision-making and artificial intelligence (AI)...more
On April 11, 2023, the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) finalized updates to the state’s “Sexual Harassment Model Policy” that provides employers a template to aid their compliance with New York State laws...more
4/18/2023
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Model Rules ,
Online Platforms ,
Remote Working ,
Retaliation ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws
In accordance with its quadrennial obligation to evaluate the impact of New York State’s Model Sexual Harassment Prevention Policy in the workplace, on January 12, 2023, the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL), in...more
On November 21, 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law Senate Bill S1958A, which amends section 215 of the New York Labor Law (NYLL) to enhance protections for employees who take legally protected absences. Specifically,...more
As we previously reported, restrictions concerning the use of automated tools to screen candidates for employment or employees for promotion within New York City are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2023. The New...more
Under an amendment to the New York Civil Rights Law that will take effect on May 7, 2022, private-sector employers that monitor their employees’ use of telephones, emails, and the internet must provide notice of such...more
On January 26, 2022, amendments to New York’s whistleblower protection law, codified at section 740 of the New York Labor Law (NYLL), took effect. As we previously reported, these amendments significantly expand the scope of...more
On December 22, 2021, the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) published highly anticipated final regulations in the New York State Register regarding New York State Paid Sick Leave (PSL), which went into effect on...more
On May 5, 2021, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the New York Health and Essential Rights Act (NY HERO Act), which mandates workplace health and safety protections from any airborne infectious disease that the...more
6/17/2021
/ Amended Legislation ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Guidance Update ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Safety Precautions ,
State Labor Departments ,
State Labor Laws ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Earlier this year, New York State enacted a statewide paid sick leave (PSL) law, which took effect on September 30, 2020. Entitlement to use leave under the law begins on January 1, 2021, and, the New York State Department of...more
On November 1, 2020, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Palmer et al. v. Amazon.com Inc. et al., No. 20-cv-2468, 2020 WL 6388599, dismissed a lawsuit against Amazon alleging failures to...more
11/17/2020
/ Amazon ,
Amended Complaints ,
Breach of Duty ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Employee Benefits ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Nuisance ,
Operators of Essential Services ,
OSHA ,
Primary Jurisdiction Doctrine ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Timekeeping ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Workplace Safety
On April 3, 2020, New York State enacted a statewide paid sick leave (PSL) law impacting all private employers in New York. The law requires employers to provide up to 40 or 56 hours of annual sick leave (depending on their...more
As we previously reported this past summer, the New York State Senate and Assembly passed Senate Bill 6549, which amended Section 194 of the New York Labor Law to prohibit wage differentials based on any protected class. As...more
10/2/2019
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Deadlines ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Human Rights Act ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Protected Class ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
As we previously reported, the New York State Senate and Assembly passed an omnibus bill that overhauls New York’s antidiscrimination laws and uproot precedent upon which employers have relied for decades in defending...more
8/14/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Harassment ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
NYCHRL ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
As we previously reported, the New York State Senate and Assembly recently passed Senate Bill 5248A and Senate Bill 6549. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed both bills, and both became law on July 10, 2019.
Senate Bill 5248A,...more
Continuing the trend of substantial and expansive legislative changes in employment law, the New York State Senate and Assembly have passed Senate Bill 5248A and Senate Bill 6549. The first bill, S5248A, will prohibit wage...more
On February 24, 2019, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) became effective in the state of New York. GENDA bars discrimination, harassment, and retaliation on the basis of “gender identity or expression,”...more
3/1/2019
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Expression ,
Gender Identity ,
Human Rights ,
Risk Management ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
State Labor Laws
As we previously reported, New York State and New York City has passed sweeping laws aimed at combating sexual harassment in the workplace last year. While many requirements of these laws already went into effect in 2018, the...more
1/17/2019
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Commission on Human Rights ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Local Ordinance ,
New Legislation ,
Notice Requirements ,
NYCHRL ,
Posting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws