Employment

On October 21, 2013, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop signed into law the Paid Sick Time Ordinance requiring private sector Jersey City employers with 10 or more employees to provide up to five days of paid sick leave per year to those employees.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued two opinions each holding that class action waivers may be enforced by employers in cases brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Last week we reported on a decision out of a New York federal district court refusing to extend the protections of the New York City anti-discrimination law to unpaid interns. That decision also confirmed that neither the federal nor New York State anti-discrimination laws protected unpaid interns either.

In addition to imposing substantive requirements on health insurance issuers in the group and individual markets and employer-sponsored group health plans, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Act) imposes three notice requirements that are of particular interest to employers.

As my colleague Jill Collins discussed a few weeks ago, the government shutdown had a broad impact on a number of workers in the public and private sectors. Now that the federal government has reopened, employers welcoming back furloughed employees should stand ready to answer worker questions and assuage employee concerns.

What is the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Comcast decision on wage and hour class action lawsuits? That is the question the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to hear on appeal.

The New York Court of Appeals – New York’s highest court – is out with a new decision this week addressing our favorite statutory friend (foe?), the New York City Human Rights Law – this time in the context of a disability discrimination claim.

The New York State Department of Labor has finally released regulations interpreting the Wage Deduction Law that New York amended nearly a year ago. At last, I can sleep at night. Here are my 5 quick takeaways from those regulations, which are relatively easy to read and can be accessed here.

I just finished reading a very interesting opinion in Wang v. Phoenix Satellite Television US, Inc., which Judge Castel issued late last week out of the Southern District of New York and which addresses the scope of the New York City Human Rights Law – arguably the broadest anti-discrimination statute in the nation.

A recent trend in college athletics has been the display of “APU” wristbands by student-athletes during high-profile football games. All Players United or APU, represents itself as an organization concerned for the well-being of student-athletes.

In 2010, New York enacted the Wage Theft Prevention Act, which in part amended its Labor Law to require courts to impose a liquidated damages award of 100% of the total unpaid wages owed to the employee. The law previously capped the award at just 25%.

School is back in full swing and we thought it best to update our previous post addressing school-related leave requirements for employers. Many states require (or at least encourage) employers to provide short-term unpaid job-protected leave to their employees seeking to participate in their children’s school-related activities.

Beginning on January 1, 2015, the Fair Labor Standards Act will extend its minimum wage and overtime protections to nearly all home health care workers. This changes the playing field for an estimated two million workers who provide home care assistance to the elderly, disabled and infirm.

If Congress fails to pass an appropriations bill by midnight tonight, the government will partially shut down and private sector employers along with federal employees will be greatly impacted by reduced government services and furloughs. Here is a rundown of some employment-related issues associated with any shutdown.

Non-solicitation agreements now may have more teeth in Massachusetts. This week, in Corporate Technologies, Inc. v. Harnett, the First Circuit Court of Appeals allowed to stand an earlier injunction prohibiting Brian Harnett, a former employee of Corporate Technologies, from conducting business with Corporate Technologies’ customers.

On September 13, 2013, the Department of Labor1 and the Treasury Department/IRS2 (the “Departments”) issued coordinated guidance on a handful of items relating to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (the “Act”), including:

On or before October 1, 2013, most employers are required to distribute a notice to their employees informing them about the new Health Care Reform Marketplace (also known as “the Exchanges”). Here are the highlights of this new requirement:

The nation’s broadest anti-discrimination law just got broader – now requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant employees. Existing Federal, state and city laws already protect women against pregnancy discrimination, but none went so far as to require reasonable accommodations.

In recently issued Revenue Ruling 2013-17, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) ruled that all legal same-sex marriages will be recognized for federal tax purposes.

A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit increases the risk that a private equity fund could be liable for its portfolio company’s unfunded pension liabilities. Additionally, one portfolio company could potentially become liable for the pension liabilities of a fund’s other portfolio companies.