The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) has had a longstanding rule which allows employers to hold mandatory meetings where they can discuss unionization with their employees. Recently, these “captive audience” meetings have come under attack. At the federal level, the General Counsel of the NLRB issued a memo in April 2022 expressing opposition to captive audience meetings as a violation of the NLRA. There has also been a trend of state legislation impacting captive audience meetings, including in Maine, Oregon, Connecticut, and Minnesota. Recently, New York has joined this trend.
Read MoreAs 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 MoreAs we reported in previous alerts, New York City law imposes requirements on employers who use automated employment decision tools (“AEDTs”) to make employment decisions. Following suit, the NYS Senate introduced a bill that, if passed, would restrict employers’ use of not only AEDTs, but also electronic monitoring. While there is no analogous federal requirement relating to the use of AEDTs or electronic monitoring, the EEOC has also indicated that AI is an area of interest, recently releasing guidance on the application of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to employers’ use of AI tools.
Read MoreDiversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DEI”) initiatives and programming continue to be a priority for employers and are often reflected in employers’ public statements, hiring practices, and employee trainings. However, recent legal developments indicate that these programs and initiatives may be subject to increased scrutiny. Specifically, the June ruling from the Supreme Court on affirmative action in the higher education space and the uptick in “reverse” employment discrimination claims show a potential trend toward increasing challenges to such programs.
Read MoreThe 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.
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