The New York State Department of Labor (“DOL”) amended the regulations implementing the New York Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (“NY WARN”). NY WARN requires employers with 50 or more employees in New York to provide 90 days’ advanced notice in the event of a mass layoff, plant closing, relocation, or reduction in work hours. According to the DOL, the amendments were issued to address the post-pandemic employment climate and to simplify the language of the regulations to ensure businesses understand their obligations under the NY WARN Act.
Read MoreOn June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Groff v. Dejoy, a case involving an Evangelical Christian USPS worker who sought a religious accommodation to abstain from work on Sundays. The highly anticipated decision alters nearly 50 years of federal caselaw regarding what constitutes an undue hardship sufficient to justify an employer’s denial of a request for a religious accommodation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”). The ruling establishes a heightened standard for employers, who now must show that the burden of granting a religious accommodation would result in “substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular business” before denying an accommodation.
Read MoreAs we reported in previous alerts, New York City enacted a law imposing restrictions on NYC employers who use Automated Employment Decision Tools (“AEDTs”) to make employment decisions. The law went into effect on January 1, 2023, and enforcement began on July 5, 2023, by the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (“DCWP”). As DCWP’s enforcement obligations ramp up, the agency released an FAQ document, providing guidance on the requirements of the new law. This guidance supplements the rules implementing the law that were published by DCWP earlier this year.
Read MoreEmployers may recall that at the close of 2022, a flurry of federal and state legislation concerning the rights of nursing employees was enacted. This legislation included the federal PUMP Act, which expanded nursing employees’ access to break time and space to express breast milk under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and an amendment to the New York State Labor Law, which expanded accommodations and protections for nursing employees. The US Department of Labor and NYS Department of Labor both released guidance further clarifying the impact of the new laws.
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