On September 15, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a law that made dramatic changes to the enforceability of invention assignment provisions in employment agreements and likely in related agreements including offer letters and Confidentiality, Information and Invention Assignment Agreements (CIIAAs). The law took effect immediately and adds New York to a growing list of states with laws placing limits on invention assignment provisions.
On April 6, 2023, the New York City Department of Consumer and Workforce Protection (“DCWP”) promulgated its final regulations (the “Final Regulations”) regarding the New York City Automated Employment Decision Tools Law (“AEDTL”). In connection with the Final Regulations, the DCWP also notified employers that it would further delay enforcement of the AEDTL from April 15, 2023 to July 5, 2023. The Final Regulations, among other things, expand the definition of “machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics, or artificial intelligence” as used in the AEDTL and clarify specifics around the bias audits required by the AEDTL.
Since 2017, New York State’s Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act has required New York State employers to provide daily paid or unpaid break time to express milk up to three years following the birth of a child, and to provide a room for expressing milk, in privacy, close to the employee’s work location. On December 9, 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation, effective June 7, 2023, to clarify these obligations. New York City employers will be familiar with much of these clarifications, as they generally track requirements established in New York City’s 2018 lactation accommodations law previously reported here. But the New York State law is different in several important respects.
On March 3, 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul signed a series of amendments to the New York Pay Transparency Law (“NYPTL”) into law. As we previously reported, the NYPTL takes effect on September 17, 2023 and will require covered employers to include the following information in advertisements for internal and external “job, promotion, or transfer opportunities”:
Continue Reading New York Amends Statewide Pay Transparency Law
On December 21, 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul signed S.9427-A/A.10477 (the “New York Pay Transparency Law” or “NYPTL”), a pay transparency law that will affect most employers who do business in the state of New York. The New York Pay Transparency Law will take effect on September 18, 2023.
Continue Reading Governor Hochul Signs New York Pay Transparency Bill Into Law
On December 12, 2022, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (“DCWP”) announced that it would delay the date of its enforcement of the New York City Automated Employment Decision Tools Law (“AEDTL”) from January 1, 2023 to April 15, 2023. The change is due to the high volume of public comments the DCWP received in connection with its proposed regulations implementing the AEDTL, along with the DCWP’s plans to hold a second public hearing before finalizing those regulations.
Continue Reading NYC Delays Enforcement of Automated Employment Decision Tools Law to April 15, 2023
On March 16, 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law two amendments to the State’s workplace anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws.
Continue Reading New York State Amends Its Workplace Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Laws
UPDATE: this law became effective on December 24, 2021, retroactive to November 2, 2021.
As previously discussed in our December 10, 2021 article, the New York City Council passed a bill requiring New York City employers to provide employees who are parents or legal guardians of a child with four hours of paid COVID-19 child vaccination time, per injection and per child (“Child Vaccination Leave”). The bill amended New York City’s Earned Sick and Safe Time Act, and became effective on December 24, 2021. The bill went into effect 30 days after it was passed by the New York City Council on November 23, 2021, and is retroactive to November 2, 2021 when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted to authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use in children aged 5 to 11 years old.
On December 6, 2021, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a vaccine mandate which requires that all private sector employees who work in a workplace in the presence of another worker, or who interact with a member of the public, be vaccinated by December 27, 2021. The mandate applies to approximately 184,000 businesses in the City. It extends a vaccine mandate to those employees who were not previously covered by the “Key to NYC” vaccination requirements. Accordingly, private sector employees who report to work in person or interact with the public will need to be vaccinated by December 27.
Continue Reading New York City Requires Private Sector Employees to Be Vaccinated by December 27
On November 23, 2021, the New York City Council passed a bill requiring New York City employers to provide employees who are parents or legal guardians of a child with four hours of paid COVID-19 child vaccination time, per injection and per child (“Child Vaccination Leave”). The bill amends New York City’s Earned Sick and Safe Time Act, and is currently awaiting Mayor de Blasio’s signature. The legislation is retroactive to November 2, 2021 when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted to authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use in children aged 5 to 11 years old.
Continue Reading NYC Council Passes Bill Granting Paid Sick Leave to Parents Vaccinating Children Against COVID-19
On November 8, 2021, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law (the “Law”) that will require employers to provide written notice to employees before engaging in electronic monitoring of telephone, email, and internet access or usage. The Law will take effect on May 7, 2022. Key takeaways are summarized below.
Continue Reading New York State Employers to Require Transparency in Electronic Monitoring