Legislative Updates

New York State Enacts New Legislation Strengthening Penalties Against Employers for Wage Theft New York State Governor Hochul recently signed legislation (S2832-A/A154-A) to make wage theft a form of larceny and allow prosecutors to seek stronger criminal penalties against employers who steal wages from workers. Specifically, the new legislation amends Section 155.00 of the New York Penal Law to add...

New York City Enacts Legislation Prohibiting Discrimination on the Basis of Height and Weight New York City has passed legislation amending the New York City Human Rights Law (“NYCHRL”) to prohibit discrimination on the basis of height and weight. The law will become effective November 22, 2023. The new law amends the NYCHRL to include height and weight as protected categories and New York City...

Reminder: NYS Pay Transparency Law Effective September 17, 2023 As we previously reported, effective September 17, 2023, employers will be subject to the New York State Pay Transparency law. Pursuant to the new law, employers who advertise a job, promotion, or transfer opportunity must include: (1) the compensation or a range of compensation for such job, promotion, or transfer opportunity; and (2) the job...

U.S. Department of Labor Proposes to Raise the Exempt Salary Threshold On August 30, 2023, the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced a proposed rule that would significantly increase the minimum weekly salary to qualify for the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) white collar exemptions. The minimum salary would increase from $684 per week (the annual equivalent of $35,568) to $1,059...

New York State Minimum Wage to Increase in 2024 New York State Governor Kathy Hochul has signed the New York State 2024 Budget Agreement into law, which contained increases to the State’s minimum wage rates. Effective January 1, 2024, the minimum wage will increase incrementally over the next few years based on the region where employees work as follows: Effective Date New York City, Westchester,...

USCIS Announces Permanent Option for Remote Inspection for E-Verify Users and New Form I-9 Permanent Remote Review On July 25, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) published a final rule that will provide eligible employers filling out the Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 an optional alternative to the in-person physical document examination method that employers have followed...

Supreme Court Redefines Standard for Religious Accommodation Requests In a recent holding, the United States Supreme Court has redefined the religious accommodation standard under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”). In Groff v. DeJoy, the Court held that an employer must allow a religious accommodation for employees unless the employer can show the burden of doing so “is...

The New York State Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (“NY WARN Act”) requires covered businesses to provide early warnings of closures and layoffs to all affected. Recently, the New York Department of Labor issued final regulations making changes to the NY WARN Act regulations and on June 21, 2023, those amendments took effect. Some of the notable changes include the following: Employee...

Update Your EEOC Poster to Ensure Compliance with the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act As a reminder, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”) went into effect on June 27, 2023. The PWFA requires employers to post a notice describing the various protections under the new law. On June 27, 2023, employers must remove their old EEOC “Know Your Rights” posters and replace them with the updated version,...

Reminder: New York State Protections for Nursing Workers Effective June 7, 2023 As we previously reported, effective June 7, 2023, new legislation requires all private sector employers throughout New York State to meet new time, space and notice requirements for accommodating employees who pump breast milk in the workplace. Notably, the new law requires employers to adopt a policy developed by the New...