Monkeypox and Employment Law: Legal Considerations for New York Employers
On August 4, 2022, President Biden declared a national public health emergency in response to the ongoing monkeypox outbreak. The announcement follows New York and other states having declared emergencies in the days prior. Already weary from the Covid-19 pandemic, New York employers now have to navigate the possibility of monkeypox spreading in their workplaces, as well as manage their...Read MoreOMIG’s Proposed Regulations Could Require Substantial Changes to Medicaid Providers’ Compliance Programs
Medicaid enrolled health care providers in New York should be aware that on July 13, 2022, the New York Office of Medicaid Inspector General (“OMIG”) published proposed regulations that would substantially alter the compliance program requirements for all Medicaid enrolled health care providers and Medicaid managed care organizations (“MMCO”) and codify OMIG’s self-disclosure program. The...Read MoreRemote Work: Laws NY Employers with Out-of-State Workers Must Consider
Remote work is here to stay. According to Forbes, 61% of employees preferred working in a fully remote setting. 97% of employees also preferred to maintain flexibility between remote and office work (Click here, to read the article). The modern employee can work from nearly anywhere for a company across the country or on the other side of the world. This has led some companies to experiment...Read MoreEmployers Should Evaluate Self-Insured Health Plans for Employees in States Banning Abortions After Supreme Court’s Decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
Background On June 24, 2022, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, No. 19-1392, 597 U.S. ___ (2022) was decided by the United States Supreme Court upholding the Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks of gestation. The decision was sweeping, overturning Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 and Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, to hold that the United States...Read MoreSalary Transparency and Legal Ramifications for New York City Businesses
The New York City Council recently passed Local Law 32, a salary transparency law, which amends the New York City Human Rights Law to require employers to list the minimum and maximum salary range when publicizing new positions. The law applies not only when advertising a job in public media, but also in internal postings regarding promotion or transfer opportunities. The effective date of the...Read MoreU.S. Supreme Court Eliminates the Requirement of Prejudice In Determining Whether Arbitration Rights Have Been Waived
For more than 50 years, federal courts have held that a litigant in a pending lawsuit must show prejudice in order defeat an opposing party’s invocation of its contractual right to arbitration. Recently, in Morgan v. Sundance, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the requirement that prejudice be demonstrated by a party resisting arbitration, and in doing so fundamentally altered the test for...Read MoreWhat Employers Need to Know about New York’s Employee Monitoring Law
In accordance with new Section 52-c of the New York Civil Rights Law, which went into effect on May 7, 2022, New York employers must now notify their employees if they are electronically monitoring workers’ phones, emails, and internet access or usage. The new law mandates that all private employers must provide notice of their electronic monitoring practices to new employees upon hiring and...Read More
The Americans with Disabilities Act: Does your website need to comply?
By Adam Rodriguez, Esq. Should you care if your business’ website is ADA compliant? Absolutely. Litigating a website accessibility case can be expensive, even if you are ultimately successful on the merits. This is particularly true because the ADA provides for an award of attorneys’ fees to a prevailing party. It may be best to proactively address your website’s accessibility to ensure...Read MoreFrequency of Pay Issues for “Manual Workers” Continue to Present Significant Liability Risks for New York Employers
New York Labor Law (NYLL) Section 191 mandates that employers must pay “manual workers” on a weekly basis within seven calendar days of the week during which the wages are earned. If manual workers are not paid on this weekly basis, recent cases continue to confirm that these employees have a private right of action under Section 191 to seek to recover liquidated damages, which are now...Read MoreCan the Law Regulate the Internet? How Government Agencies Seek to Regulate Big Tech
In comparison to radio, television, and telephone, newer technologies – particularly those involving the internet and social media – have remained largely unregulated by federal or state governments, with the tech industry relying on self-governance even as their influence has significantly expanded. As tech plays an increasingly large role in daily life and tech companies grow in...Read MoreHow Medical Testing Laboratories Must Comply with the Federal Ban on “Surprise Billing”
The “No Surprises Act” (“NSA”), which became effective on January 1, 2022, is federal legislation designed to protect patients from “surprise medical billing” that occurs when a patient receives services from a facility or provider which, unknown to the patient, is outside of his or her health plan’s network, resulting in unexpected out-of-network charges. Much of the discussion surrounding...Read More