On December 6, 2024, Governor Kathy Hochul signed new legislation, S.6635/A.5745, to support employees facing job-related mental health issues. The law, which went into effect on January 1, 2025, will allow any employee to...more
1/9/2025
/ Compliance ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Mental Health ,
New Legislation ,
New York ,
Retroactive Application ,
State Labor Laws ,
Workers Compensation Board ,
Workers’ Compensation ,
Workplace Safety
Effective June 19, 2024, New York employers will be required to provide up to 30 minutes of paid lactation breaks to employees each time an employee has a reasonable need to express breast milk at work. This change to New...more
As previously reported, New York City’s vaccination mandate for private employers goes into effect on December 27, 2021. This measure, issued as an order from the New York City health commissioner in response to a public...more
12/17/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Local Ordinance ,
Masks ,
New York ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
In a November 4, 2021 opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld New York’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, rejecting arguments advanced by healthcare professionals in two different district...more
11/11/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Protection ,
Essential Workers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On August 26, 2021, the New York State Department of Health’s Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC) approved emergency regulations that institute a broad vaccine mandate for New York healthcare facilities. ...more
8/31/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Essential Workers ,
Health and Safety ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On August 16, 2021, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that all healthcare workers in New York State, including staff at hospitals and long-term care facilities such as nursing homes, adult care facilities and other...more
8/19/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Essential Workers ,
Health and Safety ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Long Term Care Facilities ,
Nursing Homes ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On August 3, 2021, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the nation’s first vaccine mandate applying not only to employees, but also patrons of indoor dining facilities, indoor fitness facilities, and indoor...more
8/5/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
New Guidance ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
State and Local Government ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
As we previously reported, in an effort to prevent occupational exposure to an airborne infectious disease, the New York legislature on May 5, 2021 passed the New York Health and Essential Rights Act, or NY HERO Act, which...more
In an effort to prevent occupational exposure to an airborne infectious disease, the New York legislature has passed the aptly named New York Health and Essential Rights Act, or NY HERO Act, which amends the New York Labor...more
In an effort to prevent the occupational exposure to an airborne infectious disease, the New York legislature has passed the aptly named New York Health and Essential Rights Act, or NY HERO Act, which amends the New York...more
4/30/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Safety Management Systems ,
State and Local Government ,
Workplace Safety
Last month, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut issued a Joint Travel Advisory requiring all persons who enter the Tristate Area from states with significant COVID-19 transmission rates to quarantine for 14 days. Under New...more
On July 2, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit handed a significant victory to New York’s home care industry. In Abdullayeva v. Attending Home Care Services, the appellate court reversed a lower court’s...more
7/5/2019
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Grievance Process ,
Home Health Care ,
Home Healthcare Workers ,
Labor Regulations ,
Labor Relations ,
Motion to Compel ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Reversal ,
Unions
New York’s vast home care industry and those who rely on their services breathed a sigh of relief on March 26, 2019, when the New York Court of Appeals gave providers the green light to continue to pay home care aides for 13...more
3/28/2019
/ Appeals ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Domestic Workers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Home Health Agencies ,
Home Health Care ,
Home Healthcare Workers ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules
The day most anxiously anticipated (or dreaded) by the vast home care industry in New York has arrived, and a huge sigh of relief from home care agencies and New Yorkers who rely on their services can be heard across the...more
3/27/2019
/ Appeals ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Domestic Workers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Home Health Agencies ,
Home Health Care ,
Home Healthcare Workers ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules
The New York home care industry has faced collapse since a series of New York Appellate Division decisions invalidated New York Department of Labor (NY DOL) policy and held that home care attendants working 24-hour shifts who...more
2/14/2019
/ Appeals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Home Healthcare Workers ,
Labor Law Violations ,
NYDOL ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
The home health care industry suffered a major setback on September 26, 2018, when the New York Supreme Court, New York County, ruled that the New York State Department of Labor's (NYDOL) emergency rulemaking amendment to the...more
10/1/2018
/ Court Nullification ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Domestic Workers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health Care Providers ,
Home Health Agencies ,
Home Health Care ,
Home Healthcare Workers ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules
The home care industry has faced collapse since a series of New York Appellate Division decisions invalidated New York Department of Labor (NY DOL) policy and held that home care attendants working 24-hour shifts who are...more
3/9/2018
/ Appeals ,
Domestic Workers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health Care Providers ,
Home Health Agencies ,
Home Health Care ,
Home Healthcare Workers ,
Minimum Wage ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules
A recent federal court decision has added to the confusion surrounding the application of the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) "home care" overtime rule and New York's "13-hour" rule regarding compensable work hours for...more
12/22/2017
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Home Health Agencies ,
Home Health Care ,
Home Healthcare Workers ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules
As we reported earlier this month, the New York State Department of Labor (“NYDOL”) issued an amendment, effective October 6, to its Minimum Wage Order for Miscellaneous Industries and Occupations to clarify that bona fide...more
As we recently reported, on October 6, 2017, the New York State Department of Labor (“NYDOL”) issued an amendment to its Minimum Wage Order for Miscellaneous Industries and Occupations regulation to clarify that bona fide...more
On October 6, 2017, the New York State Department of Labor (“NYDOL”) issued an amendment to its Minimum Wage Order for Miscellaneous Industries and Occupations (“Wage Order”) in response to recent court decisions finding that...more
A pair of New York state appellate decisions has serious implications for employers that offer 24-hour home care for clients by ruling that sleep and meal periods must be included in the hourly wages of home care attendants....more
As Littler reported in March of 2015, a New York Supreme Court, Kings County Justice found that sleep and meal periods must not be excluded from the hourly wages of a home attendant who does not reside in the home of his or...more