On February 6, 2023, Governor Murphy signed into law the “Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights” which places obligations on staffing firms by requiring them to pay temporary laborers assigned to work for a third-party client the same average rate of pay and equivalent benefits (or cash equivalent) as a permanent employee performing the same or […]
On March 3, 2023, Governor Hochul signed a bill amending the statewide wage disclosure law. The amendments will not change the anticipated effective date of September 17, 2023. The key changes include: New York City has also proposed changes to their law which went into effect on November 22, 2022. The proposed change would expand […]
As we previously reported, on January 13, 2023, Onondaga County Supreme Court Justice, Gerard J. Neri struck down the state’s regulation which was implemented in August of 2021, requiring covered healthcare entities to ensure that their “personnel” are “fully vaccinated” against COVID-19, rendering the law invalidated. However, on January 27, 2023, the NY Commissioner of […]
Effective December 29, 2022, the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act expands coverage of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s breastfeeding/lactation accommodation requirements to include overtime-exempt employees, in addition to, non-exempt employees. The enforcement provision includes a 120-day delay, making the effective date for that provision April 28, 2023. The Break Time for Nursing Mothers law, passed […]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, two separate emergency declarations have remained in effect: These emergency declarations provide different types of COVID-related relief for participants and group health plans. The Public Health Emergency (PHE) On January 31, 2020, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared a public health emergency (PHE) in the United States […]
On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PFWA) into law. The PWFA applies to employers with at least 15 employees and becomes effective on June 27, 2023, and requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for employees and applicants affected by pregnancy or childbirth, unless doing so would impose an undue […]
Penalties for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) are increasing for 2023. In 2015, Congress passed a law requiring the DOL to adjust its civil monetary penalties for inflation each year in order “to improve the effectiveness of civil monetary penalties and to maintain their deterrent effect.” […]
On January 31, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued and posted on its website updated model general and election notices that group health plans may use to comply with COBRA notification requirements. These notices contain a new expiration date of January 31, 2026. Next Steps for Employers Use of the DOL’s model notices […]
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a proposed rule that, if finalized, would make it illegal for an employer to: Excluded from the definition of a non-complete agreement are restrictive covenants such as non-disclosure agreements or non-solicitation agreements as these types of agreements generally do not prevent a worker from finding […]
Since the pandemic, high deductible health plans (HDHPs) have been allowed to provide benefits for telehealth or other remote care services before plan deductibles were met. Temporary relief to HDHPs regarding the ability to continue utilizing telemedicine and other remote medical services, before meeting their plan’s minimum deductible and without imposing any restrictions affecting health […]
