On April 16, 2015, the New York City Council overwhelmingly passed a bill to make it unlawful for most employers to use an applicant’s or employee’s credit history for employment purposes, except in certain, specified circumstances. If the mayor signs the bill, as expected, New York City will join the growing list of jurisdictions that have enacted similar laws: California, Chicago, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.
Articles About New York Labor And Employment Law.
New York City Human Rights ‘Tester’ Law Set to Uncover Discrimination in Hiring
City anti-discrimination agents posing as job applicants will soon be knocking on employersβ doors in the five boroughs to ferret out discrimination in hiring practices. Seeking to strengthen the New York City Human Rights Commissionβs transparency in enforcing the New York City Human Rights Law, according to an announcement, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on April 20 signed legislation establishing an official employment discrimination testing and investigation program that could hale employers into court to face complaints of unlawful bias in hiring, among other things. The law was passed by the City Council on March 31.
New York City Council Tightens Employers Use of Information of Applicants, Employees
Legislation being touted as the strictest in the country has been passed by the New York City Council prohibiting employers generally from requesting or using the consumer credit histories of applicants or employees for employment purposes, or otherwise discriminating against applicants or employees with respect to hiring, compensation, or the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment based on their consumer credit history. The enactment follows laws already in effect in numerous jurisdictions, including Nevada, California, and Maryland.
NY AG Calls Out Use of On-Call Shifts in Retail Industry
On April 10, 2015, the New York State Office of the Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman sent letters to 13 major national retailers, requesting detailed information concerning the companiesβ New York staffing and scheduling policies and practices.
Labor Law Update (Winter/Spring 2015)
Is the work being performed a βprotected activityβ under New York Labor Law?
NY Ethics Opinion Provides Guidance for LinkedIn Users
LinkedIn is perhaps the go to social media site for professionals seeking to promote their achievements and build their brand. LinkedIn has carved a niche within the social media landscape by integrating networking capabilities with the specific needs of professionals hoping to build relationships. Of course, the site also allows users to βendorseβ a connection for certain practice areas or to write recommendations as to the userβs skill-set. It is this component of the site that has generated professional ethics issues and opinions. Moreover, the distinction between permissible networking and improper advertising is not always well defined. The NY County Lawyers Association Professional Ethics Committee recently published a formal ethics opinion that provides guidance to attorneys using sites such as LinkedIn.
New York State Supreme Court Finds 24-Hour Home Care Attendants Must be Paid for Sleep and Meal Periods
The New York State Department of Labor (“NY DOL”) has consistently enforced the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”) as permitting third-party employers of 24-hour home care attendants to pay their employees for 13 hours of a 24-hour shift, provided the employee is afforded eight hours of sleep, five of which are uninterrupted, and three uninterrupted hours for meals.1 A recent decision by the New York State Supreme Court (the highest trial-level court for civil cases in the New York state court system) has rejected the NY DOL’s interpretation of the NYLL and refused to find binding a New York federal court decision that relied on a 2010 NY DOL Opinion Letter addressing wage practices for home care attendants.2 Instead, in Andryeyeva v. New York Home Attendant Agency, the New York state court 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 her client, and certified a class action of over 1,000 home care attendants who worked 24-hour shifts.3 There are additional cases raising these same issues pending in the New York state court, including at least one other filed by the same plaintiff’s firm.4 Therefore, home care agencies operating in New York are at risk of copy-cat litigation and should be diligent with their pay practices.
Workers’ Compensation Quarterly – Winter 2015
Timely summaries of decisions from across New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania concerning workers’ compensation matters. It also provides the latest news regarding litigation, changes in interpretive language used by the courts, permanency determinations, and more.
The Tip Credit: Won’t Be What It Is Now for New York Employers
Executive Summary: On February 24, 2015, the Commissioner of Labor accepted the recommendation of the New York State Department of Labor’s (NYSDOL) Wage Board (the “Wage Board”) for a 50 percent increase in the minimum hourly rate for tipped workers, from $5.00 to $7.50 an hour. As discussed in our February 4, 2015 Alert, The Diminishing Tip Credit: Another Reason it is becoming Harder to Comply with Wage & Hour Laws in New York, the increase takes effect December 31, 2015.
New York Court Refuses to Enforce Agreement’s Covenant Not to Compete Where Employer Breached the Agreement First
Executive Summary: The right to enforce a covenant not to compete may be lost when the employer first violates the terms of the same agreement, says a New York appeals court. In Fewer v. GFI Grp. Inc. et al., 124 A.D.3d 457, 2015 WL 176227 (First Dep’t. Jan. 15, 2015), the Appellate Division covering New York County rejected GFI’s attempt to enforce the covenant not to compete contained in the employment agreement of former derivatives desk president Donald Fewer because GFI breached the terms of the same agreement by demoting Fewer before he resigned. That breach also cost GFI the chance use the “employee choice” doctrine as an independent basis for enforcement of its non-compete provision.
The Diminishing Tip Credit: Another Reason it is becoming Harder to Comply with Wage & Hour Laws in New York
Executive Summary: On January 30, 2015, the New York State Department of Labor’s (“NYSDOL”) Wage Board (the “Wage Board”) voted to recommend a fifty percent increase in the minimum hourly rate for tipped workers, from $5.00 to $7.50 an hour.
Amendments to New York’s Wage Theft Prevention Act: A Double-Edged Sword for Employers
Executive Summary: On December 29, 2014, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill into law that amends the New York Wage Theft Prevention Act (the “Act”). While the amendments relieve New York employers from some administrative burdens, that is where the good news ends for employers.
New York Employers Relieved of Annual Wage Theft Prevention Act Notice Requirement
New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed legislation (S.5885-B) on December 29, 2014, eliminating New Yorkβs annual wage notice requirement (mandating a written notice of pay rates and other information during the month of January to all employees, regardless of the timing of pay increases or date of hire) codified in New York Labor Law Β§ 195 by the 2011 Wage Theft Prevention Act (WTPA). This change does not modify other notice requirements under the WTPA, New York Department of Labor Wage Orders, or federal law as applicable.
Amendment to New York Wage Theft Prevention Act Removes Annual Notice Requirement
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law legislation to repeal the notice provision of the Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2010. Effective January 2, 2015, the law (Chapter 537) removes the notice requirement that, under the previous act, required employers annually to provide employees with a written notice regarding wage information.
Key Changes to New York’s Wage Theft Prevention Act Become Law
After a delay of nearly six months, on December 29, 2014, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into a law a bill (A 8106-C, S5885-B) that amends the state’s Labor Law, including the Wage Theft Prevention Act (the WTPA), and the law’s application to limited liability companies, contractors and successor employers. The key provisions of the amendments, which become effective on February 27, 2015, (i) eliminate the burdensome annual wage notice requirement; (ii) significantly increase penalties for non-compliance with the WTPA; (iii) expand contractor accountability, successor liability and personal liability for violations; and (iv) create a Wage Theft Prevention Enforcement Account.