The last several years have seen successful efforts by employees and employee advocates to raise the minimum wage and salary thresholds for exempt employees throughout New York State. While these increases have been scheduled to gradually take effect over a number of years, the onset of 2020 brings further increases throughout the...
On December 23, MarketWatch published an article discussing some of the biggest legal changes coming to employers and employees in 2020. In “Where U.S. Workers Will See Minimum Wage Increases and Paid Family Leave in 2020,” reporter Andrew Keshner highlights the new 12-week paid family leave law for federal workers...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has issued a “clarifying” ruling, Lenzi v. Systemax, Inc., No. 18-979, 2019 WL 6646630, at *1–2 (2d Cir. Dec. 6, 2019), holding that a plaintiff seeking to assert claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for substandard...
In the wake of the #Metoo movement and the strengthening of laws concerning sexual harassment claims, employers have been encouraged to promptly and aggressively investigate claims of harassment or sexual misconduct in the workplace. While failing to take such accusations seriously certainly creates legal risk, a flawed or biased investigation...
As many states, including New York, New Jersey and California, among others, continue to expand requirements for paid parental leave, a related question has emerged. What benefits and job protections are employers required to provide to so-called secondary caregivers, or partners who intend to focus more time on work and less...
This week, fast food giant McDonald’s announced the firing of its CEO, Steve Easterbrook, because Mr. Easterbrook engaged in a consensual relationship with another McDonald’s employee. Consensual romantic and sexual relationships between coworkers are quite common in the modern workplace, with roughly 1 in 3 employees having engaged in one. But...
New York employers have just two more weeks in which to comply with the sexual harassment prevention training requirements under New York State law. If you are an employer in New York and have not already provided sexual harassment prevention training to your employees, you must do so by October...
Predictable jokes about French joie de vivre swept employment law circles after a recent decision from a Paris court awarded damages to the estate of an employee who had died on a business trip in 2013. The cause of death was a heart attack suffered while the employee was having “an...
For almost fifteen years, California law has required that employers of 50 or more employees provide sexual harassment prevention training at least once every two years to employees in supervisory roles, and within six months of employees being hired or promoted to supervisory roles. In the wake of the #MeToo...
On September 10, RPJ Partners Alice K. Jump and Mark H. Moore gave a presentation to the Foundation Administrators Network, a division of Philanthropy New York, entitled "Investigation of Harassment and Discrimination Claims: A Practical Guide." The goal of the program was to advise foundation administrators on the practical and...