Thursday, December 5, 2024 at 6:00PM by Banking Spectrum The currrent minimum wage rate in New Jersey is $15.49 per hour, effective January 1, 2025 (previously $15.13 in 2024 and $14.13 in 2023). Read more about NJ Human Resources in The Gold Book.
Thursday, December 5, 2024 at 5:21PM by Banking Spectrum New Jersey will follow in the footsteps of states such as Connecticut, which began the requirement for pay transparency in 2021, and New York, which started the requirement earlier this year after New York City began requiring it in 2022. Read about NJ Pay Transparency in Human Resources section of The Gold Book under Rules for Laws Regulating Wages and Hours.
Monday, October 7, 2024 at 10:32AM by Banking Spectrum The FDIC has finalized a rule easing restrictions on bank hiring of job candidates with criminal histories, to conform its rules with the Fair Hiring in Banking Act (FHBA). This rule is effective October 1, 2024.
Read more about Fair Hiring in Banking Act in The Gold Book, Human Resources chapter.
Monday, August 5, 2024 at 9:43AM by Banking Spectrum The minimum wage in New York State is scheduled to increase by 50 cents in 2025.
The raise is set to take effect on Jan. 1, according to the State Labor Department. The increase will bring the minimum wage to $16.50 an hour in New York City, Westchester County and on Long Island. In the rest of the state, including Upstate New York, the new minimum wage will be $15.50 an hour. See more in The Gold Book under New York Minimum Wage.
Human Resources, New York Friday, May 10, 2024 at 3:21PM by Banking Spectrum On April 23, the Biden Administration released final regulations which significantly limit overtime exemptions for financial institutions. The regulations, effective July 1, raise the salary requirement to $43,888 per year. Then the required salary payment increases further to $58,656 effective January 1, 2025. That is a dramatic change to the current $35,568 requirement. The new regulations include other changes such as automatic salary updates, which will also create compliance obstacles. Read more under Overtime Pay in the Human Resources chapter of The Gold Book.
Thursday, August 10, 2023 at 11:58AM by Banking Spectrum The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently unveiled proposed regulations for implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, a law enacted in late 2022 that requires employers to make reasonable changes in the workplace to help employees who have pregnancy-related limitations do their jobs.
Read more about the proposed rule on the EEOC website HERE.
Tuesday, July 11, 2023 at 10:49AM by Banking Spectrum On June 27, 2023, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) went into effect. Under the PWFA, private and public sector employers with fifteen or more employees are required to provide a reasonable accommodation to a worker’s known limitation related to pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, unless the accommodation will cause the employer an undue hardship, which is defined as significant difficulty or expense for the employer. Read more about PWFA in the Human Resources chapter of The Gold Book.
Tuesday, July 11, 2023 at 9:26AM by Banking Spectrum Starting Wednesday, July 5th, employers in New York City must comply with Local Law 144 and Department of Consumer and Work Protection (DCWP) Rules regulating the use of Automated Employment Decision Tools (AEDT) found in software used during the application or promotion process.
Learn more about the NYC AEDT law in the Employee Selection section of the Human Resources chapter of The Gold Book.
Monday, November 15, 2021 at 3:18PM by Banking Spectrum The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued an emergency temporary standard (ETS) to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission in the workplace. The ETS establishes binding requirements to protect unvaccinated employees of large employers (100 or more employees) from the risk of contracting COVID-19 in the workplace. Read more about this and other Workplace Considerations relating to COVID-19 in The Gold Book.
Monday, November 15, 2021 at 11:05AM by Banking Spectrum The Americans with Disabilities Act published a technical assistance document in 2009, during the spread of H1N1 virus, and was re-issued on March 19, 2020 and revised thereafter, to incorporate updates regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. It identifies established ADA principles that are relevant to questions frequently asked about workplace pandemic planning. Details are found in the Human Resources chapter of The Gold Book under American with Disabilities Act.
Monday, November 15, 2021 at 10:54AM by Banking Spectrum The NYS Paid Family Leave Act of 2016 provides eligible employees job-protected and paid time off to care for new borns, adopted and foster children. Additionally, paid time off is provided to care for a family member with a serious health condition and to assist family members in helping spouses, domestic partners, children or parents deployed abroad on active military services. Effective October 2021, the definition of family member was expanded to include siblings. Read more in The Gold Book.
