Employment

The worldwide pandemic, focus on social justice, sharp political divisions, quiet quitting and the Great Resignation are all events that have impacted and altered employment relationships. At the same time the modern workplace is becoming dispersed, virtual and vocal, workplace regulation – the laws that form the structure of the traditional employment relationship – is becoming even more challenging for employers struggling to meet the challenges of the next generation of workers.

Mintz Antitrust and Government Law attorneys examine an FTC proposed rule that would ban almost all non-compete provisions in employment relationships. They also discuss why employers should consider auditing non-compete policies and practices and exploring alternatives such as non-disclosure or customer non-solicitation agreements.

On December 21, 2022, Governor Hochul signed into law S.9427-A/A.10477, which requires all private sector New York employers to list salary ranges for all advertised jobs and postings.  This law takes effect on September 17, 2023. 

2022 has been an eventful year for New York employers, as the State and City have instituted a variety of new employment laws.  Top of mind are New York City’s Salary Transparency Act and New York City’s sweeping regulation of automated employment decision tools; but we have also seen other laws emerge that may have missed employers’ radars.  As 2022 comes to a close, we highlight below some of these important new developments.

President Biden has signed into law the federal "Speak Out Act" limiting the enforceability of pre–dispute non-disclosure and non-disparagement clauses covering sexual assault and sexual harassment disputes.  The Act takes effect immediately.

As described in more detail in our prior post, the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) recently posted proposed changes to its Paid Family and Medical Leave (MAPFML) regulations.  Mintz attorney Patricia Moran gives updates on these changes which are intended to clarify the employer’s obligation to maintain employment-related health insurance benefits during MAPFML leave. 

In our fifth session, which focuses on employment law, the team is joined by Jen Rubin, a bicoastal Member in our Employment, Labor & Benefits Practice and Chair of our ESG Practice, to discuss best practices related to hiring an executive (hint: consensus is key), managing the executive at the board level, and how to (amicably) negotiate to terminate an executive.