On January 9, 2017, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order aimed at ensuring pay equity. The executive order prohibits the State from asking job applicants about their current or previous compensation history until a conditional offer of employment with compensation has been extended.

Such measures have become increasingly popular in employee-friendly

Over the past few years, numerous states and municipalities have increased the statutory minimum wage.  Further, through Executive Order, President Obama increased the federal minimum wage applicable to federal contractors.  Consistent with this trend, the governors of both California and New York have now reached new legislative deals with their respective legislative branches which provide

In prior posts, we have summarized the New York State Department of Labor’s most recent rulemaking processes, comprised of two separate wage boards. The first, in 2014, addressed the hospitality industry as a whole, while more recently, in 2015, another highly publicized wage board addressed the subset of that industry deemed “fast food.” Employers should

Like many states before it, New York today published new proposed regulations to provide “clarification and specification as to the permissible methods of payment [in New York], including [the use of] payroll debit cards.”  The proposed regulations require voluntary consent from employees paid pursuant to such a program, and set minimum program requirements for

In an op/ed piece appearing in yesterday’s New York Times, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced he would direct the Commissioner of Labor to convene a new Wage Board “to examine the minimum wage in the fast-food industry” in New York state. The Commissioner’s announcement follows on the heels of a separate op/ed suggesting

Completing its task assigned by former Commissioner of Labor Peter Rivera, the current New York Wage Board has issued its recommended findings to the Commissioner with respect to tip credit issues.  Most importantly for hospitality employers – an industry sector which includes many small, low-margin businesses – if approved by the Commissioner, the available