In the latest episode of the Mintz on Air: Practical Policies podcast, Member Jen Rubin hosts a conversation on the divide between state and federal DEI initiatives. This episode is part of a series of conversations designed...more
In the latest episode of the Mintz on Air: Practical Policies podcast, Member Jen Rubin hosts a conversation on the divide between state and federal DEI initiatives. This episode is part of a series of conversations designed...more
President Trump’s executive order entitled Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence (the “Trump AI Order”) seeks to create “a path for the United States to act decisively to retain global leadership...more
On January 23, 2025, a coalition of Attorneys General from ten states, led by AG Ken Paxton of Texas, penned a letter to six major U.S. financial institutions, warning that their embrace of “race-and-sex-based quotas” and...more
2/11/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
State Attorneys General ,
Title VII
The most recent amendment to New York’s Workers’ Compensation Law, which went into effect on January 1, 2025, permits any employee to seek workers’ compensation benefits when they experience a “mental injury premised upon...more
1/23/2025
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
Mental Health ,
New Legislation ,
New York ,
PTSD ,
State Labor Laws ,
Work-Induced Stress ,
Workers’ Compensation ,
Workplace Safety
A federal judge in Texas has vacated the U.S. Department of Labor’s final rule increasing the salary thresholds for the “white collar” overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and did so on a nationwide...more
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently declined to comment on the National Labor Relations Board’s (the “Board”) McLaren Macomb decision which took aim at overbroad non-disparagement and non-disclosure agreements....more
New York employers are now required to provide up to 30 minutes of paid break time each time an employee has a reasonable need to express breast milk. While New York employers have been required to provide breaks to nursing...more
On April 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) released a new final rule that significantly increases the minimum salary threshold to qualify for the executive, administrative, professional, and highly compensated...more
In a hotly anticipated decision, the New York State Appellate Division, Second Department held in Grant v. Global Aircraft Dispatch, Inc. that manual workers do not have a private right of action under the New York Labor Law...more
1/24/2024
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Class Action ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
New York ,
NYDOL ,
Private Right of Action ,
State Budgets ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wages
On December 22, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul vetoed legislation that would have instituted a near-universal ban on non-competition provisions in New York after negotiations between the Governor and the bill’s...more
Although 2023 perhaps did not see the passage of any laws quite as impactful as 2022—which, as employers will recall, included New York State enacting its own pay transparency law (see here) and novel New York City Council...more
12/15/2023
/ #MeToo ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Earned Sick and Safe Time Act ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Facebook ,
Freelance Isn't Free Act (FIFA) ,
Freelance Workers ,
Harassment ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Minimum Wage ,
New York ,
NYDOL ,
Pay Transparency ,
Remote Working ,
Retaliation ,
Settlement ,
State Labor Laws ,
Threshold Requirements ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft ,
WARN Act
In an effort to further restrict the use of confidentiality clauses when resolving employment discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims, New York recently passed S4516, which amends Section 5-336 of the New York...more
In her first public comments since its passage, New York Governor Kathy Hochul expressed a desire to see changes in New York’s proposed ban on non-compete agreements (SB 3100) before she would consider signing the bill. We...more
The Mintz Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Working Group developed this ESG primer to provide an overview of the current state of affairs in the United States with respect to the ESG issues that businesses...more
10/30/2023
/ Affirmative Action ,
Antiboycott Requirements ,
Boycotts ,
CFTC ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Greenwashing ,
Net Zero ,
New Regulations ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholders ,
State and Local Government ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina
The Fifth Circuit has rejected the challenge to Nasdaq’s “show and tell” diversity rule that requires Nasdaq companies to publicly disclose the makeup of their boards. In Alliance for Fair Board Recruitment, National Center...more
10/24/2023
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Affirmative Action ,
Board of Directors ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
En Banc Review ,
Equal Protection ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Investors ,
Nasdaq ,
Quotas ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina
New York has banned employers from requiring employees to assign inventions or other intellectual property that they develop using their own property and time. The bill is effective immediately and applies to both future...more
The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (“DCWP”) has released its highly anticipated FAQs, providing additional guidance to employers seeking to comply with Local Law 144. As we discussed here and...more
7/14/2023
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Audits ,
Automated Systems ,
Bias ,
City of New York ,
Corporate Counsel ,
EEO-1 ,
Employment Policies ,
Enforcement ,
Guidance Update ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Rights
Non-compete agreements may soon be a thing of the past in New York. Following the passage by the New York State Senate of S3100A, the State Assembly passed A1278B, and if signed into law, it would add new Section 191-d into...more
New York may become the latest state to ban non-compete agreements after the New York State Assembly and Senate each passed legislation seeking to curtail their use by employers. This comes on the heels of a proposal by the...more
After a few iterations of proposed rules, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (“DCWP”) has finally adopted final rules regarding the implementation of NYC’s new law regulating Automated Employment...more
The NLRB’s General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo has released a memo offering further guidance on the Board’s recent decision in McLaren Macomb. In our previous post addressing that decision, we highlighted several outstanding...more
UPDATE: Governor Hochul has signed the below amendments into law – the amended New York State pay transparency rules will become effective September 17, 2023.
Coming on the heels of Governor Hochul signing into law New...more
Coming on the heels of Governor Hochul signing into law New York State’s pay transparency law on December 21, 2022—which we reported on here—the New York State Legislature recently approved chapter amendments to the law,...more
Severance agreements offered to non-supervisory employees that include broad-based non-disparagement and confidentiality provisions are unlawful according to the National Labor Relations Board. The Board’s decision in...more