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As we previously reported, the New York City Council passed legislation in December 2021 requiring New York City employers to include a maximum and minimum salary in all job postings (for new jobs as well as internal promotions and transfer opportunities). Mayor Eric Adams returned the bill unsigned to the city council on January…

Even though 2022 is just underway, the NYC employment law landscape is already red hot. In mid-December, the city council passed a first-of-its-kind bill requiring Big Apple employers to include a maximum and minimum salary in all job postings, which includes new jobs as well as internal promotions and transfer opportunities. For employers that are…

As we previously reported, effective December 27, 2021, all private sector employers in New York City will be required to implement a mandatory vaccination policy for their workers. Today, guidance was issued clarifying this new mandate and related employer obligations. We have summarized what you need to know about this guidance below.

Clarification on the vaccination requirement

By December 27, employers must require all workers to provide proof that they have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. (For the purposes of this mandate, a “worker” is a full- or part-time staff member, employer, employee, intern, volunteer, or contractor of a covered entity.) Employers will be required to verify and maintain a record of each worker’s proof of vaccination. In addition, by December 27, employers must complete an affirmation of compliance with this requirement and post it in a public place.

By February 10, 2022, employers must require that all workers provide proof that they have received a second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine (for Pfizer or Moderna vaccines). If such proof is not provided, the worker must be excluded from the workplace until they can provide such proof, unless an exception applies (as detailed below).

In addition, the guidance confirms the following critical points:

  • The mandate pertains to New York City workplaces and a worker’s residence is not relevant to its applicability.
  • Employers are not required to fire or discipline workers who refuse to comply with this mandate. Rather, the guidance indicates that “[a]s long as you keep the worker out of the workplace, it is your decision whether to discipline or fire such worker, or if the worker can contribute to your business while working remotely.”
  • Employers with multiple business locations must post the affirmation of compliance in a conspicuous location in each business location. However, vaccination and reasonable accommodation records may be stored in one central location, provided that each business location has contact information available to offer to City inspectors to put them in touch with the business representative who is centrally storing such records for the business.
  • Employers may adopt a vaccination policy that is stricter than the requirements of the New York City order, as long as it is not discriminatory or otherwise unlawful.
  • Coworking spaces must comply with this mandate vis-à-vis their renters.

Continue Reading Everything you need to know about NYC’s employer vaccine mandate

Earlier today, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that, effective December 27, 2021 and as part of an expansion of the city’s “Key to NYC” program, all private-sector employers in the Big Apple will be required to adopt a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for their employees. The expanded program will also include additional…

Back in 2015, New York City joined the “Ban the Box” bandwagon and passed a law that delays when criminal background checks can be run on most Big Apple job applicants. Specifically, the Fair Chance Act (FCA) prohibits NYC employers from inquiring about a job applicant’s criminal conviction history until after a conditional offer of employment is extended and requires that employers undertake a multi-step process if they want to rescind a job offer based on the results of a criminal history inquiry.

Against this backdrop, on January 10, 2021, the New York City Council passed important amendments to the FCA, which amendments went into effect July 29, 2021. As detailed below, the amendments significantly expand the scope of the FCA and impose additional affirmative obligations on New York City employers.
Continue Reading Sweeping amendments to New York City’s “Ban the Box” law are now in effect

New York City first adopted a local paid sick leave law in 2014. Over the ensuing six years, the City legislature amended the law several times, including in 2018 to add “safe leave” as a form of paid time off. Late last month, the City amended the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) yet again – this time to align the Big Apple’s local law with the recently-enacted statewide Paid Safe and Sick Leave law (NYSPSL). As detailed below, the bill builds on and expands the ESSTA’s existing paid safe and sick leave requirements.

Scope of coverage

To start, the amendments modify the scope of workers covered by the ESSTA. Under the prior iteration of the law, the ESSTA only applied to individuals who worked in New York City more than 80 hours in a calendar year. The amended law, however, applies to all individuals employed within the City, regardless of the number of hours worked.
Continue Reading New York City passes key amendments to paid safe and sick leave law

The enactment of paid sick leave laws began as a state and local employment law trend roughly a decade ago, gaining substantial momentum in the mid-2010’s.  Amidst this wave, New York City adopted a paid sick leave law in April 2014.  The City Council later amended the law – in May 2018 – to provide employees with “safe leave” as well.  And in 2019, Westchester County enacted its own paid sick and safe leave law.

Now, more than six years after NYC adopted the original iteration of its paid sick leave law, New York State has enacted its own statewide paid sick leave law (NYPSL), which takes effect on September 30, 2020.  Principally, NYPSL provides paid time off for certain sickness-related reasons, with the specific amount of time varying based on employer size and net income.  Below is a summary of the new law’s key provisions.
Continue Reading Everything you need to know about New York’s forthcoming statewide paid sick leave law

Independent contractors have long been excluded from the protections afforded by traditional workplace anti-discrimination laws. That is no longer the case in New York State and City. In recent months, legislators in both Albany and Manhattan have extended substantial workplace-related protections – once only afforded to traditional employees – to freelancers, consultants, and the like (that is, independent contractors). We will discuss these measures below.

New York State

Effective October 2019, the antidiscrimination provisions of the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL) now protect nonemployees, such as contractors, subcontractors, vendors, consultants, temporary workers, “gig” workers, and other non-employee persons providing services pursuant to a contract. In practice, this means that independent contractors may now pursue claims of workplace discrimination, harassment, and retaliation under the NYSHRL. This change is particularly impactful when considered in conjunction with the recently lowered standard for proving claims of harassment.

At present, these laws only apply to entities with four or more employees. However, effective February 8, 2020, the protections will cover all businesses operating within the state.
Continue Reading New York State and City expand Human Rights Law protections to freelancers and independent contractors

New York State and City legislators have enacted a flurry of new workplace-related regulations in the past few years. The new laws touch upon everything from high-profile issues like sexual harassment prevention and paid family leave, to seemingly more mundane matters like paid time off to vote. With this bustle of legislative activity, it is entirely possible that one or more of the new laws flew under your radar. With that in mind, we want to flag some of the more important New York State and City legislative developments from the past few years (with corresponding links to our prior posts on these topics):
Continue Reading Don’t Fuggedaboutit: Keeping up with the ever-changing New York State and City employment law landscape

On October 15, 2018, the New York City Human Rights Law (CHRL) was amended to require employers to engage in a “cooperative dialogue” with individuals who may be entitled to a reasonable accommodation under the CHRL.

Whereas federal and state laws require an “interactive process” to determine a reasonable accommodation, the CHRL requires that employers go one step further – employers must engage in a good faith written or oral dialogue concerning:

  • The person’s accommodation needs
  • Potential accommodations that may address the person’s accommodation needs, including alternatives to a requested accommodation, and
  • The difficulties that such potential accommodations may pose for the employer.

Continue Reading End of year reminder for NY employers: NYC’s cooperative dialogue law is in effect