The New York City Council has amended the New York City Salary Range Transparency Act.  The Mayor has 30 days to sign the amended law.  The Act amended the New York City Human Rights Law, creating an obligation on employers to disclose salary ranges in job advertisements for any position located in New York City. 

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) recently held in Devaney v. Zucchini Gold that employees who prove only a violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) are not entitled to the automatic treble damages under the Commonwealth’s untimely wage payment statute, the Massachusetts Wage Act (“Wage Act”).  Rather, employees are limited to a damages recovery only as provided by the FLSA, which in some circumstances can be, in addition to other remedies, double (not triple) wage damages.

The Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (the “Department”) has issued a series of updates concerning Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (“MAPFML”).  These updates reflect the latest changes made to MAPFML since the Department’s last quarterly briefing, as discussed in our prior coverage of the MAPFML.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) – Massachusetts’ highest court – recently held that under the Massachusetts Wage Act (“Wage Act”) employees are entitled to automatic treble wage damages – that is, three times the amount of the unpaid wages –for any late wage payments, even if the employer fixed the payment error before the employee commenced a proceeding.  This post reviews the SJC's decision and the key takeaways.

The New York City Commission on Human Rights has released a Fact Sheet entitled Salary Transparency in Job Advertisements, which provides much-welcomed guidance to employers on the NYC Salary Range Transparency Act.  Some questions, however, remain unanswered.

Congress has passed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, marking a milestone in the #MeToo movement. This legislation (which President Biden is expected to sign into law) will effectively end mandatory arbitration of sexual assault and harassment disputes. Employees will now have a choice to proceed with their claims via arbitration or in court.

Now that OSHA has withdrawn its vaccine or test rule, many employers are considering the use of mandatory vaccination policies in their workplaces. Employers have met this development with varied responses – some employers have rescinded vaccination requirements that were compliant with the more stringent OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) requirements, some have retained mandatory vaccination policies compliant with the now-withdrawn ETS, and still others have created mandatory vaccination policies without reference to the ETS.

Read Mintz’s comprehensive analysis of OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard pertaining to workplace COVID-19 vaccination and testing requirements for employers with 100 or more employees.

In a recent decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) confirmed that the framework used in federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) cases, not the ABC classification test set forth in Massachusetts’ independent contractor statute, M.G.L. c. 149 § 148B, provides the appropriate test for evaluating whether an entity is a joint employer for Massachusetts wage law cases.

The New York City Council passed a bill which would amend the New York City Human Rights Law and require employers to state the minimum and maximum salary for any position located in New York City. This applies to job postings and advertisements, as well as promotion or transfer opportunities. This is the latest move to encourage salary transparency and equity, which is a growing movement a number of states and locales, including New York have joined to address systemic pay inequities.