The federal WARN Act requires covered employers to provide 60 days advance notice of a qualifying reduction in force, but the law’s complex patchwork of rules can make an employer’s head spin trying to figure out if/when the law applies and what the law requires. In the cheat sheet below, we summarize the key considerations … Read more

In a prior post, we discussed the requirements of New York’s new Retail Worker Safety Act. The law, which was originally signed by Governor Hochul in September 2024 with an effective date of March 4, 2025, aimed at improving workplace safety for retail workers in New York by requiring interactive training, workplace violence prevention policies, … Read more

Starting January 1, 2025, all New York employers must offer up to 20 hours of paid prenatal personal leave to pregnant employees every 52 weeks. This leave is intended for healthcare services related to pregnancy, such as medical checkups, tests, procedures, and consultations with a healthcare provider. This new benefit is in addition to the … Read more

Update: In February 2025, Governor Hochul signed an amendment to the new Retail Worker Safety Act.  A blog post discussing modified timeframes for employer compliance as well as modified employer responsibilities is available here. *** A new legislation (the Retail Worker Safety Act) aimed at improving workplace safety for retail workers in New York was … Read more

Beginning January 1, 2025, all New York employers must provide up to 20 hours of “paid prenatal personal leave” in any 52-week period to pregnant employees.  The leave may be used for any health care services received by an employee during their pregnancy or related to such pregnancy, such as physical examinations, medical procedures, monitoring … Read more

In March 2024, the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (NYCDCWP) published a new Workers’ Bill of Rights. The Workers’ Bill of Rights is a webpage, which contains a comprehensive summary of NYC employment laws enforced by NYCDCWP, such as paid sick and safe leave, temporary schedule changes, freelance workers’ rights, commuter benefits, and … Read more

Update: On August 20, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Ryan, LLC v. Federal Trade Commission blocked enforcement of the FTC’s rule on a national basis and for all employers. *** On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finalized a rule prohibiting non-compete agreements and policies that … Read more

Last year, Governor Kathy Hochul signed the “Freelance Isn’t Free” Act (the “Act”) into law.  Originally, the Act was to take effect on May 20, 2024, but will now take effect on August 28, 2024. In 2016, NYC passed a similar law of the same name.  The New York State version of the law extends … Read more

With Valentine’s Day approaching, what better topic than workplace romance. When a workplace romance ends, it can have all kinds of repercussions.   For example, the dumped co-worker might attempt to woo back their former lover, and those attempts could be viewed as contributing to a hostile work environment if the attention is no longer welcome. … Read more

Late last year, I testified as an expert witness before the New York Department of Labor (NY DOL) in a misclassification hearing.  The hearing was the result of a NY DOL audit in which the auditors determined that certain workers were inappropriately classified as independent contractors and, instead, should have been classified as employees. The … Read more