New York’s Paid Family Leave Benefits Law (PFL) will provide New York employees with up to 12 weeks of job-protected paid family leave to bond with a new child, care for a family member with a serious health condition, or address a qualifying exigency relating to the active military duty of a spouse, domestic partner, … Read more
On May 4, 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law an amendment to the New York City Human Rights Law that now restricts employers in New York City, with four or more employees, from inquiring into a prospective employee’s salary history during the interview and hiring process. The restriction is part of a growing … Read more
On March 24, 2017, the New York State Department of State (DOS) distributed an alert about a scam targeting payroll and HR professionals. According to the DOS, cybercriminals posing as company executives are emailing payroll and HR professionals to request lists of employees and their personal information. These emails may appear legitimate because they contain … Read more
Last month, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the Freelance Isn’t Free Act (the “Act”) into law. The Act will be effective beginning May 15, 2017. The Act extends significant protections to freelance workers, who are defined as “any natural person or any organization composed of no more than one natural person, whether or not … Read more
It’s a good practice to maintain a general personnel file documenting an employee’s employment history, but did you know that not every document pertaining to an employee belongs in the general personnel file? The better practice is to maintain more than one type of file on an employee, such as a medical file, an I-9 … Read more
On Thursday, September 22, 2016, I had the pleasure of attending a workshop led by Christine Bruno, Disability Advocate, and David Harrell, Disability and Program Associate, from Inclusion in the Arts. A portion of the workshop focused on the language of disability — particularly dos and don’ts — and is a useful tool for workplace … Read more
In June 2016, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released an 88-page report on harassment in the workplace. The report (available here) calls for “a reboot of workplace harassment prevention efforts” in light of the fact that one-third of the approximately 90,000 charges of discrimination received by the EEOC in fiscal year 2015 included an … Read more
Six months from now, on December 1, 2016, a new federal overtime rule goes into effect. The new overtime rule doubles the annual salary threshold that must be paid to an employee in order for the employee to qualify for an exemption from the overtime pay requirements. The current annual salary is $23,660 and the … Read more
Although laws like Title VII seek to make persons whole for injuries suffered on account of unlawful harassment, its primary objective is not to provide redress, but to avoid harm. This means that the law gives employers many opportunities to avoid liability for the harassing conduct of their employees and supervisors, most significantly, when employers … Read more
Much like employee handbooks, federal and state laws do not require employers to have job descriptions for their employees. That being said, there are a number of practical and legal benefits to having them, provided they are well-drafted. Here, we’ll discuss three good reasons for your organization to have written job descriptions. Performance Management Written … Read more
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If you are not a current client of the Law Office of Kristine A. Sova, please do not include any information in this e-mail that you or someone else considers to be of a confidential or secret nature. The Law Office of Kristine A. Sova has no duty to keep confidential any of the information you provide.
In addition, please be advised that the transmission of information via this website or by e-mail does not establish an attorney-client relationship. An attorney-client relationship with the Law Office of Kristine A. Sova is not established until and unless the Law Office of Kristine A. Sova agrees to such a relationship in a separate written document.