As discussed in our New York Quarterly Newsletters, employers in New York City who have 15 or more employees (inclusive of independent contractors) are required to provide anti-sexual harassment training on or before December 31, 2019 to all employees who work in New York City (this includes employees who only work part time in New York City, or who only interact with employees working in New York City).
Employers have been awaiting a model training module from the City that would satisfy the City and New York State’s training requirements, and the City has finally delivered. The model training, which is a 45 minute video, rather than a Power Point presentation, like the state’s model training, can be found on New York City’s website, and will satisfy the mandatory training requirement for both New York State and New York City. Employers are not required to use the City’s model video, and instead, may use their own training methods, provided they meet the City’s minimum requirements.
If you would like assistance in determining whether the model training video, or a more customized approach is appropriate for you, please reach out to Amy J. Traub for more information.
On March 22, 2019, the DOL announced the official publication of its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Registrar and the commencement of the 60-day period for public comments. All public comments on the proposed new rule must be received by May 21, 2019 in order to be considered by the DOL in preparing its final rule. BakerHostetler’s 
The California Supreme Court has cut off another avenue for employees to sue payroll provider companies for unpaid wages. California courts have previously found that employees cannot sue a payroll company under a theory that the company is the “employer.” 
California employers and their legal counsel reasonably had assumed that California law distinguishes employee non-solicitation agreements from noncompetition agreements and that the former were enforceable. That assumption was based largely on a 1985 decision by the California Court of Appeal in Loral Corp. v. Moyes, 174 Cal. App. 3d 268, which enforced an agreement prohibiting a former company executive from soliciting the employees of his former employer to join his new venture. However, that assumption has been upended by recent decisions by the California Court of Appeal and the United States District Court for the Northern District of California invalidating employee non-solicitation agreements. Because it is now possible that California courts will invalidate employee non-solicitation agreements, employers will need to carefully consider eliminating those provisions from agreements with their employees.