Tuesday, September 14, 2021 at 1:31PM by Banking Spectrum On September 6, 2021, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that the commissioner of health designated COVID-19 as a highly contagious communicable disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health under New York State’s HERO Act. Employers must activate the infectious disease exposure prevention plans that were adopted in August 2021. Additionaly the deadline for distribution of the model safety plan is September 4, 2021. Find our more in The Gold Book, NY HERO Act.
Friday, July 23, 2021 at 11:11AM by Banking Spectrum By August 4, 2021, all New York employers with worksites (of any size) located in New York must either adopt the applicable Model Plan provided by the NY DOL, or establish an alternative plan that meets or exceeds the minimum provided by the model standard. If an employer develops its own plan or a different exposure plan, it must do so in accordance with a collective bargaining agreement, or if there is no collective bargaining representative, with the “meaningful participation” of employees. Read about the NY HERO Act in The Gold Book.
Tuesday, May 25, 2021 at 3:11PM by Banking Spectrum On May 5, 2021, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the New York Health and Essential Rights Act (NY HERO Act), which mandates extensive new workplace health and safety protections in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The act places the responsibilty upon employers to protect their workforce from COVID-19 and other airborne infectious diseases. While New York employers are already required to abide by Governor Cuomo’s executive orders and adopt the New York Forward industry-specific guidances and reopening guidelines, the act sets forth mandatory standards not just for COVID-19, but for all airborne infectious diseases. Read more in The Gold Book.
Friday, December 18, 2020 at 4:11PM by Banking Spectrum The minimum wage in New York State is still set to increase on New Year's Eve. The Department of Labor announced the minimum wage will rise to $12.50 an hour in areas of New York outside of the New York City area. The decision came despite calls from some lawmakers to delay the increase due to financial burdens on struggling businesses.
More about minimum wages can be found in The Gold Book.
Tuesday, March 31, 2020 at 11:53AM by Banking Spectrum On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), into law. FFRCA will help the United States combat and defeat COVID-19 by giving all American businesses with fewer than 500 employees funds to provide employees with paid leave either for the employee's own health needs or to care for family members. The legislation will enable employers to keep their workers on their payrolls, while at the same time ensuring that workers are not forced to choose between their paychecks and the public health measures needed to combat the virus. The FFCRA includes two major overhauls to leave programs for employers:
Both programs go into effect on April 2, 2020, and run through December 31, 2020.
The following updates may be found in The Gold Book:
Federal Laws Regulating Wages and Hours: Families First Coronaviurs Response Act (FFCRA)
New York State COVIC-19 Leave Laws
New Jersey Earned Sick for Earned Sick Leave and COVID-19 Benefits and Protections
Monday, March 23, 2020 at 9:22AM by Banking Spectrum Under the New York City Human Rights Law, employers must provide reasonable accommodations for employees to pump and/or express breast milk at work. Each person’s experience breastfeeding and pumping is unique, and employers must reasonably accommodate those unique needs. Click here for details in The Gold Book.
Monday, March 23, 2020 at 9:18AM by Banking Spectrum On July 26, New York's governor signed the "Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security" (SHIELD) Act, requiring businesses to implement safeguards for the "private information" of New York residents and broadening New York's security breach notification requirements.
Every employer with employees in New York must comply with the SHIELD Act because "private information" includes an individual's name and Social Security number.
For details and requirements, click here.
Tuesday, October 15, 2019 at 2:08PM by Banking Spectrum New Jersey recently added dramatic expansions to the New Jersey Family Leave Act and New Jersey Family Leave insurance. Click here to read about the New Jersey Family Leave Act in the Human Resources chapter of The Gold Book.
Monday, June 24, 2019 at 3:35PM by Banking Spectrum Under the New York Exempt Income Protection Act wage exemption, a financial institution must make a certain amount available to the depositor based on the amount of the federal or New York State minimum wage (whichever is higher). Read more about the increased wage exemption amounts in The Gold Book.
