According to a press release from the National Labor Relations Board:

“The National Labor Relations Board has agreed to postpone the effective date of its employee rights notice-posting rule at the request of the federal court in Washington, DC hearing a legal challenge regarding the rule. The Board’s ruling states that it has determined that postponing the effective date of the rule would facilitate the resolution of the legal challenges that have been filed with respect to the rule. The new implementation date is April 30, 2012.”

For more information click here.

I frequently speak with Business Council member companies on the HR Line about the importance of employment related documentation and candid communication with employees by supervisors and managers. It is especially important when employee performance or behavioral issues arise.

When an unfortunate termination situation is at hand, supervisors sometimes give no reason to the employee for the termination other than that New York State is an employment-at-will state. Usually, this is done because there is a lack of documentation by the employer. This may provide temporary relief to the supervisor but contribute to bigger problems for the employer down the road.

In the October 2011 newsletter from the Capital Region Human Resource Association, attorney Mike Bullock from Business Council member Bond, Schoeneck & King takes on these issues.

With or without proper documentation by you, an employee or former employee “… could allege that—in violation of state and/or federal law—he was discriminated against on the bases of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, military or veteran status, or marital status.”

“The focus, then, shifts to your company, which now has the burden to show that the adverse employment decision was taken for a legitimate, non-discriminatory, non-retaliatory reason. And at that point, imagine the eyes of the jury, or the DHR, or the EEOC turning to you, but all you can say is—“I terminated the employee because it’s an employment at will state.”

You obviously can demonstrate the legitimate, non-discriminatory, non-retaliatory reason for the termination via thorough documentation as the performance issues were unfolding. This requires that supervisors, managers and business owners do the documentation work up front but it is well worth it in the long run!

If you have human resource related issues that you’d like to discuss, feel free to call me on The Business Council’s HR Line at 800.332.2117.

For Mike’s full newsletter article, click here.

Human Resources Legislative Conference

April 11, 2011
Crowne Plaza Albany

April 12, 2011
Meeting Room 1, Empire State Plaza, Albany

This Conference has been pre-approved for 4.5 general recertification credit hours by the HR Certification Institute.
Keep up with your HR colleagues and find out the latest New York State labor, human rights laws and how changes in federal health care legislation affect business. Sign up now… before registration fees increase on April 5.

Full conference details, agenda and convenient electronic registration may be found here.

For any questions, please contact Conference Development at 1.800.358.1202 or contact sara.mcdonnell@bcnys.org.

• Conference Agenda and Online Registration

Throughout 2011, many Business Council members will have the opportunity to get a current update on human resource related legislative proposals in the state legislature through a series of two hour briefings. In these two hour sessions, we will review the basics of the legislative process, look back at the status of HR related proposals during the 2010 legislative session, get a glimpse of what’s happening in the current 2011 session, and provide a status report on HR advocacy efforts in 2011 by our HR colleagues across the state. Registration, logistical and location information will be posted on the Labor & HR Committee website prior to each briefing.

Please save the date and plan to attend a briefing near you!
Manhattan Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Mid-Hudson Valley Thursday, May 12, 2011
Rochester Thursday, May 26, 2011
Corning Thursday, July 7, 2011
Syracuse Thursday, July 21, 2011
Buffalo Thursday, August 25, 2011
Gouverneur Thursday, September 15, 2011

Start the year off with the latest information on Human Resource legislation and other key business related bills the 2011 NYS legislative session.

A switch in the state Senate leadership will surely change the dynamics of this session, especially with a new governor facing the state’s financial crisis. We’ll catch-up on potential changes at the state labor department but will that mean changes in the department’s regulatory and enforcement regime?

The briefing will cover HR-related legislative results of the 2010 session and where The Business Council’s efforts will be channeled in 2011.

You’ll also hear about our stepped-up HR grassroots advocacy efforts for 2011.

Please join us for this information filled session!

Meeting Logistics

• This briefing has been approved for 2 Strategic Business credits from the HR Certification Institute.
• Bring your business cards for networking and a prize drawing.

Click here for our convenient on-line registration.

For further information or questions, please email Beyonna Belton at Beyonna Belton or call her at 518/465-7511.

