With Election Day just around the corner, we’ll be highlighting some of the issues facing employers in a two-part series on elections and the workplace. In this first installment, we’ll look at employee protections around...more
10/5/2020
/ 501(c)(3) ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employment Policies ,
Free Speech ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Off-Duty Employees ,
Political Speech ,
Presidential Elections ,
Social Media ,
State Labor Laws
*** UPDATE: Mayor de Blasio signed the bill into law on September 28, and it will take effect on September 30, 2020, except as otherwise set forth below. ***
The New York City Council has passed a bill aimed at aligning...more
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (“the Act”) into law. Beginning next year (or later for small employers), the Act will require employers in Colorado to...more
On April 3, 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the fiscal year 2021 New York State budget, which, notably for employers, includes a new statewide paid sick leave requirement. As described below, the new...more
On March 25, 2020, New York State published Frequently Asked Questions and other guidance regarding the state’s recently enacted Covid-19 Paid Sick Leave Law and expansions to New York’s Paid Family Leave Law (PFL) and...more
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (the “Department”) has published proposed regulations that would make significant changes to the state’s wage and hour laws. The proposed provisions, collectively termed the...more
12/16/2019
/ Accrual Requirements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Forfeiture ,
Minimum Salary ,
Minimum Wage ,
Over-Time ,
Posting Requirements ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State Labor Departments ,
State Labor Laws ,
Vacation Pay ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Credits
As we previously reported, on August 12, 2019, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law significant legislation to expand workplace anti-discrimination protections. The State has now updated its FAQs to provide...more
The San Antonio, Texas City Council has approved revisions to the city’s sick and safe leave ordinance, which is now scheduled take effect on December 1, 2019. ...more
On August 12, 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law significant expansions to workplace anti-discrimination protections in New York State.
As we previously reported in detail, the new legislation includes numerous...more
In this episode of The Proskauer Brief, partner Evandro Gigante and associate Laura Fant discuss the recent New York law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of certain hairstyles. This law expands the definition of race...more
The push to eliminate inquiries into job applicants’ salary history continues, as New Jersey has enacted a statewide law that will restrict employers from obtaining and utilizing applicants’ salary history information during...more
Oregon is the latest state to enact a paid family and medical leave law. The law, which will cover all employers with one or more employees working in Oregon, establishes a state-managed insurance program with employers and...more
7/24/2019
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Contributions ,
Employer Contributions ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Medical Leave ,
New Legislation ,
Notice Requirements ,
Paid Family Leave Insurance Program ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Paid Leave ,
State Labor Laws
Implementation of the City of San Antonio’s paid sick leave ordinance has been delayed pending a legal challenge, less than two weeks before the ordinance’s scheduled effective date of August 1, 2019....more
Toledo, Ohio is the latest jurisdiction (and the second city in Ohio) to enact a law that will prohibit employers from asking job applicants about salary history....more
7/16/2019
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Job Applicants ,
Local Ordinance ,
Private Right of Action ,
Remedies ,
Salary/Wage History ,
State Labor Laws
As we have reported before, California is set to become the first state to prohibit employers from discriminating based upon hairstyle. Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law the “CROWN Act” (Create a Respectful and...more
Continuing the trend of states passing increasingly progressive employment regulations, Nevada recently enacted three new laws addressing paid leave, workplace drug testing, and minimum wage. ...more
The New York state legislature has passed a bill that would allow employees making certain claims for unpaid wages to obtain a lien against their employers’ property for the value of the claim, inclusive of liquidated...more
7/1/2019
/ Books & Records ,
Call-In Pay ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Liens ,
Liquidated Damages ,
Minimum Wage ,
Payroll Deductions ,
Personal Liability ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Shareholders ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Unpaid Wages
Currently, the New York Equal Pay Act provides that no employee shall be paid at a lesser wage rate than an employee of the opposite sex in the same establishment for equal work on a job requiring equal skill, effort and...more
6/26/2019
/ Attorney's Fees ,
Disparate Impact ,
Equal Pay ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Liquidated Damages ,
NYCHRL ,
Pay Discrimination ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pending Legislation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour ,
Willful Violations
New York State lawmakers have approved broad legislation that will lower the burden on plaintiffs seeking to prove claims of workplace harassment under the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL), as well as extend the...more
6/25/2019
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Burden of Proof ,
Covered Employer ,
Damages ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Faragher/Ellerth defense ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Harassment ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Employees ,
NYSHRL ,
Pending Legislation ,
Protected Class ,
Punitive Damages ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statute of Limitations
Under the Act, beginning in early 2022, employees will be eligible to receive partial pay benefits during leave taken under the existing Connecticut Family and Medical Leave Act (“CFMLA”). Covered reasons for leave under the...more
Maine’s Governor Janet Mills has signed into law an Act Authorizing Earned Employee Leave (the “Act”), which will require covered employers to provide employees with up to 40 hours of paid personal leave per calendar year....more
5/30/2019
/ Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exceptions ,
Governor Mills ,
Labor Law Violations ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Penalties ,
State Labor Laws
As we have previously reported, in late 2018, a Texas appellate court ruled that a similar paid sick leave ordinance enacted in Austin violated the Texas Minimum Wage Act and the Texas Constitution and was therefore...more
New Jersey will soon become the first state to require certain employers to offer employees tax-favored transportation benefits.
S.B. 1567, also known as An Act Concerning Pre-Tax Transportation Fringe Benefits (the...more
Washington is poised to become the ninth state to pass a law that would prohibit employers from asking job applicants about their salary history....more
As we have previously reported, New York State has recently enacted several significant measures regarding sexual harassment in the workplace. Effective October 9, 2018, all New York State employers are required to adopt...more