Last week, New York’s Governor signed a bill into law that effectively prohibits employers from accessing employees’ or job applicants’ personal social media accounts. The law goes into effect on March 12, 2024.
Continue Reading New Restrictions on New York Employers’ Access to Employee and Applicant Social Media Accounts

Pending legislation in New York (Senate Bill S3100A/Assembly Bill A1278B) will result in the sharp curtailment of post-employment non-competes if passed into law.  This development is concerning to many employers operating in New York or employing individuals currently living there, but for the moment, it is far from clear whether the current (or any) form of the bill may be passed into law.Continue Reading New York May Become Hostile Territory in Shifting Non-Compete Landscape

On December 21, 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed New York State’s pay transparency bill into law. Effective September 17, 2023, the new law will require employers to disclose the anticipated compensation range for any advertised job posting.
Continue Reading New York State Enacts Wage Transparency Law

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has signed S.B. 4394, an amendment of Section 740 to the New York Labor Law that dramatically expands safeguards against employer whistleblower retaliation. The new law expands protected activity that entitles an employee to whistleblower protection, the categories of covered workers protected by the statute, and the definition of prohibited retaliatory actions, among other changes.  The new law takes effect on January 26, 2022. Some of the key provisions that New York employers should carefully review are listed below.
Continue Reading New York Substantially Expands Employee Whistleblower Protections

Thanks to a recent bill signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo on February 6, 2020, striking employees in the State of New York must now only wait fourteen days until they are eligible to receive unemployment benefits. Senate Bill 7310 amends New York Labor Law § 592, reducing the waiting period for unemployment benefit eligibility for striking employees from seven weeks to two weeks.
Continue Reading Recently Passed New York State Law Reduces Waiting Period for Strikers to Receive Unemployment Benefits

With the age of artificial intelligence unfolding, products aimed at automating the recruiting and hiring process are hitting the market with increasing frequency.  Companies have been utilizing AI for tasks such as screening resumes, and even interviewing candidates and assessing whether they will be successful employees.
Continue Reading New York City Introduces Bill to Regulate the Use of AI in Employment Decisions

In the last days of 2019, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a law that bans employers from discriminating against employees based on hairstyles that are associated with race. In doing so, New Jersey joined New York and California—both of which enacted similar legislation earlier in 2019—in prohibiting hair discrimination in the workplace.
Continue Reading New Jersey Joins New York and California’s Bans on Hair Discrimination

Legislative responses to the #metoo movement continue to develop across the country.  Joining this movement, New York State and New York City recently have passed some of the strongest anti-harassment laws on the books. 
Continue Reading #metoo In New York: New Sexual Harassment Laws in New York State and New York City