New York employers no longer have to ponder if and how they should incentivize their employees to get vaccinated. Effective March 12, 2021, Senate Bill S2588A creates Labor Law Section 196-C, “Leave for COVID-19 Vaccination”...more
Mayor Bill de Blasio recently signed two bills, Int. No. 1415-A and Int. No. 1396-A, into law (collectively, the “Laws” or “Law”) that will have a dramatic impact on fast-food employment. Effective July 4, 2021, the Laws will...more
As the COVID-19 pandemic wears on, and as states race to keep up with unprecedented volumes of claims for unemployment insurance (“UI”) benefits and relax certain requirements, like waiting periods, scam artists and criminals...more
On August 28, 2020, the Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released Notice 2020-65 to provide guidance (“Agency Guidance”) implementing the employee payroll tax deferral directed...more
In response to a lawsuit brought by New York State (“State”), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has invalidated four provisions of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) Final Rule (“Rule”)...more
8/17/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Paid Leave ,
Public Health ,
Sick Leave ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Treasury guidance on implementation is expected imminently. We will be monitoring for new developments. Check back for updates to this Act Now Advisory....more
The National Labor Relations Board (“Board” or “NLRB”) on Wednesday, May 13, 2020, overruled decades of convoluted Board precedent regarding “dual-marked ballots” in union representation elections – establishing a new bright...more
Amid the ever-increasing impact of the COVID-19 crisis across the country, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) announced on Wednesday that the two-week freeze on representation elections currently in effect...more
The COVID-19 pandemic and its sharp impact on the U.S. economy has presented a unique set of issues for employers with union-represented employees, including not only those employers that are parties to collective bargaining...more
On March 27, 2020, NLRB General Counsel John Ring issued General Counsel Memorandum 20-04, entitled “Case Summaries Pertaining to the Duty to Bargain in Emergency Situations” providing employers with guidance “regarding the...more
On the heels of guidance regarding when the duty to bargain may be suspended or modified during the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) finalized rulemaking today that changes three...more
In the chaos of a global health pandemic and what some economists are calling the Great Suppression, Americans have shown amazing solidarity in the battle against the coronavirus (“COVID-19”). ...more
The impact of the novel coronavirus has slammed employers across the globe, and federal agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) are no exception. The Board announced Thursday the unprecedented step that...more
3/23/2020
As we have discussed in prior Advisories, the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (“Coronavirus” or “COVID-19”) public health emergency is raising important issues for employers addressing rapidly developing disruptions to the workplace...more
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared that the 2019 novel coronavirus (known as “COVID-19”) is now a pandemic. The effects continue to be felt in the United States, which currently has well over 1,000...more
3/17/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Contingency Plans ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Home Healthcare Workers ,
Immigrants ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Public Health ,
Screening Procedures ,
Sick Leave ,
Travel Ban ,
Travel Restrictions ,
Traveling Employee ,
Trump Administration
New York State has responded to a significant increase in cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) in the state with numerous press briefings and actions by the government. Both New York State and New York City have...more
3/13/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Public Health ,
Quarantine ,
Workplace Safety ,
World Health Organization
Since releasing our Advisory on January 30, 2020, there have been significant developments in connection with the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (“COVID-19” or “Coronavirus”). For example, on February 25, 2020, the U.S. Centers for...more
3/2/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Interim Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Public Accommodation ,
Public Health ,
Traveling Employee ,
World Health Organization
Employers in New York, the second-most unionized state in the country, have lost another key point of leverage in collective bargaining. Effective February 6, 2020, Senate Bill 7310 reduces the amount of time striking...more
3/2/2020
/ Employee Rights ,
Labor Disputes ,
Labor Relations ,
Negotiations ,
NLRA ,
Right to Strike ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Unions ,
Waiting Periods
The National Labor Relations Board has announced the issuance of its final rule governing joint-employer status. The new rule, which was first proposed in September 2018 and has been the subject of extensive public comment,...more
2/26/2020
/ Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc. ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Franchises ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
The 2019 Novel Coronavirus (“2019-nCoV” or “Coronavirus”) is a rapidly spreading respiratory illness that is raising important issues for employers....more
1/31/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Business Travel ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Interim Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Public Health ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety ,
World Health Organization
A Trending News interview from Employment Law This Week®, featuring attorney Steve Swirsky, Member of the Firm:
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ended the year with a flurry of activity, including the relaxing of...more
1/6/2020
/ Collective Bargaining ,
Confidentiality Policies ,
Dues Checkoff ,
Email ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Protected Activity ,
Purple Communications ,
Quickie Election Rules ,
Reversal ,
Unions ,
Workplace Investigations
The National Labor Relations Board, in its December 17th decision in Apogee Retail LLC d/b/a Unique Thrift Store, has reversed its prior rule and held that employer requirements that employees treat workplace investigations...more
12/24/2019
/ Banner Estrella Medical Center ,
Boeing ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Confidentiality Policies ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Guidance ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Section 7 ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Title VII ,
Unduly Burdensome ,
Workplace Investigations
The National Labor Relations Board (“Board” or “NLRB”) has announced that it is publishing proposed changes to its Rules and Regulations that will begin to reverse the Board’s 2014 changes, which took effect in 2015, to its...more
The General Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (“Board” or “NLRB”) has signaled what may be a major resetting of the law on the Board’s position concerning the legality of so called neutrality agreements, in which...more
One of the matters of significance to employers and unions under the National Labor Relations Act that became a point of contention under the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) during the Obama Administration...more