On April 6, 2023, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (“DCWP”) issued a Final Rule to provide guidance regarding the City’s Automated Employment Decision Tool (“AEDT”) Law, which we covered in more detail here. The Final Rule generally clarifies employer obligations under the AEDT Law, which will be enforced beginning July 5, 2023. Click here for more information.
New York City’s Pay Transparency Law became effective on November 1, 2022. The Law amended the New York City Human Rights Law by prohibiting a covered employer from advertising a job, promotion or transfer opportunity without disclosing the job posting’s minimum and maximum salary range. If you have not already prepared for this new requirement, now is absolutely the time to get going. For New York State employers outside of New York City, there’s no time like the present to begin complying with the law’s requirements so that they can hit the ground running once New York State’s similar pay transparency is signed into law (which it will be) by Governor Hochul.
Read our recent Blog Post on Pay Transparency, which explains the City’s law’s requirements.
This past January, the NYC Council amended the New York City Human Rights Law requiring employers to post salary ranges for open job positions. We wrote about that law here and here. Other New York counties have passed similar legislation. Now, New York State is looking to do the same. If the amendment to the Labor Law is passed, all New York State employers with four or more employees will be required to post a range of compensation for job openings in advertisement. Senate Bill 9427A.
If you are reading this post, you already know about SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID-19”), or, coronavirus. There is no shortage of news to absorb and guidance to implement. Federal, state (CT, MA, NY), and local (Boston, Hartford, New Haven, New York) authorities offer directives and information. News outlets including The Washington Post and The New York Times have continuously updated coronavirus sections, sans paywalls. Johns Hopkins University is mapping coronavirus’s spread, in near real time. Here at Murtha Cullina, we are abiding by a common and useful refrain: “don’t panic, do prepare.”
So, how can you and your employees safely and effectively manage the myriad of challenges coronavirus has begun to present? The CDC has issued Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers, with common sense and effective steps employers may take, including:
In 2019, the New York State Legislature championed a host of employment laws that strengthen protections for employees. One of those laws codified new requirements for non-disclosure agreements, which are effective as of October 11, 2019. To ensure enforceability of non-disclosure provisions, employers must account for the following provisions:
Effective May 10, 2020, New York City’s Human Rights Law will prohibit employers from requiring job applicants to submit to a marijuana or THC drug test as a condition of employment, with some limited exceptions. The NYC law is the first to ban pre-employment testing, but likely not the last in light of increasing momentum to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Even states that permit medical or recreational use of marijuana have not enacted laws that prohibit employers from testing job applicants. New York City has opted to ban pre-employment testing even though recreational use of marijuana is not yet legal under New York State or City law. To read more, click here.
As we previously reported here, the “Stop Sexual Harassment in NYC Act” expanded the reach of the New York City Human Rights Law in the area of gender-based discrimination, including harassment. Among other things, as of April 1, 2019, the law mandates employers with 15 or more employees (which includes independent contractors) in the previous calendar year to conduct annual anti-sexual harassment training to all employees, including managers and supervisors. The law requires employers to train new employees who work more than 80 hours in a calendar year within 90 days of initial hire. Read all about it here.
On October 17, 2018, the New York City Council passed several bills, referred to as a parental empowerment package, which will likely be signed by the mayor. These bills require employers with 15 or more employees to provide a “lactation space” and “lactation accommodation” for employees who need to express and store breast milk. Specifically, employers will be required to designate a private sanitary place that is not a restroom for purposes of expressing milk. Although since 2008 New York State law has required employers to allow nursing mothers with breaks to express milk, New York City will require a dedicated room for this purpose. In addition to providing a lactation space, which must be in reasonable proximity to the employee’s work area, the law will also require that employers provide a refrigerator that is suitable for breast milk storage.
For employers that are unable to designate a room solely for lactation purposes, the law will permit employers to use a room that is also used for other purposes provided that the primary function of the room will be as a lactation space. An employer will be exempt from the requirement of providing a lactation space if the employer can demonstrate that it would pose an undue hardship in the form of “significant expense or operational difficulty.” Nevertheless, the standard for demonstrating an undue hardship would be high and employers would still be required to accommodate the needs of the employee.
The law will go into effect 120 days after the mayor signs it. In the meantime, employers should prepare now to identify a room that qualifies as a lactation space, and revisit their lactation policies, which will be required to conform to the law’s specific requirement. We are available to answer questions on this law, and as always, will keep you posted on developments, including the effective date of the proposed law.
On October 1, 2018, New York State released final documents and resources in connection with its new sexual harassment prevention requirements. Along with the updated guidelines, the deadline to provide a first round of sexual harassment prevention training has been extended from January 1, 2019 to October 9, 2019. Despite that New York State has extended the deadline for providing sexual harassment prevention training, New York City employers must continue to satisfy the requirements of the Stop Sexual Harassment in NYC Act, which as previously reported, requires all employers with 15 or more employees to conduct sexual harassment prevention training beginning on April 1, 2019. Read more about it here.
Last week, we addressed the looming sexual harassment notice and training requirements affecting all New York State and New York City employers. We also wrote about the pending issuance of public resources containing model policies and other materials that would comply with the New York State mandates. The day after we posted our blog, New York State published a website – Combating Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, which provides resources to employers and employees on sexual harassment. Among other things, the new site contains:
New York Employment Attorney Blog