Weeks before the uproar over revelations that U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty paid her chief of staff a $5,000 severance package and signed a non-disclosure agreement concerning sexual harassment allegations made against him, the Connecticut state Senate raised Senate Bill 503, An Act Requiring Approval of State Agency Settlement and Nondisclosure Agreements.” The bill, if approved by the General Assembly – would require legislative approval of certain payments made to state employees pursuant to a nondisclosure or separation agreement.
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Take Note: the Massachusetts Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Is Now In Effect!
A new Massachusetts law significantly enhances existing anti-discrimination protections for pregnant employees. The “Massachusetts Pregnant Workers Fairness Act,” effective April 1, 2018, prevents discrimination against, and expressly protects, employees who are pregnant or are experiencing pre- and post-birth pregnancy-related medical needs, including, but not limited to, lactation, expressing breast milk, and recovering from childbirth.
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Updated Massachusetts Equal Pay Law to Take Effect on July 1, 2018
The Massachusetts Equal Pay Act (“MEPA”), which amends the Massachusetts Equal Pay Law, goes into effect July 1, 2018, and applies to all employers regardless of their size, including the state and its municipalities. Massachusetts was the first state in the country to pass an equal pay law and, in fact, preceded the federal Equal Pay Act by 18 years. The 2018 amendments make MEPA one of the strongest pay equity laws in the country, intended to close the reported 84.3.% pay gap for working women in Massachusetts. In advance of this upcoming deadline, Attorney General Maura Healey (“AG”) issued MEPA Guidance on March 1, 2018.
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New York City Council Introduces Package of Legislation Aimed at Strengthening Anti-Sexual Harassment Policies
The #TimesUp and #MeToo movements continue to be a force of national reckoning over sexual assault and harassment. This month, the New York City Council harnessed the energy from those social movements and transformed it into legislative action by introducing a series of bills aimed at preventing sexual harassment in the workplace. The Stop Sexual Harassment in NYC Act is a package of eleven bills that would significantly expand the obligations of many employers to prevent sexual harassment.
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Attorneys General Support Ending Arbitration of Workplace Sexual Harassment Claims
Last week, the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) sent a letter to leaders in Congress, urging the passage of legislation that would prohibit mandatory arbitration of workplace sexual harassment claims. In the letter, 56 attorneys general of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Virgin Islands called on Congress to allow victims of workplace sexual harassment claims to have their days in court and be afforded the “procedural and substantive due process” that comes with proceeding with a lawsuit.
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NYC Council Obligates Employers to Engage in “Cooperative Dialogue” for Reasonable Accommodation Requests
Apparently believing that employers are not capable of considering employees’ requests for reasonable accommodation on their own, the New York City Council has decided to dictate how those requests should be handled.
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Labor & Employment Webinar: HR’s Role in Natural Disasters
It is critical that organizations have a plan of action in place to manage operations during natural disasters in order to keep business going and disruptions to a minimum. In addition to preparing and implementing a disaster plan, it is important for business owners and human resource professionals to be aware of the employment laws that may be implicated as a result of these disasters. We will review possible steps in managing disasters in the workplace and discuss the employment law and wage and hour issues that arise when employees are prevented from working as a result of natural disaster.
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Mainstream Recognition of Sexual Harassment Prompts Bill Prohibiting Arbitration
Allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct against business leaders, politicians and artists, have become a front page staple of newspapers across the country. Many are shocked by the allegations and claim to wonder how they could have stayed secret for so long. Despite the numerous cases of sexual harassment filed each year in courts throughout the country, rendering the allegations a matter of public record, a bipartisan group in Congress is blaming the increased use of nonpublic arbitrations for keeping allegations quiet. As a result, they seek passage of a bill intended to prohibit sexual harassment and gender discrimination cases from being resolved privately in arbitration.
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New York City Council Amends Earned Sick Time Act to Permit Employees to Use Paid Time Off for “Safe Time”
On October 17, 2017, the New York City Council passed a bill amending the New York City Earned Sick Time Act (which took effect on April 1, 2014) to require paid time off for victims of family offense matters, sexual offenses, stalking and human trafficking, and their family members. The amendment would take effect 180 days after Mayor Bill de Blasio signs it into law, which he is expected to do.
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Should New York Employers Care that the Obama Administration’s Final Rule is No More?
To be exempt from state and federal overtime requirements, an employee must satisfy both a salary test and a duties test. In May 2016, we blogged about the Department of Labor’s issuance of a Final Rule modifying the so-called “white-collar” employee exemptions to overtime under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The proposed Final Rule increased the minimum salary that must be paid to exempt employees from $455 per week ($23,660 per year) to approximately $913 per week ($47,476 per year), and provided for subsequent annual revisions/increases. The Final Rule did not make changes to the duties test, which still must be satisfied for the exemptions to apply. The Final Rule was supposed to be effective on December 1, 2016, but on November 22, 2016, a federal court in Texas issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Final Rule from taking effect. On September 6, 2017, that injunction was made permanent, and the minimum salary threshold under federal law will remain at $455 per week at least until new regulations are issued by the Trump administration’s Department of Labor.
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