Sam Dolnick writes in the New York Times about a new law designed to protect employees against wage theft from their employer that may increase paper work and costs for the majority of New York employers that never even think of incorrectly paying their employees.

“Gov. David A. Paterson signed into law some of the nation’s strongest protections against wage theft on Monday, after months of lobbying by immigrants’ advocates and labor unions that said New York lagged behind other states on the issue.

The law, which takes effect in April, will quadruple the penalties for employers who steal workers’ pay, and will protect whistle-blowers from retaliation.

Employers who pay below the minimum wage, fail to pay overtime or unfairly garnishee wages are especially rampant in restaurant, retail and construction businesses where illegal immigrants make up much of the work force, according to a report this year by the National Employment Law Project. In New York City, the report said, lost wages add up to more than $18.4 million a week…

Opponents of the bill, which the Legislature passed largely along partisan lines, say it will simply create paperwork for employers who do not steal wages. “Now all employers in the state have this new regime to prevent them from doing something the vast majority of them never think of doing,” said Kenneth Adams, president and chief executive of the Business Council of New York State.”

To read the rest of the story click here.

To read The Business Council’s bill memo in opposition to the new law click here.

On March 2^nd, the U.S. Senate passed and the President immediately signed a bill, H.R. 4691, to extend the COBRA subsidy through March 31, 2010. The subsidy had expired on February 28^th.

Employees involuntarily terminated through March 31, 2010 are eligible for the 65 percent premium subsidy for 15 months of their COBRA period.

Congress is also studying a bill to extend the subsidy through the end of the year. We’ll have to stay tuned for that possibility.

The Albany Times-Union’s Rick Karlin reports that the number of state workers taking Gov. Paterson’s $20,000 buyout offer to trim the state payroll to balance the budget is falling far short of what is needed.

He writes: “The plan was originally set to end this month, but so far only 1,089 people have signed up — well short of the 4,500 workers that state officials originally estimated would take the buyouts.

As a result, Paterson’s Budget Division is once again urging state agency heads to look high and low for people who may be able to retire or leave with the severance package.

Initially, state workers had to put in for the buyout by the end of August, and only after they received permission from their bosses. They now have until Dec. 22, and must be off the payroll by Jan. 20.

“It has come to our attention that thousands of employees expressed an interest in participating in the program but certain agencies chose not to accept these employees into the program,” Budget Director Robert Megna wrote in a letter that went out to agency commissioners Wednesday. “Accordingly, you should recanvass your employees for interest in the program.”

Read the story.

The New York Post editorializes against a proposed New York City law that would require all employers to provide paid sick leave to employers.

The Business Council of New York State provided testimony to the City Council in opposition to the proposed law.

The Post writes:  “You’d think the far-left Working Families Party would be more sympa thetic to the plight of businesses in the city — after all, it owns one.

The union-backed political outfit rose to power in recent elections thanks to the success of its for-profit campaign arm — a lurking-in-the-shadows, one-of-a-kind entity all but certainly created to skirt campaign-finance laws.

Now, fresh from some significant wins, the party is testing its clout by pushing a bill in the City Council meant to saddle firms of all sizes with job-killing new mandates.

That’s gratitude for you.

Or maybe the party only objects to honest businesses.

The bill, on which the council heard testimony yesterday, would require employers to provide paid sick leave to employees — at least five days a year from all businesses, and nine if it employs 10 or more people.

That may be nice for workers in the very short term — but at a time when firms are still struggling just to survive, the last thing they need is steeper operating costs.

And as for expansion, well, just forget about it.

So let’s call this what it is: a jobs tax, pure and simple.”

Read the editorial.

Over thirty HR Professionals from Business Council member companies joined me on August 26th in Cheektowaga for a 2 hour update on HR related issues coming out of the 2009 legislative session in Albany. Despite the confusion in the state Senate, we saw two major changes in the insurance law concerning insurance continuation after leaving employment and a new higher aging out of coverage for dependent children. We also have a new written wage and hour notification requirement involving pay and overtime rates. I also updated the group on federal card check and state pay equity proposals and a new state paid family leave proposal.

For our Northern New York Business Council members, I’m conducting this briefing in Gouverneur on Thursday, September 17th hosted by Kinney Drugs at their Corporate Offices. Please join me.

Here are the details.