Legislative Updates

The Occupational Safety and Heath Administration (OSHA) requires certain employers to maintain records of workplace injuries and illnesses, and these records may need to be posted in the workplace between February 1 and April 30, and/or filed electronically with OSHA by March 2nd. Here is a summary of these requirements: Employers with ten (10) or more employees must keep records of all serious...

Employers throughout New York are already required, in accordance with New York State law, to provide employees with "lactation rooms" in which they can express breast milk while shielded from view and free from intrusion. These rooms must be sanitary and contain, at a minimum, a chair and a flat surface on which a breast pump and other personal items can be placed. The designated room cannot be a...

Just as New York employers are learning to navigate the requirements of the New York Paid Family Leave Law (NYPFLL), some of the law’s entitlements are changing as of January 1, 2019. As a reminder, Paid Family Leave (PFL) may be taken by eligible employees on a continuous or intermittent basis for any of the following purposes: To bond with a child during the first 12 months following the birth,...

The New Jersey Earned Sick Leave Law takes effect on Monday, October 29, 2018 As of this date, all private employers in New Jersey are required to conspicuously post the law's Notice of Employee Rights in the workplace. This notice must also be distributed to all current employees by November 29, 2018, and to all newly hired employees thereafter. Pursuant to this new law, New Jersey employees are entitled...

Effective 10/15/18 Are you Cooperating? New York City's New "Cooperative Dialogue" Amendment is in Effect October 15, 2018. This amendment to the NYC Human Rights Law requires New York City employers with four or more employees to engage in a "cooperative dialogue" with employees who may be entitled to a workplace accommodation. The Amendment This new cooperative dialogue requirement obligates employers to do...

NYS Mandated Sexual Harassment Prevention Policy & Training Every employer must adopt and provide a sexual harassment prevention policy by:  October 9, 2018 Every employer in New York State is required to provide employees with sexual harassment prevention training that meets or exceeds the following minimum standards. Every employee must be provided with training on an annual basis, starting...

April 17, 2018   New York State Legislation   Achieve Pay Equity Law amended New York's existing equal pay act (N.Y. Labor Law §194) effective January 19, 2016. • No longer can rely on “any factor other than sex” to explain pay differential, but must be “bona fide factor other than sex” which cannot be based on a sex-based differential, must be job-related and consistent with business...

Pay Equity: Increasing Focus and Legislation May 2018 Lockstep with the #MeToo movement and the recent focus on sexual harassment, legislators in New York and New Jersey have also recently increased their focus on pay equity issues in the workplace. With a longer statute of limitations and the potential for treble damages, employee claims in this arena of pay discrimination could be amongst the most costly for...

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Is Your Business Prepared for New York's Response to #MeToo? Many New York employers may be caught by surprise that with the state budget recently signed by Governor Cuomo on April 12, 2018, employers are now subject to a number of new requirements under the New York law related to sexual harassment. Rather than following the normal legislative path of a stand-alone bill, these...

The IRS issued the 2018 W-4 form on February 28, 2018. Effective immediately, employers must implement the updated 2018 W-4 form for use by their employees in new hire kits or when employees request to make changes to their Federal withholdings. There are a few changes to the form due to the new tax reform law enacted in December of 2017. Employees may want to review their current withholding elections and...