On June 26, 2019, Judge Denise Cote, of the Southern District of New York, granted a motion to compel arbitration of an employment discrimination, retaliation and sexual harassment claim—despite recently passed NY law, NY CPLR § 7515 (“Section 7515”), invalidating provisions that require employees to arbitrate sexual harassment claims. Judge Cote observed that Section 7515 applies only to the extent not “inconsistent with federal law” and that the arbitration provision at issue was to “be…

Many employers offer paid parental leave policies to employees, affording new parents paid time off to care for a new child. Though some employers offer paid parental leave to both new mothers and fathers of equal length, many others offer substantially longer leaves to primary caregivers. Bifurcated parental leave policies for primary and non-primary caregivers are not illegal per se. However, employers should be cautious to ensure that their policies do not rely upon sex-based…

On May 21 at 1:00 p.m. eastern, the Employment and Executive Compensation Groups of Hogan Lovells will host a one-hour webinar to discuss pay equity laws and compliance issues. A hot-button issue, pay equity is regularly in the news and atop legislative and regulatory agendas in the employment sphere at federal, state and local levels. Many well-intentioned employers have for some time been conscious of pay equity and are striving to achieve it. However, the…

In a lengthy April 29, 2019 Opinion Letter, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) examined the relationship between a virtual marketplace company (“VMC”) and its service providers.  Applying a six-factor test derived from U.S. Supreme Court precedent, the DOL opined that the service providers were independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”)—not employees. According to the Opinion Letter, the VMC is an online/application-based “referral service that connects service providers to end-market consumers…

The issue of pay equity has risen to the top of the news cycle—especially today, a day dubbed Equal Pay Day by advocates seeking to raise public awareness.  But pay equity also is ascending legislative agendas and enforcement priorities, particularly at the state level.  Recognizing this trend, the Hogan Lovells U.S. Employment Group will host a webinar on May 21, 2019 to address legal requirements and best practices for employers wrestling with the tricky compliance…

Recent #MeToo-inspired media attention to workplace sexual harassment claims has caused a number of states to pass employee-friendly legislation intended to help prevent such conduct. On March 18, 2019, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy joined the trend, signing into law a bill that, among other things, targets the use of so-called non-disclosure provisions in employment contracts and settlement agreements. The new law, Senate Bill 121, prohibits employers from enforcing against employees or former employees any…

Following up on a recent post about the intricacies of mandatory arbitration agreements in the workplace, the New Jersey Appellate Division recently held that an arbitration clause that employees did not explicitly agree to was unenforceable.  The arbitration clause was presented in a training module that was sent to employees, which the employees were then required to acknowledge. The key fact for the Appellate Division in finding the arbitration agreement unenforceable was that the employees…