http://www.elinfonet.com/starticles/33 Articles discussing workplace law in New York. Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:08:41 EST en-us http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2408 Article: 2408 Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) New York partner John Siegal authored an article which was published in the August 21 edition of the New York Law Journal titled, "New York Statute Bars Media Industry Noncompetes." http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2406 Article: 2406 Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) Effective February 1, 2009, New York will join the growing number of states that have supplemented federal notification requirements for large layoffs. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2395 Article: 2395 Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) For the first time, New York now has a statute governing the use of noncompete provisions, but it applies only to “broadcasting industry employers.” Signed by Governor David A. Paterson on August 6, 2008, the “Broadcast Employees Freedom To Work Act” prohibits a broadly defined group of media employers from requiring or seeking to enforce post-employment noncompetes affecting all but “management employees.” This new law removes employment relations in an entire cluster of industries central to New York's economy from the State's elaborate and long-standing common law governing post-employment restrictive covenants. It will likely also give birth to an entirely new set of issues to be litigated and it will fundamentally alter the negotiation of talent contracts in New York-based media industries. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2392 Article: 2392 Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) On August 5th, New York State Governor David Paterson signed into law the New York State Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act and the Broadcast Employees Freedom to Work Act. As set forth below, both statutes have significant consequences for employers. The former is far more expansive than the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) both in regard to covered private sector employers and covered events requiring advance notice to employees. The latter represents a statutory restriction on imposing non-competition agreements on employees in the broadcasting industry. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2383 Article: 2383 Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) Unrelenting gas prices have imposed financial difficulties upon employees and prompted some employers to consider strategies to offset increased commuting costs. Jackson Lewis LLP recently conducted a survey of more than 100 employers in New York's metropolitan commuter areas (Nassau, Queens, Suffolk and Westchester Counties) to determine how gas prices have affected the employer-employee relationship. The survey results confirm a noticeable effort on the part of employers of all sizes to accommodate commuters. Forty-four percent (44%) of respondents offer a transportation subsidy or pre-tax reimbursement program to employees to offset the costs of commuting. Another twenty-eight percent (28%) have considered implementing such a program to attract applicants. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2378 Article: 2378 Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) New York law requires that employers (with 20 or more employees) provide employees three hours of leave time each year for the purpose of donating blood. Recently, the New York Commissioner of Labor issued guidelines for implementing this leave. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2377 Article: 2377 Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) New York law requires employers to provide nursing mothers reasonable unpaid break time or paid break time or meal time to express breast milk in the workplace for up to three years after the birth of a child. Recently, the New York Commissioner of Labor issued guidelines requiring employers to provide written notice of this right to employees who are returning to work following the birth of a child. Notice can be provided individually to the affected employees, or to all employees, in either a handbook or a posting. An employee wishing to take this leave must give her employer advance notice. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2366 Article: 2366 Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) As reported in previous Vedder Price Labor Law Bulletins, New York amended its Labor Law last year to require employers to provide leave time for employees who wish to donate blood and to accommodate employees who need to express milk during the work day. New guidelines issued by the state Commissioner of Labor now require affected employers to give employees notice of their rights under these laws, and also limit the amount of notice an employee must give of an intention to exercise his or her right to take time off for these purposes. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2332 Article: 2332 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) In an effort to protect New York residents from the fraudulent use of their personal information, on July 8, 2008, New York Governor David A. Paterson signed into law a number of measures that strengthen New York State’s identity theft laws. The new laws, to take effect on January 4, 2009, create additional responsibilities for employers in how they handle personal information. Some key provisions of the new identity theft laws are summarized below. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?stateID=2325 Article: 2325 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST elin@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) New York requires employers to provide leave time for employees to donate blood and to provide nursing mothers reasonable break time to express breast milk in the workplace. Guidelines recently issued by the New York State Commissioner of Labor now require covered employers to notify employees of their rights under these laws.