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Michael S. Arnold

(he/him/his)

Member / Chair, Employment Practice

[email protected]

+1.212.692.6866

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Michael serves as the Chair of the firm’s Employment Practice and has significant experience advising private and public employers on a wide variety of employment-related issues across a broad range of sectors, including the financial, professional services, life sciences, health care, real estate, energy, technology, media, retail, industrial, and governmental sectors.

Mike’s client-centric approach and consistent ability to provide practical advice that reduces risk and aligns with organizational and HR strategies is a continued testament to his broad expertise and leadership. He is singled out by Chambers USA sources as an “incredible advisor and asset to in-house legal departments and operations teams, sharing both his technical expertise and always providing practical guidance.” Chambers USA sources add that Mike is “extremely responsive, knowledgeable, practical, and commercial” and “distinguishes himself in the market by delivering information and work product in the most user-friendly manner possible, enabling teams to efficiently operate in a fast-paced environment.”

Clients turn to Mike for his expertise in navigating sophisticated and highly sensitive workplace matters, including:

  • Counseling on issues related to all aspects of the HR life cycle (from recruiting and onboarding, to retention and development, to separation and post-separation) covering discrimination, harassment and retaliation, wage and hour, leave and accommodation, restrictive covenant issues and other employment-related issues.
  • Conducting investigations of employee complaints, including discrimination and harassment complaints, and assisting management resolve other employee relations issues.
  • Auditing and assisting in the development and implementation of employment policies, procedures, and practices.
  • Conducting anti-discrimination / harassment and other HR and legal issue-based training regarding legal requirements, best practices, and risk mitigation.
  • Representing management and senior executives in connection with a variety of complex employment litigation matters, including pretrial, trial and appellate work; administrative discrimination charges and other agency proceedings (including EEOC, NYSDHR, NYCCHR, DOL, WCB); and arbitrations and mediations relating to wage and hour, discrimination, restrictive covenants, contract, and other employment-related disputes, including collective and class actions.
  • Drafting and negotiating employment-related agreements and policies, including offer letters, employment and consulting agreements, restrictive covenant agreements, separation agreements, and employee-related regulatory disclosures.
  • Representing clients in connection with corporate transactions and bankruptcy proceedings, including conducting employment-related due diligence and negotiating employment-related warrants and representations and related employment transaction documents.

As Chair of the Employment Practice, Mike works alongside firm leadership and key stakeholders to drive strategy and operations, while ensuring optimal client service. Mike also remains out in front on identifying and commenting on employment industry hot topics, including by authoring many posts for the group’s award-winning blog, regularly speaking and reporting on timely and important trends, and hosting the firm’s Annual Employment Law Summit.

Mike is a member of the firm's Policy Committee.

Michael serves as the Chair of the firm’s Employment Practice and has significant experience advising private and public employers on a wide variety of employment-related issues across a broad range of sectors, including the financial, professional services, life sciences, health care, real estate, energy, technology, media, retail, industrial, and governmental sectors.

Experience

  • Represented a global financial institution in connection with multiple discrimination claims, including claims of national origin, age, sex, and pregnancy discrimination.
  • Represented an international media company in connection with claims of age and race discrimination arising out of a reduction in force.
  • Represented one of the world’s largest hotel chains in successfully obtaining a dismissal of an Article 78 wrongful termination proceeding.
  • Represented one of the nation's premier medical centers in successfully obtaining a dismissal of national origin and religious discrimination claims.
  • Represented a luxury residential and commercial real estate development and management company in defending against a wage/hour class action based on alleged failure to pay overtime.
  • Represented an independent global expert services and advisory firm in defending against claims of equal pay and sexual harassment.
  • Represented a state development agency in addressing a highly complex pandemic-related telecommuting disability accommodation issue.
  • Conducted a full-scale employment practices audit for a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company.
  • Conducted a hiring and onboarding employment practices audit for a national life insurance company.
  • Advised a global hospitality company on multiple reductions in force, including regarding WARN Act implications, disparate impact issues, OWBPA compliance, severance program structuring, and implementation of the same.
  • Advised a global consulting firm in successfully navigating mobility issues arising out of various new hires.
  • Advised an international Am Law 75 law firm in complying with its background check compliance obligations.
  • Advised a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company in connection with potential employment compliance issues related to the use of a remote workforce.
  • Conducted an internal investigation on behalf of a global consulting firm in response to an executive’s alleged sexual harassment.
  • Drafted and negotiated an executive employment agreement for a C-level executive at one of the nation’s largest debt securities underwriters.
  • Advised a multinational energy company in connection with its vaccination compliance obligations and overall policy strategy.
  • Advised a global banking institution in connection with the creation and implementation of a bonus plan.
  • Represented various employers in successfully vacating initial determinations of contractor misclassification before unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation agencies.
  • Advised various employers on their compliance obligations with respect to employee use of cannabis.
  • Guided numerous employers in redesigning their workplaces in the next phase of COVID, including by providing extensive counseling on designing an effective “return to office” strategy (in-person, hybrid, or remote), creating vaccination, booster, and testing policies and ensuring a safe office environment overall, realigning leave policies and procedures, and undertaking various workforce planning and change management exercises.
  • Guided numerous employers in formulating and implementing pay transparency strategies that ensure compliance and align with operational needs.
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viewpoints

