Over the past two years, developments in employment law have focused on COVID-19. But there are developments in other areas of employment law, especially in New York, that employers must be aware of and plan for in the new year. This alert highlights the major changes that take effect in 2022 and beyond.
On Oct. 28, 2021, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law a bill that will massively expand New York's whistleblower protections. It will take effect on Jan. 26, 2022.
Expanded protected activity: The range of protected activity is significantly expanded under the new law. Most critically, the existing law protected only disclosures regarding violations of law that presented a "substantial and present danger to public health or safety" - a narrow definition that rarely applied to most employment situations. In addition, under the previous law, employees were protected only for disclosures about employer practices that actually violated applicable law. Now, employees are protected for disclosures to a supervisor or "public body" about employer practices that they "reasonably believe" are in violation of a "law, rule or regulation" or that they "reasonably believe" pose a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety. The definition of "law, rule or regulation" will expand to include executive orders and any judicial or administrative decision, ruling, or order. In addition, the definition of "public...
Conspiracy theories around Artemis II have spread online after the crew returned safely from its lunar mission, with fake NASA claims and old Apollo 11 hoax stories gaining traction on social medi...