As employers are aware, it is important to review workplace rules, policies, and employee handbooks on a regular basis for legal compliance given the ever-changing landscape of federal, state, and local labor and employment laws. A recent National Labor Relations Board ruling further underscores the importance of regular review, even for employers that are not unionized. The decision, Stericycle, establishes a heightened standard for evaluating when facially neutral workplace policies unlawfully restrict employees in exercising their rights under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act and overturns years of Board precedents regarding work policies. The ruling raises challenging questions about how to craft work policies and how the Board will determine whether a workplace policy is impermissible when applying the new standard.
Read MoreSince October 2018, all employers with one employee in New York have been required to implement a sexual harassment policy and ensure employees go through an annual training. Both the policy and the training must meet certain minimum standards, and the state has developed a model policy and model training that employers may, but are not required to, use to meet their obligations under the law. We previously reported that the New York State Department of Labor (“NY DOL”) proposed revisions to the state’s model sexual harassment policy. On April 11, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced the publication of the final updated versions of the model policy and model training materials.
Read MoreOn November 8, 2021, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law which requires employers to provide notice to employees of the employer’s electronic monitoring of telephone, email, and internet access and usage. This law will go into effect on May 7, 2022.
Under this law, all private employers with a place of business in New York State must provide written notice to all new employees, upon hire, if they plan to monitor or intercept telephone or email communications or internet access or usage by the employee.
Read More