NY HERO Act Plans ACTIVATED – Employer Action Required

September 27, 2021 | Blog | By Corbin Carter, Michael Arnold

The New York State Commissioner of Health has designated COVID-19 as a “highly contagious communicable disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health.” This means that the HERO Act’s many requirements are no longer theoretical: Almost all private New York employers must now activate their HERO Act-compliant workplace exposure prevention plans and take numerous implementation steps required by the recently enacted law. Per the Commissioner’s designation notice, the “activation” designation will remain in effect until at least September 30, 2021, at which point the Commissioner will review the level of transmission of COVID-19 in New York State and determine whether to continue this designation.
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Imposing Group Health Plan Monthly Surcharges on the Unvaccinated

September 15, 2021 | Blog | By Michael Arnold, Danielle Bereznay

Calling it “a more-punitive approach toward getting its workforce vaccinated against Covid-19,” the Wall Street Journal recently reported that Delta Airlines will require its unvaccinated workers to pay a $200 monthly health insurance surcharge.
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Biden Administration Unveils Sweeping Workplace Vaccination Plan

September 10, 2021 | Blog | By Michael Arnold, Corbin Carter, David Barmak

The Biden Administration yesterday unveiled its Path out of the Pandemic – a six-pronged plan designed to further combat COVID-19.
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NYCCHR Releases Updated Fair Chance Act Guidance Ahead of Important Changes

July 27, 2021 | Blog | By Michael Arnold, Corbin Carter

The NYC Commission on Human Rights (the Commission) has released updated enforcement guidance regarding the Fair Chance Act. New York City amended the Fair Chance Act last year and those changes will go into effect on July 29, 2021.
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NY HERO Act Standards & Template Policies Released – Employer Action Required

July 8, 2021 | Blog | By Corbin Carter, Michael Arnold

The New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) has released its HERO Act minimum standards and template policies related to airborne infectious disease prevention. Employers now have 30 days after the standards’ publication – until August 5, 2021 – to either: (1) adopt one of the model standard exposure prevention plans applicable to their industry, or (2) develop and establish an alternative prevention plan that meets or exceeds the minimum standards.
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Webinar Recording: Vaccination and the Workplace – Solving for the Latest Challenges Facing Employers

June 17, 2021 | Webinar | By Michael Arnold, Geri Haight, Jennifer Rubin, Corbin Carter

The CDC’s latest guidance lifting many restrictions for most fully vaccinated individuals has forced employers to consider whether and how to implement workplace vaccination policies. During this webinar, our speakers explored the current workplace vaccine compliance landscape and offered best practices for implementing vaccination policies aimed at making workplaces safe and while accounting for jurisdictional, political, philosophical and physical divides.
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ALERT: New York Hits Key 70% Vaccination Metric; Reopening Rules Lifted

June 15, 2021 | Blog | By Corbin Carter, Michael Arnold

It’s been a long road to recovery for employers since New York first issued its NY Forward reopening requirements for offices and other similar environments back in May 2020.  Today, as New York reached a key vaccination metric – 70% of adults have now received at least one vaccine shot – Governor Cuomo announced that New York businesses will no longer be required to abide by the current industry-specific guidelines in order to reopen.  Accordingly, the current NY Forward guidelines on capacity restrictions, social distancing, cleaning and disinfection, health screenings, contact tracing, and other virus-related restrictions are now lifted in most commercial settings. 
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New York Revises COVID-19 Reopening Guidance & HERO Act Changes on the Way

