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New York State Expands Equal Pay Legislation
July 17, 2019 • Christina Tantoy
Category: Legal Updates
On July 10, 2019, Governor Cuomo signed two new bills that expand New York State’s equal pay Labor Law § 194. These new bills specifically (1) expand the scope of New York State’s equal pay law to all protected classes and (2) prohibit employers from asking an applicant about their prior salary history.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) announced that it will be collecting data on pay and hours worked from 2017 and 2018. The deadline for employers to submit this information to the EEOC is September 30, 2019.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") Audits: Are You Ready?
July 11, 2019
Category: Legal Updates
As you may have heard, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) plans to begin the previously postponed raids across the country starting this Sunday (7/14/19). From what we can gather, ICE plans to target at least 10 cities to arrest individuals here illegally who have court orders for removal from the country. The raids were initially scheduled for 4th of July but were postponed.
While there has not been confirmation on the targeted cities, the raids are expected in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans (likely postponed here due to the hurricane Barry), New York, and San Francisco.
While we have no reason to believe ICE will target individuals at work, this is a good time to educate yourself on your right regarding law enforcement requests for information. Please feel free to reach out to Stokes Wagner with any questions.
On July 3, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsome signed into law the CROWN Act (Creating a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair.) While New York City recently became the first locality to enact such legislation, California is the first to ban natural hair discrimination statewide.
Dogs have always been our best friends, so it’s not surprising that more and more restaurants are making strides to ensure their patrons can dine without leaving their fur babies at home. But with great change comes great liability. Here are some points restaurant owners should consider so dogs can dine without incident.
On April 30, 2018, the California courts rocked the State’s labor and employment landscape with the decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles (“Dynamex”). The court’s decision changed the way employers classified independent contractors from the longstanding Borello test (an eleven-factor test with no single factor being determinative of a workers’ classification) to the much stricter “ABC” test.
U.S. Women's Soccer Team Seeks Win for Equal Pay as They Pursue World Cup Title
June 27, 2019 • Adam L. Parry
Category: Legal Updates
The U.S. Women’s National Team is on track to defend its 2015 World Cup title after defeating Spain in the Round of 16 on June 24. They’re the favorite in their upcoming quarter-final match against France on June 27. Away from the pitch, they face another battle: in March, members of the team filed a lawsuit in Federal Court in Los Angeles, seeking equal pay under the Equal Pay Act and Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act.
Last month New York Governor Cuomo approved amendments to the state’s election laws that provide employees with up to three hours of paid leave on election days. In order to qualify, employees must be registered to vote and must give their employers two days’ notice of their intent to take election leave.
California Employers at Risk for Retaliation, Take Note
June 11, 2019 • Shirley A. Gauvin
Category: Legal Updates
If there is one thing worse than sexual harassment in the workplace, it’s retaliation against a victim of harassment as a result of reporting harassment. Existing law in California prohibits an employer from terminating, discriminating or retaliating against an employee because of the employee’s status as a victim of sexual harassment, domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking (Labor Code, Section 230). Assembly Bill-171 (presented by Gonzalez, D-San Diego) seeks to broaden the protections for such victims by providing a “rebuttable presumption” of unlawful retaliation if an employer within 90 days following either the date when the victim provides notice to the employer or when the employer has actual knowledge of the status, discharges, threatens to discharge, demotes, suspends, or takes any other adverse action against the victim-employee. “Harassment” in this context means sexual harassment, gender harassment, and harassment based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.
We are proud to announce the release of our latest Quarterly Newsletter, which may be found here.
Our newsletter summarizes key developments in the employment law arena on a quarterly basis, with a focus on how these developments may impact the hospitality industry and your operations. As you may have noticed, the legal landscape changes on a far more frequent basis than four times a year. So, when a particularly significant development occurs, we immediately publish a “Legal Alert” and make it available to each of our clients and subscribers. If you would like to stay abreast of legal developments in real-time, and receive our legal updates in a more timely fashion, we invite you to follow us on Instagram @stokeswagner.