Do you conduct background checks on your employees?  What do you check for and why?  Do you have clearly defined criteria on what types of information gleaned from a background check will be disqualifying for a potential new hire? New York law, at the state level and particularly at the city level, sets a range … Read More... The post New York Increasingly Protects Those Convicted of Crimes to Enable Future Employment appeared first on Levy Employment Law ..read more

How important is a name?  It is a question driven to the forefront by the recent backlash against “DEI” – diversity, equity and inclusion programs that many employers put in place to diversify their workforces.  After an explosion of such initiatives in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd, there has been a strong backlash … Read More... The post DEI or IED?  Will Renaming Save Diversity Initiatives? appeared first on Levy Employment Law ..read more

With recent increases that took effect January 1, 2024, the minimum wage in New York is now $16 per hour in New York City and the immediately surrounding suburban counties, and $15 per hour in the rest of the state.  Connecticut is at $15.69 and New Jersey is at $15.13 per hour, both statewide.  Contrast … Read More... The post Rising Pay Thresholds May Impede Classifying NYS Employees as Overtime Exempt appeared first on Levy Employment Law ..read more

This week our family buried an intellectually brilliant, fiercely determined, infallibly kind individual who lived a far longer, fuller life than any doctor might have predicted. Diagnosed with a progressive, increasingly degenerative medical condition decades ago, this individual consistently focused on leveraging equipment and technology, and the support of family, kind aides, and friends to … Read More... The post Legacy of an Unsung Hero: Move Beyond a Medical Diagnosis to Reach Talented Individuals appeared first on Levy Employment Law ..read more

Half of job seekers in a recent Gartner, Inc. survey reported that they backed out on an accepted job offer prior to starting.  I remain stunned by this statistic, which suggests to me that employers have some issues with their hiring processes, but more recently I have been reflecting on how much of the problem … Read More... The post Losing Out on Talent?  Offensive Language in Your Offer Letter May Be the Problem appeared first on Levy Employment Law ..read more

The overwhelming majority (nearly 90 percent, according to the most recent report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) of workers in the United States are not unionized.  And yet, in the private sector most of those non-unionized workers have legal protections under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).  Too often employers, particularly small employers … Read More... The post Why Non-Union Employers Need to Pay Attention to the NLRB appeared first on Levy Employment Law ..read more

New York will soon join the majority of states that prohibit employers from requesting or requiring job applicants or employees to provide their personal social media information.  First enacted in Maryland more than a decade ago, these laws grant employees a measure of privacy in their online postings, but only to the extent that posted … Read More... The post Employers Need to Prepare for NYS Restrictions on Accessing Employees’ Personal Social Media Accounts appeared first on Levy Employment Law ..read more

New York City law now prohibits employers from discriminating against job applicants and employees based on their height and weight.  New York City has thereby joined the state of Michigan and about a dozen other localities that similarly ban discrimination based on weight, height or personal appearance.  While many of the local laws date back … Read More... The post How to Avoid Height and Weight Discrimination appeared first on Levy Employment Law ..read more

New York City employers need to navigate the intricacies of the city’s and state’s largely complementary but not entirely consistent paid sick  and safe time requirements.  Recent legal changes mean that employers that have not done so in the past several months will once again need to update their policies. Amount of Paid Sick and … Read More... The post New Regulations Require Reconciling NYS and NYC Paid Sick and Safe Time Requirements appeared first on Levy Employment Law ..read more

Although intended to be less intimidating than a court proceeding, the process by which the New York State Division of Human Rights (the Division) handles complaints can be opaque and intimidating to many individuals, employers and other organizations.  This article is intended to demystify things a bit. Who Can Complain Individuals who were harassed or discriminated against in employment, education, housing, or places of public accommodation based on a protected characteristic can, by themselves or through an attorney, file a complaint with the Division.  The list of protected chara ..read more