June 10, 2021 | Blog | By Corbin Carter, Michael Arnold

It’s been a busy month (year?) for New York employers – one that has brought several important updates with respect to employers’ reopening plans. On the heels of the State’s May 19th adoption of the recent CDC guidance outlining increased privileges for fully vaccinated individuals, New York State updated its NY Forward COVID-19 reopening guidance on June 8, 2021, including its guidance geared toward office environments. As a reminder, New York businesses opting to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic must do so consistent with the State’s industry-specific reopening guidelines, found here; affirm their compliance with same prior to reestablishing in-person operations; and implement a written safety plan governing its workplace safety protocols.
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The New York State Legislature recently passed the Health and Essential Rights Act (the “HERO Act”), which has been delivered to Governor Cuomo for his signature. The legislation seeks to address continued COVID-19 safety concerns in the workplace and is designed to codify, supplement, and replace numerous executive actions that have been issued throughout the pandemic. The HERO Act would also pass into law significant new health and safety obligations for New York employers, including the formation of joint labor-management workplace safety committees to help ensure worker safety. Employers should prepare now to come into compliance with the new law, which we summarize below.
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Have You Been Vaccinated? Your Employer (and Everyone Else) Wants to Know

May 17, 2021 | Blog | By Jennifer Rubin, Michael Arnold

The CDC’s recent guidance suggesting that most fully vaccinated individuals may discontinue certain safety measures, such as masking and social distancing, has created significant confusion for employers navigating conflicting and ever-changing state and local COVID-19 workplace laws, regulations and guidance. While the most recent CDC guidance endorses resuming activities (indoors and out) without masks for most fully vaccinated individuals, the guidance around vaccination verification and disparate treatment between the vaccinated and unvaccinated is still lacking. Employers are now facing these sensitive but critically important return to office issues without the benefit of critical guidance from Federal, state and local regulators. We provide some guidance below regarding vaccine verification and some considerations for employers thinking about instituting vaccine policies.
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News & Press

Press Release Thumbnail Mintz

BOSTON – Mintz has earned top rankings in the 2023 edition of Legal 500 United States guide. The firm is recognized in 14 practice categories, and 59 individual attorneys are also recognized in the guide, some in more than one category.

Press Release Thumbnail Mintz

BOSTON – Mintz has earned top rankings in the 2023 edition of Legal 500 United States guide. The firm is recognized in 14 practice categories, and 59 individual attorneys are also recognized in the guide, some in more than one category.

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Events & Speaking

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Jun
2
2026
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May
7
2026
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Apr
30
2026

2026 Employment Law Summit – New York

Mintz

Convene, New York, NY

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May
1
2025

Mintz's Annual Employment Law Summit 2025 - New York

Convene, 601 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10022

Speaker
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Speaker
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Apr
30
2019
Speaker
Jan
28
2016

Second Annual Employment Law Summit

The Princeton Club 14 West 43rd Street, New York, New York

Speaker
Jan
20
2015

Emerging Employment Issues in 2015

The Princeton Club

New York, NY

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Michael serves as the Chair of the firm’s Employment Practice and has significant experience advising private and public employers on a wide variety of employment-related issues across a broad range of sectors, including the financial, professional services, life sciences, health care, real estate, energy, technology, media, retail, industrial, and governmental sectors.

Recognition & Awards

  • Chambers USA: New York – Labor & Employment, Band 5 (2023 – 2026)

  • Lawdragon: Labor & Employment, Counseling, Investigations (2026)

  • Legal 500 United States: Workplace and Employment Counseling (2022 – 2025)

  • Legal 500 United States: Employee Benefits and Retirement Plans (2023 – 2025)

  • New York Super Lawyers: Employment & Labor (2012 – 2025)

  • Chambers USA: New York – Labor & Employment, Up and Coming (2021)

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Michael S. Arnold

(he/him/his)

Member / Chair, Employment Practice

New York