The New York City Commission on Human Rights (the "Commission") released its 2016 Annual Report and enforcement statistics, announcing that it received 8,330 complaints of alleged discrimination in 2016, a 60% increase over the previous year. The Commission, which has seen its budget increase over 110% since 2015, also highlighted in its Annual Report and budget testimony before the City Council its various investigation and enforcement efforts in 2016. These included "revitalized" use of so-called undercover "testers," employed by the Commission to uncover discriminatory practices through job ..read more

On April 5, 2017, the New York City Council (the "Council") will vote on legislation to prohibit employers from inquiring about the salary and benefits histories of job applicants. The Council's Civil Rights Committee held a hearing on an earlier draft of the bill in December 2016. Following a Committee vote on the amended bill on April 4, 2017, the full Council is expected to pass the legislation with Mayor Bill de Blasio's support. Introduction Number 1253-A would prohibit employers from inquiring about the salary history of an applicant or from relying on an applicant's salary history in de ..read more

New York City employers would be required to entertain employee requests for flexible work arrangements, among other requirements, under proposed legislation before the New York City Council (the "Council"). The Council's Committee on Civil Service and Labor (the "Committee") will conduct a hearing on the proposed legislation, along with five other bills, on March 3, 2017. Specifically, Introduction No. 1399 would require employers to respond in writing within 14 days to employee requests for a flexible work arrangement - defined as "a work structure that alters the employer's regular terms an ..read more

New York City's first-of-its-kind law establishing protections for freelancer worker compensation will take effect May 15, 2017, but employers can prepare now to comply with the law's requirements. Signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio on November 16, 2016, the Freelance Isn't Free Act (the "Act") requires all agreements for freelance work of a value of at least $800 to be in the form of a written contract. The Act also requires full compensation for the services to be paid by a date specified in the contract, or within 30 days after completion of the services. Employers can take various steps now to ..read more

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has unveiled his annual State of the State proposals for 2017, which include new salary reporting requirements for state contractors, a prohibition on salary history inquiries to job applicants by state agencies, and proposed legislation aimed at punishing wage theft, among other initiatives. Executive Order 162, signed by Governor Cuomo on January 9, 2017, will require state contractors and subcontractors to report job title and salary data for all employees working on state contracts, in addition to the data on gender, race, and ethnicity that is currently requ ..read more

New York City is poised to adopt legislation that would prohibit employers from asking about a prospective employee's salary history and New York State may follow suit, reflecting an emerging trend in cities and states across the country. Pending before the New York City Council (the "Council") is Intro. No. 1253, which would amend the New York City Human Rights Law to make it an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to ask a prospective employee about salary history, search publicly available salary records for that information, or rely on a prospective employee's salary history in ..read more

On December 28, the New York State Department of Labor adopted regulations that will increase the salary threshold for exempt employees. As a result, many more employees in New York (i.e., those who will no longer meet the new salary threshold) will become eligible for overtime pay. The amount of the increase varies by region and by the size of the employer and will gradually increase over time. In New York City, for employers with 11 or more employees, the new salary threshold will be $825 per week on and after December 31, 2016; $975 per week on and after December 31, 2017; and $1,125 per we ..read more

On March 9, 2016, the New York City Council passed legislation to amend the City's Human Rights Law ("NYCHRL").  Together, the legislation requires that exceptions or exemptions to the NYCHRL be construed narrowly, endorses three court opinions that the Council states properly applied the 2005 "Restoration Act," allows attorney's fees to be awarded to prevailing complainants in administrative complaints, and repeals language addressing how to construe the NYCHRL's prohibition on discrimination based on sexual orientation. The Mayor is expected to sign the bills within a few weeks.  O ..read more

On October 21, 2015, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation amending New York State's Human Rights Law and New York Labor Law to expand protections available to employees.  The amendments will become effective January 19, 2016.  New York Equal Pay Law New York's equal pay law (N.Y. Lab. Law §§ 194, 198), which currently allows employers to justify a pay difference between employees of opposite genders based on a seniority system, a merit system, a system measuring earnings by quantity or quality of production, or "any other factor other than sex," has been amended in three ..read more

The New York City Council recently passed two laws that significantly affect hiring practices of New York City employers.  On October 27, 2015, the Fair Chance Act ("FCA"), which prohibits pre-employment inquiries into an applicant's conviction or arrest history, will go into effect.  On September 3, 2015, the Stop Credit Discrimination in Employment Act ("SCDEA") will go into effect, barring employers from conducting credit checks on applicants under most circumstances.  A previous blog post discussing both laws when they were pending bills can be found here.  The FCA Unde ..read more