New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Retail Worker Safety Act (“RWSA”) into law earlier this month, extending workplace safety measures applicable to many retail employers statewide. The RWSA, which applies to any employer with 10 or more employees selling consumer goods (not including food to be consumed on premises), requires covered employers to develop
Passed late last year, the Freelance Isn’t Free Act (the “Act”) is expected to go into effect on August 28, 2024. The Act extends protections for freelance workers across New York State and mirrors protections in New York City’s Freelance Isn’t Free Law.
The Act defines a freelance worker as any person or single-person
As we previously reported, in April of this year, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued a final rule regarding non-compete agreements. The FTC’s rule operates as an almost complete ban on such agreements. Unless enjoined by a court, the rule is scheduled to take effect on September 4, 2024. Since April, several lawsuits have been
In October 2023, President Biden issued an Executive Order regarding the “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence” and directed federal agencies to issue guidance on the increased use of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”). With regard to the use of AI in the workplace, the Order directed the U.S. Secretary of Labor to
On April 23, 2024, the federal Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued its final rule on the salary threshold for the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The rule provides for increases in minimum salary required for these types of employees to qualify as exempt from overtime pay requirements under federal
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued a final rule regarding non-compete agreements. The FTC’s rule operates as an almost complete ban on such agreements. Unless enjoined by a court, the rule will become effective 120 days after its publication in the federal register.
In short, the rule prohibits agreements that directly
Employers in many jurisdictions across the country are dealing with laws that prohibit adverse actions against employees who use marijuana, whether for recreational or medicinal purposes, away from the workplace and during non-working hours. A recent appellate court decision in one of the more marijuana-friendly states, Connecticut, reassures employers that they do not have to
National employers must navigate a maze of state and local paid sick leave laws with different requirements. That maze is especially burdensome for employers in Minnesota, where employers have dealt with local sick leave ordinances in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Bloomington, and Duluth. Last year, Minnesota passed a statewide paid sick leave law that went into
Last fall, California enacted a new law, effective January 1, 2024 that creates a new leave of absence right under the Fair Employment and Housing Act for a reproductive loss. Employees must be allowed to take up to 5 days (which do not have to consecutive) of leave following a reproductive loss event. A
Effective January 1, 2024, California increased the minimum amount of paid sick leave that must be provided to employees to 5 days/40 hours per year (up from 3 days/24 hours). Employers are permitted to frontload sick leave (give employees a bucket of sick leave at the beginning of each year of at least 5 days/40