Allyn & Fortuna LLPBy: Paula Lopez, December 22, 2023 The New York City Council passed a “Workers’ Bill of Rights” bill, Int. No. 569-B on December 3, 2023. On December 4, 2023, the bill became law when it was returned unsigned by Mayor Adams without a veto. The law will go into effect on January 3, 2024. The law requires inter-agency cooperation in creating a “Worker’s Bill of Rights,” informing employees, prospective employees, and independent contractors working in New York City about their rights under federal, state and local law. The…
Paula Lopez, July 10, 2017. New York City’s recently passed package of bills, referred to as “Fair Work Week” laws, impose significant scheduling and notice requirements on certain businesses operating in New York City. The laws will go into effect on November 26, 2017. Employers covered by this law include retail businesses and fast food establishments, which are known for subjecting employees to changing work schedules. A “fast food establishment” covered by the new law is defined in the same way as a “fast food establishment” subject to…
Paula Lopez, March 11, 2016. New York City’s Council has been active in passing legislation that impacts the workplace and imposes new legal obligations on New York City employers. This week, we discuss the recently enacted New York City Commuter Benefits Law and the Caregiver Discrimination Act, and highlight employment related legislation currently pending before the New York City’s Council. New York City’s Commuter Benefits Law (NYCCBL) went into effect on January 1, 2016. NYCCBL requires employers with 20 or more full-time employees working in New York City…
Diana Uhimov, February 23, 2016 The Compassionate Care Act (CCA) was signed into law in New York in 2014, making New York the 23rd state in the U.S. to legalize medical marijuana. The CCA regulates the manufacture, sale and use of medical marijuana in New York. Under the Act, certified patients are allowed to use marijuana for treatment of a “serious condition” so long as the treatment is prescribed by a certified physician. Additionally, the CCA establishes employment regulations for medical marijuana use, including the creation of new…
Diana Uhimov, January 7, 2016 On December 19, 2015, the New York City Commission on Human Rights announced that the city’s Human Rights Law would establish among the strongest protections in the country for transgender people. New York City landlords, employers and businesses will be subject to the new regulations. Gender identity and expression bias has been illegal in New York City since 2002. But the announcement provided guidance for the first time on what conduct constitutes discrimination under the city’s Human Rights Law, setting forth penalties of…
Paula Lopez, May 12, 2015. On May 6, 2015, Mayor Bill De Blasio signed into law Bill A-261A, which amends the New York City Human Rights Law (NYC HRL) to prohibit employers, labor organizations and employment agencies from conducting credit checks as part of their hiring process and from discriminating against an applicant or employee based on credit history. Although the new law provides for certain exemptions where employers are permitted to request and rely on credit-related information, the exemptions are limited. Employers with four or more employees…
Paula Lopez, September 18, 2014. New Jersey has become the sixth state to enact “ban the box” legislation, restricting private employers within its state from inquiring into an applicant’s criminal record during the initial application process. It is called the “Opportunity to Compete Act” and was signed into law by Governor Christie on August 11, 2014, but does not go into effect until March 1, 2015. The version of the law that was passed is a compromise between the employers’ interests in making fully-informed hiring decisions and the…
Megan J. Muoio, April 23, 2014. On June 11, 2013, Judge William H. Pauley of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a decision in Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures that struck fear into the hearts of employers with unpaid internship programs in New York. The Court ruled that an employer had violated federal and state labor laws by classifying the plaintiffs as unpaid interns rather than employees and that the plaintiffs should have been paid for their work. The Glatt case…
Paula Lopez, March 6, 2014. On February 26, 2014, in an effort spearheaded by Mayor Bill DiBlasio, the New York City Council passed significant amendments to the Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA), recently enacted in June 2013 and set to go into effect on April 1, 2014. Consequently, in a little over a month before ESTA was slotted to go into effect, several key provisions affecting the size of employer covered under the law, the implementation of the law, the permitted use of sick leave, and the law’s…
Paula Lopez, February 5, 2014. Employers in New York City and New Jersey are now required to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant employees. While State and Federal laws prohibit employers from discriminating against pregnant employees, none of these laws require employers to provide reasonable accommodations. Instead, reasonable accommodations have only been required to the extent that they are available to similarly-situated non-pregnant employees. Effective January 30, 2014, the New York City Human Rights Law was amended to prohibit discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. And,…