November 2023

On November 17, 2023, Governor Hochul signed into law an amendment to existing New York State Law, making unlawful liquidated damage or clawback provisions tied to non-disclosure and non-disparagement provisions in settlement agreements involving claims of harassment, discrimination and/or retaliation.

The amendment, which is available here, S4516, went into effect immediately. The law applies…

As noted in prior PERKS posts, 2023 has been a busy year for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), as it has mounted an increasingly aggressive campaign to regulate employer-employee relations.

As part of these efforts, the NLRB has teamed up with other federal agencies to address areas of enforcement overlap. The NLRB’s most recent…

NY Employers: As of Monday, November 13, 2023, the New York Labor Law will require employers to provide departing employees — newly including those who experience partial unemployment such as a temporary separation or reduction in hours — with a notice of their right to file for unemployment benefits.

The notice:

  • must be provided upon

…

Good news for 401k plan savers!

The IRS recently released its cost-of-living adjustments for tax-qualified retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans), in IRS Notice 2023-75.

  • The limit on employee contributions to a 401(k) plan increases from $22,500 to $23,000 (catch-up contributions remain the same at $7,500).
  • The compensation threshold for determining highly compensated employees increases from

…

New York employers: Article 6 of the New York Labor Law, among other things, currently exempts individuals employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity whose earnings exceed $900 per week from certain protections under the law, including:

  1. payment “not less frequently than semi-monthly”,
  2. requiring advance, written consent for direct deposit, and
  3. the

…