by Stephen D. Hans | Mar 5, 2024 | Stephen D. Hans & Associates
City Commission on Human Rights Files Complaints to Ensure Compliance In 2022, New York City passed a law making it an “unlawful discriminatory practice” under the city’s Human Rights Law for employers to post or advertise any job or employment opportunity without including the expected salary range in the advertisement. Any such advertisement must clearly state the lowest and highest pay rates the employer in good faith expects to pay at the time the advertisement is posted. The New York City pay transparency law echoes a legislative trend that started gradually a few years ago, but has gained significant traction over the past three to four years. There are now pay transparency laws that apply to contractors and subcontractors on federal job. In 2023, the state of New York joined California, Rhode Island, Illinois, Washington and Hawaii in enacting statewide pay transparency laws. Michigan, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Washington, DC are poised to add similar legislation in 2024. In 2023, the Commission on Human Rights cited more than 30 employers for alleged violation of the law, including some prominent online job forums, such as CareerBuilder.com and Monster.com. Thus far, New York City officials have not levied fines against any of the infringing companies, seeking instead to try to bring them into compliance. Spokespersons for the job search websites say they often receive postings that do not include the required language to comply with the pay transparency laws. In the past, many of the online job search sites would estimate pay ranges in an attempt to comply. Industry officials say that practice has generally been abandoned. In addition, most online...
by Stephen D. Hans | Feb 26, 2024 | Stephen D. Hans & Associates
Employment Law Attorneys with More than Four Decades of Experience | Advocating for Owners and Management at Small and Mid-Sized Businesses throughout the New York City Metropolitan Area At the law office of Stephen D. Hans & Associates, located in Long Island City, we have provided comprehensive employment and labor law counsel to small and mid-sized companies in and around New York City and its five boroughs since 1977. We understand the challenges that businesses face every day and we’ll help you take proactive measures to minimize the risk of legal controversies. In our comprehensive employment and labor law practice, we handle: The defense of any allegations of workplace discrimination or harassment All matters related to whistleblower or workplace retaliation claims, including any litigation arising out of such allegations All issues related to compliance with wage and hour laws, including any litigation arising out of employee disputes All proceedings, hearings, meetings or interactions with U.S. or New York state departments of labor Any union or collective bargaining controversies, including the negotiation and implementation of collective bargaining agreements, as well as union grievances and arbitration proceedings We counsel and advise businesses on a broad range of employment and labor law concerns, such as: Employment and severance agreements—We will negotiate, draft and review all contracts with employees, including potential severance agreements Human resources compliance—We can conduct a human resources audit, make recommendations for compliance and prepare all necessary documents or manuals to minimize any potential human resources compliance issues We can advise you on a broad range of employment law issues, from FMLA concerns to workplace safety to compliance with a...
by Stephen D. Hans | Apr 17, 2023 | Stephen D. Hans & Associates
Clarification about pay transparency Amendments to the NYS pay transparency law provide clarification for the legal scope, giving further explanations as to how employers should apply the law. What about jobs performed outside of New York where the worker reports to a New York supervisor, office or NY site? The new amendment clarifies that pay transparency also applies for job promotions for workers who physically perform their jobs outside of New York but report to a New York office, supervisor or worksite. Employers should take note that their ads for remote work should take this fact into consideration. Also, it is worthwhile to understand that New York City’s law excludes these types of positions in its local law. What is the expanded definition of “advertising”? While no such definition existed prior to the amendment, the amendment adds an expanded definition which includes positions which are “available to a pool of potential applicants for internal or public viewing, including electronically, a written description of an employment opportunity.” What this means is that advertising would include advertisements that are internal and external as well as electronic and paper. How have record keeping requirements changed through the new amendments? Prior to the amendment, employers had to keep and maintain records to comply with the law that included (but were not limited to) the following: History of compensation ranges for each job, promotion, or transfer opportunity Job descriptions for the above positions The previous version of the law referred to “necessary records,” which were vague. The new amendment eliminates the above record keeping requirements. (Reference: JDSupra) As an employer, do you have legal...
by Stephen D. Hans | Apr 11, 2023 | Stephen D. Hans & Associates
How are workers responding to pay transparency? As a business owner, are you concerned about pay transparency affecting businesses, especially with new hires? Based on new laws, companies are now in the position of having to post salary ranges. However, co-workers who discover the job listing has a higher range than what they are making are typically not happy about it. Employees ask employers about the discrepancy. Yet the employer has to fill the position, which means being competitive with current market rates. Many employers explain this fact, saying there is nothing they can do. The combined effects of pay transparency and inflation on the job market According to The Baharat Express News , a survey done by SHRM (Society or Human Resources Management) professionals showed that 36% of the 1300 professionals surveyed asked their employers for raises. Younger employees are apt to leave their jobs when they discover their pay is much lower than the advertised salary. This opens a cyclical problem for employers: an employee leaves to find a job elsewhere. The employer has to hire a person to replace the employee who left. The new hire receives a higher payrate. The job turnover rate increases. Would the employer be better off giving his employees raises? Perhaps not, if only the turnover rate is only 36%. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, wages and salaries for U.S. workers increased 5.1% for the 12 month period ending in 2022. Wages and salaries had already increased 4.5 percent for the 12-month period ending in December 2021. Is pay transparency driving up inflation even higher? As an employer, do...
by Stephen D. Hans | Apr 4, 2023 | Stephen D. Hans & Associates
Ensuring compliance with the new law The New York Warehouse Protection Act (WPPA) affects how employers set production quotas for workers. The law went into effect for New York State on February 29, 2023. Which employers must comply with the new law? Employers who own a single large warehouse distribution center with 100 or more workers must comply. In addition, the law applies to employers with one or more centers employing 500 or more employees. How does the WPPA define a production quota? A production quota is a work standard that does the following: Sets a specific production speed Establishes a quantified number of tasks Requires that the employee handles or produces a quantified number of tasks within a specified time period Classifies employee’s actions in terms of performing tasks or not performing tasks Establishes that an employee’s failure to meet the performance standard could adversely affect the working conditions or continued employment of the employee What should employers know about writing production quotas? The WPPA requires employers to put production quotas in writing and give the written quotas to their workers. When hiring the worker or for workers already employed, the employer must provide each worker with a written production quota and explain that the worker could be subject to adverse actions for failing to meet the quota. If employees have more than one quota to meet, the employer must give them a written description for each quota. Also, if employers change a quota, they must provide the changed written description within two business days of the change. If the employer takes disciplinary or other adverse actions against...
