Effective today (Oct. 26, 2009), employers in New York state are obliged to provide all new hires with written information about their pay scales, pay dates and employee status--whether they are exempt or non-exempt from overtime. The document must specify for non-exempt employees the hourly rate and the overtime rate. In the case of salaried non-exempt employees, the overtime rate must...

The New York State Division of Human Rights has updated its Discrimination notice to reflect changes in its regulations.     According to the agency, "Domestic Violence Status" has been added to the list of classes protected from discrimination.  The change is mandatory and all employers must replace their existing notice with the new version. The New...

Governor David Paterson has signed legislation that strengthens New York's wage and hour laws while at the same time stiffening penalties and expanding legal liability. As part of the legislation, employers now bear the burden of proving they acted in good faith in issues of underpayment, a defense that can help them avoid liquidated damages (capped at 25 percent in New York). Previously,...

New York City is close to enacting the nation's third (or fourth if you count Milwaukee's "unconstitutional" referendum) paid sick leave policy, joining Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. No states have paid sick leave legislation, though Connecticut came close with a tie vote this year. Federal legislation entitled The Healthy Families Act has been introduced but is still in...

Effective Feb. 1, 2009, employers in New York must post a copy of Article 23-A of the Correction Law relating to the use of prior convictions. Article 23-A generally prohibits employers from discriminating against persons who have one or more criminal convictions and requires employers to consider a number of factors before firing or refusing to hire such individuals. The statute is...

In a preview of steps President Barack Obama has discussed for nationwide implementation, New York has revised its WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Act. The revised legislation, coming into effect on Feb. 1, will require companies with 50 or more employees to give notification of plant closings or mass layoffs 90 days before they are carried out. This is in contrast to...

The New York Department of Labor has updated its minimum wage notice. Effective July 24, 2009, the New York minimum wage will increase from $7.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour. Per the agency, the change is mandatory and all employers must replace existing notices dated 02/2007 with the current version dated 06/2009. Personnel Concepts has updated both its New York Space Saver-1...