ATTENTION EMPLOYERS: THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY ANNOUNCES OPTIONAL ALTERNATIVE TO PHYSICAL INSPECTION OF FORM I-9 FOR QUALIFIED EMPLOYERS
On July 25, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) published a final rule authorizing the Secretary of Homeland Security to provide eligible employers with alternatives to the in-person physical examination requirement for Form I-9 identity and employment eligibility documentation. As discussed in our prior eAlert, the DHS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement previously announced […]
ATTENTION NEW YORK EMPLOYERS: UPDATED NYS WARN ACT REGULATIONS IMPOSE NEW REQUIREMENTS ON EMPLOYERS
Effective June 21, 2023, the New York State Department of Labor (“NYSDOL”) amended its regulations governing the New York State Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (“NYS WARN Act”), available HERE. The NYS WARN Act was originally enacted in 2008 and has since been amended several times, with the most recent amendment in November 2020. Employers with 50 […]
ATTENTION EMPLOYERS: COMPANIES MUST PHYSICALLY EXAMINE FORM I-9 DOCUMENTATION FOR EMPLOYEES HIRED REMOTELY
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, when many businesses began onboarding employees for remote work, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) suspended the physical presence requirement for examining identity and employment eligibility documentation on the mandatory U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) Form I-9. Instead, employers could […]
ATTENTION NEW YORK EMPLOYERS: STATE ISSUES NEW MANDATORY LACTATION POLICY
On June 7, 2023, amendments went into effect expanding the Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act (New York State Labor Law Section 206-c), which requires all employers in New York State, regardless of the size or nature of their business, to provide reasonable unpaid break time for their employees to express breast milk for up […]
ATTENTION NEW JERSEY EMPLOYERS: NEW JERSEY FEDERAL COURT DETERMINES THERE IS NO INDIVIDUAL RIGHT TO SUE UNDER CANNABIS ACT
By Melanie M. Ghaw, Esq. and Rachel H. Khedouri, Esq. UPDATE: On December 9, 2024, the Third Circuit affirmed the district court’s finding that CREAMMA does not provide individuals with the right to sue employers for taking adverse action based on a positive cannabis test result. In a case of first impression, a New Jersey […]
ATTENTION EMPLOYERS: IT’S TIME TO UPDATE YOUR FLSA AND EEO POSTERS (AGAIN)!
By Melanie M. Ghaw, Esq. and Rachel H. Khedouri, Esq. In light of recent updates to equal employment opportunity laws aimed at protecting pregnant and nursing employees (as discussed in our January eAlert, available HERE), the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) each have issued updated posters for employers to […]
ATTENTION EMPLOYERS: HERE IS WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE EEOC’S UPDATED GUIDANCE FOR NAVIGATING COVID-19 ISSUES IN THE WORKPLACE
On May 15, 2023, just six days after the expiration of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (“PHE”), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released an update to its COVID-19-related Technical Assistance publication, “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws” (the “Guidance”). Click HERE for the full […]
ATTENTION NEW YORK EMPLOYERS: DO YOUR SEXUAL HARASSMENT POLICY AND TRAINING MATERIALS COMPLY WITH NEW STATE MODELS?
Since October 2018, all employers of New York employees have been required, on at least an annual basis, to establish and distribute a workplace sexual harassment prevention policy and provide training to employees that meet or exceed the minimum standards established by the State. In October 2019, then-Governor Cuomo signed broad anti-discrimination legislation requiring, among other […]
ATTENTION NEW JERSEY EMPLOYERS: CERTAIN TEMPORARY WORKERS GET PERMANENT PROTECTIONS
*UPDATE: – In connection with the new requirement for temporary help service firms to provide certain information to temporary laborers, the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s Division of Wage and Hour and Contract Compliance has published a “Temporary Laborer Assignment Notification” form, available HERE. Temporary help service firms must give this completed form […]
ATTENTION NEW YORK EMPLOYERS: ARE YOU PAYING MANUAL WORKERS ON A TIMELY BASIS?
“Pay frequency” lawsuits have become a cottage industry in New York in recent years. The trend began following the 2019 Appellate Division decision in Vega v. CM & Assoc. Constr. Mgmt., LLC, in which the court held that workers have a private right of action for claims under New York Labor Law § 191 (“Section 191”). […]