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Sean Kirby is a partner in the Labor and Employment Practice Group in the firm's New York Office.

On January 10, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) published its final rule that revises its guidance regarding the standard for assessing whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The final rule rescinds the DOL’s previous final rule that was published at the end of President Trump’s term of office in January 2021. As we previously reported in the wake of the issuance of the Department of Labor’s October 13, 2022 proposed rule, the final rule returns to a totality-of-the-circumstances analysis akin to the “Economic Reality Test.” This new final rule ultimately has the effect of making it more difficult to classify workers as independent contractors. The new final rule goes into effect on March 11, 2024.Continue Reading The Department of Labor Issues New Final Rule for Independent Contractor Classification

On November 17, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a new law that further limits the terms employers may include in release agreements relating to claims of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. The law took effect immediately and further broadens the restrictions on release agreements already contained in New York General Obligations Law Section 5-336 (“Section 5-336”).Continue Reading New York Amends Its Release Agreement Law for the Third Time

On September 6, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation amending the New York Penal Law making wage theft a criminal larceny. Under the penal code, “[a] person steals property and commits larceny when, with intent to deprive another of property or to appropriate the same to himself or to a third person, he wrongfully takes, obtains or withholds such property from an owner thereof.” N.Y. Penal Law § 155.05(1). The amendment adds “compensation for labor services” to the definition of “property” applicable to larcenies. Id. § 155.00(1).Continue Reading New York Makes Wage Theft a Criminal Larceny in New Amendment to Its Penal Law

On May 26, 2023, New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed into law an amendment to the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) that bans employment discrimination on the basis of an individual’s height and/or weight. The amendment thus further expands the comprehensive list of characteristics already protected under the NYCHRL. The law will become effective November 22, 2023.Continue Reading Beyond Appearances: New York City Enacts Legislation Prohibiting Discrimination Based on Height and/or Weight

On February 6, 2023, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed the Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights, significantly expanding the rights and protections afforded to the 127,000 temporary workers in New Jersey. The new law, which will largely take effect on August 5, 2023, though certain provisions already took effect on May 7, 2023, sets new requirements for “temporary help service firms” that employ “temporary laborers” in a “designated classification placement.”Continue Reading New Jersey Significantly Expands Rights and Protections of Temporary Workers Through the Recently Enacted Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights

On December 19, 2022, the New Jersey Legislature passed a bill that, if signed by Governor Phil Murphy, would amend the effective date of amendments to the Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act (“NJ WARN”) that were originally passed in January of 2020. Those amendments were previously paused as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and under that pause would take effect 90 days after Governor Murphy’s Executive Order No. 103 expired. Because Executive Order No. 103 remains in effect, without any indication of when it may expire, the New Jersey Legislature passed this bill to set an effective date of such NJ WARN amendments.Continue Reading New Jersey Legislature Passes Bill to Set the Effective Date of Amendments to the New Jersey WARN Act

Last year New York state and local legislatures implemented a number of employment laws and ordinances that are set to take effect in 2023. This update summarizes these new legal requirements to help New York employers prepare for 2023.Continue Reading New Year, New Rules for Employers Doing Business in New York in 2023

On March 18, 2022, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued “Web Accessibility Guidance” for state and local governments and public accommodations under Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) (the “Guidance”). The Guidance, however, does not offer any new insights from the DOJ on the issue of website accessibility for state and local governments and public accommodations, and does not provide any specific technical standards for compliance. Instead, as the DOJ explained in the accompanying press release, the Guidance is merely intended to “offer[] plain language and user-friendly explanations to ensure that it can be followed by people without a legal or technical background.”
Continue Reading The Department of Justice Issues “Web Accessibility Guidance”

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