An agreement to arbitrate sexual harassment claims is enforceable, according to a recent decision handed down by a federal judge in the Southern District of New York, despite a state law purporting to ban mandatory...more
8/2/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Mandatory Arbitration ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws
This past week was a busy one for New York State lawmakers. In addition to passing game-changing legislation overhauling the state’s discrimination laws, the New York State Senate and Assembly just passed two pay equity bills...more
6/24/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Job Applicants ,
New Legislation ,
Pay Discrimination ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Protected Class ,
Salary/Wage History ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Still grappling with the expansive sexual harassment reforms passed last year, New York businesses and employers will soon need to manage through yet another expansive suite of amendments that will continue the state’s...more
6/21/2019
/ Amended Legislation ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Employee Rights ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Human Rights ,
Labor Reform ,
Mandatory Arbitration ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Punitive Damages ,
Retaliation ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statute of Limitations
The New York City Council just passed legislation which will prohibit employers from requiring a prospective employee to submit to drug testing for the presence of tetrahydrocannabinols (THC), the active ingredient in...more
A New York federal court recently reinforced the limited geographic scope of the New York City Human Rights Law, a city law which provides broader anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation protections to employees than the New...more
2/26/2019
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Employment Litigation ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Rights ,
State Labor Laws ,
Subject Matter Jurisdiction ,
Terms and Conditions
The New Year has brought long-awaited and historic change to the legal rights of the LBGTQ community in the Empire State. On January 15, the State Assembly and State Senate voted to pass the Gender Expression...more
1/17/2019
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Expression ,
Gender Identity ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Human Rights ,
LGBTQ ,
Pending Legislation ,
Protected Class ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Transgender
New York City has once again shown its intent to be a national leader in implementing robust worker protections. Mayor Bill de Blasio Wednesday called for New York City to pass legislation mandating paid personal time for...more
In its final session of the year, the New York City Council voted to prohibit employment discrimination based on an individual’s reproductive health choices. On December 20, the Council approved an amendment to the New York...more
12/24/2018
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Family Planning Clinics ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Rights ,
Job Applicants ,
Local Ordinance ,
New Amendments ,
Protected Class ,
Reproductive Discrimination
The New York State Department of Labor recently issued proposed regulations seeking to curb on-call scheduling, “call-in” shifts, and last-minute shift changes. The proposed regulations endeavor to provide employees with more...more
12/19/2018
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Workweek ,
Minimum Wage ,
On-Call Employees ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules
Suffolk County joins New York City, Albany County, and Westchester County to become the latest jurisdiction in New York to ban employers from asking about a job applicant’s salary history. The Restrict Information Regarding...more
New York City employers will almost certainly need to provide lactation rooms to breastfeeding employees in the near future thanks to a slate of new laws passed by city lawmakers. On October 17, 2018, the City Council passed...more
10/22/2018
/ Breastfeeding ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Mayor de Blasio ,
New Legislation ,
Pending Legislation ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State Labor Laws
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more
9/17/2018
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Background Checks ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
Collective Action Waivers ,
Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act (CCRAA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Failed Legislation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Freedom of Religion ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Gig Economy ,
Governor Baker ,
Governor Brown ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (ICRAA) ,
Licenses ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
OFCCP ,
Opinion Letter ,
Opioid ,
Over-Time ,
Pay Gap ,
Pending Legislation ,
Portable Benefits ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Ridesharing ,
Right to Work ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Union Dues ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Injury
Employers in New York have been eagerly awaiting the state’s anticipated model sexual harassment training and policies ever since the state passed significant new sexual harassment laws back in April. That day has finally...more
On July 18, 2018, the New York City Temporary Schedule Change Law took effect. As we previously reported, under the new law, eligible employees have a right to temporary changes to their work schedule for certain “personal...more
New York City recently expanded its paid sick leave law to provide protected time off to employees who are the victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking and to broaden the definition of a...more
5/18/2018
/ Domestic Violence ,
Earned Sick Time ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Human Trafficking ,
Paid Leave ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sick Leave ,
Stalking ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
On the heels of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a slate of legislation last week aimed at preventing sexual harassment in the workplace. Entitled the “Stop Sexual Harassment in NYC Act,” the...more
5/16/2018
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Mayor de Blasio ,
New Legislation ,
Notice Requirements ,
Pre-Dispute Arbitration ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Statute of Limitations
New York’s highest court recently held that social media users may be required to turn over information from their accounts—regardless of the user’s chosen privacy settings—as part of the discovery process (Forman v. Henkin)....more
On the heels of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s call for New York to take additional steps to close the gender wage gap, the New York State Assembly passed a suite of pay equity legislation that would impact both private and public...more
4/24/2018
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Fair Pay Act ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pending Legislation ,
Private Right of Action ,
Public Employees ,
Public Employers ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Wage and Hour
Westchester County has enacted a Wage History Anti-Discrimination Law which will soon make it illegal for employers to ask potential employees their salary history. The law was passed by the County Board of Legislators on...more
On April 10, 2018, Equal Pay Day, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled proposed legislation banning all employers in New York from asking job applicants about their salary history. The legislation is aimed at closing the...more
4/17/2018
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Executive Orders ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Wage and Hour
Employers operating in New York will soon face a raft of new sexual harassment laws. The state budget bill for the 2019 fiscal year approved by the New York State Legislature on March 31 and signed into law by Governor Andrew...more
4/16/2018
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Mandatory Arbitration ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Employees ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Workplace Communication
On the heels of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, the New York City Council passed a slate of legislation earlier this week aimed at preventing sexual harassment in the workplace. Entitled the “Stop Sexual Harassment in NYC...more
4/13/2018
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Mayor de Blasio ,
New Legislation ,
Notice Requirements ,
Pre-Dispute Arbitration ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Statute of Limitations
With the rise of the #MeToo movement, many are left wondering why so few victims of sexual harassment spoke up before. A psychological disconnect called “affective forecasting error” helps to explain this failure. Affective...more
On March 12, 2018, the New York State Senate passed a bill aimed at strengthening and reforming the state sexual harassment laws. The legislation comes on the heels of the #MeToo movement and mirrors much of what Governor...more
3/20/2018
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Employee Training ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Non-Employees ,
Pending Legislation ,
Public Employers ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Contractors ,
State Labor Laws
New York City employers will soon be required to expand existing protections against sexual orientation and gender discrimination due to an amendment to the definitions of these terms under the New York City Human Rights Law...more