Workplace Legal Alert
PWFA Regulations Issued
The federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) requires that employers with at least 15 employees provide a reasonable accommodation for known limitations of employees who have a physical or mental condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, unless it creates an undue hardship (significant difficulty or expense) on the employer’s operation. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently issued regulations, effective June 18, 2024, expanding on the obligations under the PWFA.
Paid Lactation Breaks and Prenatal Leave
Starting June 19, 2024, all employers in New York will be required to provide paid 30-minute breaks, and permit an employee to use existing paid break time or meal time for time in excess of 30 minutes, to employees who need to express breast milk for a nursing child. Also, starting Jan. 1, 2025, pregnant employees are eligible for up to 20 hours of paid time off in a 52-week period for doctor appointments, testing, medical procedures or other types of prenatal care.
FTC Bans Non-Competes
On April 23, 2024, the United States Federal Trade Commission announced a new rule banning non-compete agreements. The rule is effective September 4, 2024.
Pay Transparency
New York’s Pay Transparency Law requires employers with 4 or more employees to include a range of pay for all advertised job, promotion or transfer opportunities. The range must consist of a minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly rate believed to be accurate at the time of posting.
Freelance Isn’t Free
New York’s Freelance Isn’t Free Act (FIFA), effective August 28, 2024, imposes new legal obligations upon companies that hire an independent contractor to perform services valued at $800 or more.
Federal Overtime Salary Thresholds Increase
On April 23, 2024, the United States Department of Labor issued a final rule increasing the salary thresholds used to determine whether executive, administrative, professional, outside sales, and computer employees must be paid overtime under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
New York City Releases New Required Workers Bill of Rights Poster
On May 1, 2024, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection released a multilingual poster that all employers in New York City must distribute to all current employees and new hires beginning July 1, 2024
Employer Access to Social Media Accounts Restricted
A new law recently went into effect in New York restricting employers from requesting or accessing employees’ and applicants’ personal social media accounts.
Notice of Unemployment Insurance Benefits Required
New York State Labor regulations have long required employers to provide workers with notice of their right to file for Unemployment Insurance when separated from employment. The law was recently expanded to require notice when there is “an interruption of continued employment resulting in total or partial unemployment”.
Minimum Wage and Exempt Salary Thresholds Increase
On January 1, 2024, New York’s minimum wage will increase to $16/hour in New York City, Westchester, and Long Island, and $15/hour for the rest of the state. Looking ahead, the minimum wage will increase by $0.50 in 2025 and 2026. In 2027, it will increase annually at a rate determined by the Consumer Price Index.
Recreational Cannabis is Now Legal in New York
On March 31, 2021, the Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act (MRTA) legalized the recreational use of cannabis by adults in New York. The first legal sale of recreational cannabis took place at an dispensary in Manhattan on December 29, 2022.
How does legal cannabis effect the workplace?
Accommodating Pregnancy and Nursing Mothers in the Workplace
Long before the enactment of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, New York law prohibited discrimination against disabled employees and required employers to provide a reasonable accommodation to allow them to perform the essential job functions. However, many courts had determined that pregnancy alone was not a disability entitled to an accommodation.
EEOC Releases Updated “Know Your Rights” Required Poster
The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released an updated poster that employers are required to prominently display in the workplace.
New York Paid Family Leave
Starting January 1, 2018, New York state joined California, New Jersey and Rhode Island in requiring employers to give employees paid time off for family medical leave.
Proving Hours Worked In Overtime Lawsuits
An employee suing for unpaid wages or overtime has the burden to prove his case. For instance, an employee claiming he was not paid overtime wages must produce evidence showing he worked more than 40 hours a week and was not paid for all the overtime hours worked (at one and one-half times his regular hourly rate).
Supreme Court: Religious Discrimination Motivated By Ignorance Still Unlawful
In the March 12, 2015 edition of The Legal Workplace Grind, we discussed oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission vs. Abercrombie & Fitch. While we correctly predicted the High Court would rule in favor of the employee on whose behalf the EEOC sued the clothing retailer, my characterization of that case as one presenting tough legal questions was apparently misguided.
New York Will Accommodate Pregnant Workers
It’s been a long day and your feet are killing you. You make your way down the steamy subway platform and are fortunate to score a seat on the southbound A train out of Penn Station. Next stop – 14th Street where you see a very pregnant strap-hanger swept on board among the jostling rush-hour throng. You immediately offer her your seat because it’s the right thing to do and one of the unwritten rules of Gotham – we accommodate the elderly, disabled and pregnant.
Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold: Retaliation Under the FLSA
In the American workplace, for example, there are a number of federal laws that specifically prohibit retaliation against employees who engage in “protected activity”. The general purpose of these anti-retaliation provisions are to ensure that employees who exercise rights guaranteed by law are not punished for that activity. Without those protections, the law would lose its teeth and be rendered a mere paper tiger (a phrase coined by another notorious dictator – the Chinese Communist Chairman Mao Zedong).
Pregnancy Discrimination Act Doesn’t Require Accommodation
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), enacted in 1978, made it clear that discrimination in employment based on pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions violates the prohibition on sex discrimination found in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
A Sikh, a Hasid, a Muslim and a Nun Walk Into Abercrombie & Fitch
The problem that paved the way to the Supreme Court, was that Abercrombie refused to hire Ms. Elauf because it assumed she wore the scarf for religious reasons and that her religious practice would not allow her to comply with its “Look Policy”.
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Workplace Legal Alerts
PWFA Regulations Issued
As discussed in the February 2023 Workplace...
Paid Lactation Breaks and Prenatal Leave
As previously reported in my February 2023...
FTC Bans Non-Competes
On April 23, 2024, the United States Federal...
Pay Transparency
New York’s Pay Transparency Law requires...
Freelance Isn’t Free
New York’s Freelance Isn’t Free Act (FIFA),...
Federal Overtime Salary Thresholds Increase
On April 23, 2024, the United States Department...
New York City Releases New Required Workers Bill of Rights Poster
In December of 2023, New York City enacted a new...
Employer Access to Social Media Accounts Restricted
A new law recently went into effect in New York...
Notice of Unemployment Insurance Benefits Required
New York State Labor regulations have long...
Minimum Wage and Exempt Salary Thresholds Increase
On January 1, 2024, New York’s minimum wage will...