HR Legislative Updates:

As Goes New York, So Goes the Nation.

Are You Prepared?

The Big Apple Takes a Bite Out of

Unfair Employment Practices

INTRODUCTION

New York City Government has been shaking things up recently on the human

resources front. Earlier this year, the Council passed several pieces of legislation

aimed at protecting workers’ privacy and ensuring predictable workweeks and

paychecks for employees.

Fair Pay and Protecting Workers’ Privacy In April, legislators in NYC took aim at eliminating the question that makes both

candidates and employees uncomfortable: “How much did you make at your last

job?” When the legislation takes effect, it will no longer be permissible to request or

require salary history in interviews, on applications, or in other documents to which

the employer has access, nor can an employer ask that information of present or past

employers or search public records to acquire the information.

Banning employers from asking this question was about far more than just making us

all feel a little more comfortable at work; the overarching goal is really all about

fair pay. By preventing employers from knowing what a worker made at previous

positions, legislators hope to narrow the gender wage gap, encourage employers to

pay workers based on an employee’s experience and skills, and ultimately eliminate

wage discrimination.

The bill was introduced in August 2016 after Leticia James, the Public Advocate for

the City of New York, released a report that exposed a wide pay gap for women in

NYC, especially in the public sector. A release from Public Advocate James’ office

states, “The report revealed that women employed by the New York City government

experience a gender wage gap two and a half to three times larger than women

working in the private for-profit and not-for-profit sectors respectively. It also showed

that women of color are disproportionately hurt by the gender wage gap, with

Hispanic, Black, and Asian women experiencing a 54 percent, 45 percent, and 37

percent wage gap compared to white men, respectively.”

Although the wage gap hits public sector workers hardest, this legislation affects

everyone employed in New York City. And New Yorkers are not alone. Last year,

the state of Massachusetts, the city of Philadelphia and the territory of Puerto Rico

enacted similar legislation. Nationally, in May of this year, Congresswoman Eleanor

Norton introduced the Pay Equity for All Act of 2017 in the House of Representatives.

According to Congresswoman Norton, the bill, currently with the House Committee

on Education and the Workforce, “will help reduce the wage gap by requiring

employers to offer salaries to prospective employees based on merit, not gender,

race, or ethnicity.”

Predictable Workweeks and Paychecks In May, NYC Mayor Bill de Blaiso signed a series of bills into laws, now known as the

“Fair Workweek” package of laws. This new legislation, comprised of Introductions

1387-A, 1388-A, 1395-A and 1396-A, primarily targets unfair scheduling practices

in the retail and fast food industries.

When the new legislation takes effect this November, employers will no longer be

allowed to utilize “on-call scheduling”, a practice which requires workers to contact

their employer daily to find out whether or not they will be working, or to schedule

employees back-to-back closing to opening shifts (also known as “clopenings”). And

before hiring new employees, employers will now be required to offer shifts to

existing workers. Additionally, certain fast food employers will be required to give

workers 14 day advance notice of their work schedules, and if hours are modified

after the required notices are posted, to pay a premium to affected employees.

The new laws are expected to give employees a better sense of when they will

work and how much they will earn, empowering them to better plan for child care,

continue their education, or find additional employment. In a press release from

Mayor de Blaiso’s office, Council Member Brad Lander, the Council’s Deputy Leader

of Policy was quoted as saying “This package will help ensure fairer schedules, will

give fast-food workers a pathway to full-time hours, and will create an innovative new

model for fast-food workers to advocate for their rights.”

According to The Fair Workweek Initiative, a national organization that works to affect

industry change and promote new legislation to ensure fair work and scheduling

practices, “Momentum is growing as elected officials on the federal, state and local

levels are pursuing policy solutions that provide stable and predictable schedules,

access to full-time work, quality part-time employment, and employee input into work

hours.” Emeryville, CA and Seattle, WA, join New York City in recent enactment of

worker scheduling laws and the state of Oregon just became the first state to pass

state-wide protection of workers against unfair scheduling practices.

CONCLUSION

As these trends in legislation continue, Human Resource Managers across the

country will need to ensure that everyone in their organization from top to

bottom are fully aware of and in complete compliance of these new laws. Time

and Attendance and recruiting software that fully integrates with payroll and HRIS

systems are the key to managing, tracking and controlling corporate-wide

understanding and compliance of any human resource-related regulations and

legislation. Evolution and Asure’s robust systems help service providers,

organizations, and human resource managers alike, to stay on top of information vital

to company and employee well-being.

Contact us to find out how Evolution HCM Suite can keep your service bureau

and your clients compliant with the latest changes in HR regulations.

Evolution HCM Technology

Asure Software, Inc.

800 Hinesburg Road, Suite 2

South Burlington, VT 05403

(802) 655-8347

© Copyright 2017. All rights reserved.