To rebuild relationships and foster collaboration, employers will need people to return to offices. Should employers require employee vaccinations? Short Answer. Most employers – unless they are in health care – should encourage rather than mandate employees get COVID-19 vaccination. Unless the employer is able to demonstrate the vaccine should be mandated because it is job-related and consistent with business necessity or is justified by a direct threat, the potential for disputes is very real. If an employer does mandate vaccination, it must be prepared to allow accommodations and exemptions particularly due to disability and religion.…Read More
Changes by the amendments will take effect in 2 phases Effective September 30, 2020, Employers Must: provide domestic workers with 40 hours of paid safe and sick leave; allow employees to use safe and sick leave as it is accrued; reimburse employees who must pay for required documentation after three consecutive workdays of leave; list on employees’ paystubs (or any document issued each pay period) the amounts of accrued and used leave and the total balance of accrued leave. Note: For this requirement only, employers that could not operationalize the documentation requirement by September 30,…Read More
– Both Go Into Effect As Of April 2, 2020. The Emergency Family Medical Leave Expansion Act Employers with 500 or less employees must provide leave to workers who need to care for a child under 18 because of a school closure related to COVID-19; The first 10 days of leave related to school closures can be unpaid leave; An employee may elect to substitute any accrued paid time off during the first 10 days of leave; Following 10 days of unpaid leave related to COVID-19 school closures, employers must provide paid leave which is…Read More
The Legislature and Governor have come to an agreement on paid sick leave related to the COVID-19 epidemic. The proposal will require: Paid Sick Leave Employers with 4 or fewer employees and a net income less than $1 million will provide up to 40 hours of unpaid sick leave Employers with 4 or fewer employees and a net income more than $1 million will provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave Employers with 5 – 99 employees will provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave Employers with 100+ employees will provide…Read More
Every New York employer needs to be sure it is ready to survive an Department of Labor audit or an employee lawsuit. You need to know that when the knock at the door is from a DOL auditor or the suit papers are handed to you by a process server, your records will stand up to scrutiny rather than being Exhibit ‘A’ against your company. Why Should My Company Keep Payroll/Employment Records? Employers often ask whether it is better to keep employment records or discard them regularly? There are two parts to the answer to…Read More
New York has no law addressing drug testing in private employment and so, drug testing is not prohibited or restricted, unless it violates other legal provisions (such anti-discrimination rules). An employer may enforce an established substance abuse or alcohol program or workplace policy. 9 N.Y.C.R.R. § 466.11(h)(6)(ii), N.Y. City Human Rights Law, N.Y. City Admin. Code § 8-107(14)(c). If an employer wishes to drug test, it must adopt a policy (we can help with developing one). The policy can require tests at random, without suspicion, and without advance notice of when the test will take…Read More
The distinction between salaried and hourly employees is based on the type of work done and status as exempt or not exempt from overtime. In general, if except an employee’s salary is at least $100,000 annually, salaried employees may be eligible for overtime if their average weekly pay is less than the minimum set by the NY Department of Labor (for NYC in 2017 $787.50/week, 2018 $900.00/week and 2019 $1,012.50/week). If the salaried employee’s pay is under the minimum, they must be paid 1 1/2 times their hourly calculated rate, for any hours worked over…Read More
