New York Labor and Employment Law Report

On September 30, 2020, New York City’s amendments to the Earned Sick and Safe Time Act (ESSTA) became effective. The revisions changed ESSTA to be consistent with the New York Paid Sick Leave Law, and also added other requirements for employers. More information regarding the scope of these changes and their impact on employers can be found in our prior blog post.

Read More >> Employers with Employees in NYC Must Distribute Updated Earned Sick and Safe Time Notice Today

This is a brief reminder that private sector employers in New York should take note of a new payroll record-keeping requirement, quietly tucked away in the state’s massive “budget” legislation.

More specifically, Section 195(4) of the New York Labor Law will be amended – effective today, September 30, 2020 – to require that an employer’s weekly “payroll records” must include the “amount of sick leave provided to each employee.” Notably, the amendment does not require employee pay stubs to include this same sick leave information.

Read More >> New Record-Keeping Requirements in New York, Including, Effective Today, Employee Sick Time

This past Labor Day, Governor Cuomo signed legislation which requires all New York State public employers to adopt a plan for operations in the event of a declared public health emergency involving a communicable disease. The new legislation will constitute New York State Labor Law Section 27-c, and clearly serves as a political response to the effects of the sudden onset of the COVID-19 pandemic this past Spring. Such a plan must be finalized and published by April 1, 2021.

Read More >> Calling All Public Employers: Time to Develop a Pandemic Operations Plan

Following nationwide protests, federal, state and local lawmakers across the country have considered adopting legislation aimed at addressing racial inequalities in policing and modernizing longstanding police strategies, policies and procedures. In June 2020, the Governor of New York signed an executive order mandating police reform, and the New York Legislature correspondingly passed a series of laws which will have a significant impact on police operations throughout the State – ranging from small, local police departments to large, regional agencies.

On June 12, 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed Executive Order 203 (the Order), entitled New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative.  The Order requires every local government that has a police agency employing police officers (as defined under the Criminal Procedure Law § 1.20) to conduct a comprehensive review of its department’s force deployments, strategies, policies, procedures and practices. 

In addition, Executive Order 203 requires each local government to develop a plan to improve deployments, strategies, policies, procedures and practices of its police departments to address the particular needs of the community and promote community engagement to foster trust, fairness, legitimacy and address any racial bias and disproportionate policing of communities of color.

Read More >> Police Reform in New York State

On July 2, 2020, the New York Department of Health (DOH) published Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding the travel restrictions imposed by Executive Order 205 (EO 205) and Guidance issued by DOH on June 24, 2020, both effective on June 25, 2020. For more information about EO 205 and the DOH’s June 24th guidance (Original Guidance) on the travel restrictions, please see our earlier client alerts here and here.

Read More >> Update on the Impact of New York Travel Restrictions on Employers

Last week, the New York State Department of Labor formally adopted an amendment to the Minimum Wage Order for Miscellaneous Industries and Occupations that cuts the tip credit for all miscellaneous industry workers in half effective June 30, 2020. The amendment also eliminates the tip credit completely for miscellaneous industry workers effective December 31, 2020. As we previously reported on this blog, the NYSDOL recommended the elimination of the tip credit for miscellaneous industry workers after holding multiple hearings across the state regarding the impact of tip credits and Gov. Cuomo announced in January that the NYSDOL's recommendation would be implemented in two phases.

Read More >> Reminder: The Tip Credit for Employees Outside the Hospitality Industry Has Been Cut in Half Effective Today

On June 24, 2020, Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued Executive Order 205 (EO 205), which sets forth restricted travel areas within the U.S. for New Yorkers and those traveling to New York. If an individual arrives in New York after having spent more than 24 hours in a restricted area, the individual could be subject to a 14-day quarantine. This quarantine must be carried out in accordance with New York Department of Health (DOH) regulations for self-quarantining, and violators are subject to penalties of up to $10,000. The DOH reports that it will update the list of restricted states weekly. For more information on EO 205 and the DOH guidance, please see our earlier client alert.

Read More >> Impact of Executive Order 205 on Employee Travel

Earlier this week, in response to a nationwide outcry for police reform, the New York Legislature repealed Civil Rights Law § 50-a, a decades-old statute that largely prohibited the disclosure of police disciplinary records.  The justification included the following:  “Repeal of § 50-a will help the public regain trust that law enforcement officers and agencies may be held accountable for misconduct.”  Governor Cuomo has now signed the new legislation, which takes effect immediately.

Read More >> Repeal of Civil Rights Law Section 50-a: What This Means for the Disclosure of Police Disciplinary Records

In April 2020, Governor Cuomo signed new laws which amend the Wage Theft Prevention Act (WTPA). First passed in 2011, and amended in 2014, the WTPA mandates that employers provide employees with notices at their time of hire containing pay information and include related pay information on employee pay stubs. The amendments add new requirements to the WTPA notices and pay stubs for employees on public work contracts throughout the state who receive prevailing wage supplements and for home care aides in New York City and Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties.

Read More >> Amendments to New York's Wage Theft Prevention Act Impose New Notice Requirements Regarding Prevailing Wage Supplements and Home Care Aide Benefits

The budget bill signed by Governor Cuomo on April 3, 2020, includes an amendment to the Labor Law that requires New York employers to provide sick leave to employees. The legislation becomes effective 180 days after it was enacted, which appears to be September 30, 2020.

Read More >> New York Enacts Paid Sick Leave Law

The budget legislation signed by Governor Cuomo on April 3 includes an amendment to the Election Law that reverts back to the pre-2019 law regarding employee time off to vote.

Read More >> New York Budget Legislation Includes an Amendment Reverting Back to the Old Voting Leave Law

New York State recently published some answers to frequently asked questions regarding the COVID-19 paid sick leave law that was enacted last week.  The FAQs clarify some aspects of the law that were not clear from the text of the statute and give some insight into the manner in which the law will be interpreted and enforced.

Read More >> New York State Issues FAQs Regarding the New COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Law