Allan S. Bloom is a nationally recognized trial lawyer and advisor who represents management in a broad range of employment and labor law matters. As a litigator, Allan has successfully defended a number of the world’s leading companies against claims for unpaid wages, employment discrimination, breach of contract and wrongful discharge, both at the trial and appellate court levels as well as in arbitration. He has secured complete defense verdicts for clients in front of juries, as well as injunctions to protect clients’ confidential information and assets.
As the leader of Proskauer’s Wage and Hour Practice Group, Allan has been a strategic partner to a number of Fortune 500 companies to help them avoid, minimize and manage exposure to wage and hour-related risk. Allan’s views on wage and hour issues have been featured in The New York Times, Reuters, Bloomberg and Fortune, among other leading publications. His class-action defense work for clients has saved hundreds of millions of dollars in potential damages.
Allan is regularly called on to advise boards of directors and senior leadership on highly sensitive matters such as executive transitions, internal investigations and strategic workforce planning. He also has particular expertise in the financial services industry, where he has litigated and arbitrated cases, including at FINRA and its predecessors, for more than 20 years.
A prolific author and speaker, Allan was the Editor of the New York State Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Journal from 2012 to 2017. He has served as an author, editor and contributor to a number of leading treatises in the field of employment law, including ADR in Employment Law (ABA/Bloomberg BNA, Senior Editor), Employment Discrimination Law (ABA/Bloomberg BNA, Final Proof Editor), Cutting Edge Advances in Resolving Workplace Disputes (Cornell University/CPR, Editor), The Employment Law Review (Law Business Research, U.S. Chapter Author), and The Complete Compliance and Ethics Manual (SCCE, Chapter Author).
Allan is a member of the NYSBA's House of Delegates, sits on the Executive Committee of the NYSBA's Labor and Employment Law Section, and is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. He has been recognized as a leading practitioner by Chambers since 2011.
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On May 9, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) secured its largest Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) jury verdict in history, when a jury in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania awarded $22 million to a class of approximately 7,500 workers for unpaid time spent on pre- and post-shift activities. The case is Su v. East … Continue Reading
The New York State Senate has passed a bill that, if enacted, would require certain corporate entities to report data regarding the gender, race, and ethnicity of their employees. On March 27, 2023, an identical version of the bill was introduced in the New York State Assembly. If enacted, the reporting requirements would take effect … Continue Reading
In the wake of the recent news of bank failures, businesses—and their investors—are rightly concerned about the implications of a missed or delayed payroll. Let’s look at those implications, and strategies for minimizing risk. Obligation to Make Payroll Under federal and most state laws, employers have both timing-of-pay and frequency-of-pay obligations. Under most of these … Continue Reading
A trio of New York State Senators has proposed a bill that would create a cause of action for “wrongful discharge.” If enacted, the “Safeguarding Employees and Accountability for Termination (SEAT) Act” would be codified in a new Article 20-D of the Labor Law and take effect 90 days after being signed into law. The … Continue Reading
It’s always exciting when the Supreme Court takes up a wage and hour issue—at least for us. Earlier this week, in Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt, the court tackled the question of whether a daily rate can satisfy the “salary basis” test for exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act as an executive, … Continue Reading
In this episode of The Proskauer Brief, partners Evandro Gigante, Allan Bloom and special employment law counsel Laura Fant discuss the New York City Council’s recently proposed amendments to the city’s pay transparency law. Presently, an employer is only required to include the “base annual or hourly wage or rate of pay” and not other forms of compensation or … Continue Reading
***UPDATE: Governor Hochul signed the amendments into law on March 3, 2023.*** The New York State Legislature has approved chapter amendments to New York State’s pay transparency law, which is slated to take effect on September 17, 2023. The most notable revision would provide that the law applies to remote positions physically performed outside of … Continue Reading
A proposed ordinance has been introduced before the New York City Council to significantly expand the existing NYC pay transparency law. As we have previously reported, the current law requires most New York City employers to disclose the minimum and maximum salary or hourly wage for open roles in postings for job, promotions or transfer … Continue Reading
As part of its goal of phasing in a $15 minimum wage for all employees in New York, the State began implementing annual increases in 2016 across all regions. The annual increases are published by the Commissioner of Labor on or about October 1 of each year, and are based on percentage increases determined by … Continue Reading
It’s two months into argument season at the Supreme Court, and we’re always keeping our fingers crossed that the justices will take up a wage and hour issue and clear up some ambiguities in the law or a circuit split. Top billing this SCOTUS term goes to Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt, in … Continue Reading
As we previously reported, as of November 1, 2022, New York City’s salary transparency law requires covered employers who advertise or post a job, promotion, or transfer opportunity for a role that can or will be performed, at least in part, in NYC to disclose in such advertisement of posting the minimum and maximum annual … Continue Reading
Earlier this month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit examined whether certain types of employee compensation—shift differentials and holiday premiums—are includable in the “regular rate” for purposes of calculating overtime pay under California law. You can read our blog about the decision in our California Employment Law Update here. For a crash … Continue Reading
Effective November 6, 2022, the Westchester County (NY) Human Rights Law is amended to require that employers with at least four employees that are posting job, transfer or promotion opportunities which “are required to be performed, in whole or in part, in Westchester County, whether from an office, in the field, or remotely”** state the … Continue Reading
Twice a year (in the spring and the fall), each federal agency publishes a “Regulatory Agenda” that discloses the proposal and final rules it has recently issued, together with those that it plans to issue. Back in the fall of 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division noted in the agenda that … Continue Reading
In this episode of The Proskauer Brief, partners Evandro Gigante, Allan Bloom and special employment law counsel Laura Fant discuss the New York City Pay Transparency Law, which is set to come into effect on November 1, 2022. The law covers employers with four or more employees and generally requires covered employers who post a job, promotion, … Continue Reading
It’s been a bumpy road for the federal rules on independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act. In the courts, the test has always focused on the “economic reality” of the relationship between a worker and the entity that benefits from the services provided to determine whether the worker is an employee or … Continue Reading
A number of companies suffered collateral damage last winter as a result of a cyber attack on a major provider of time and attendance software. With your timekeeping systems compromised, how do you determine what to pay your non-exempt employees, particularly with a payroll processing deadline looming? The Governing Principles To properly pay overtime-eligible employees, … Continue Reading
New York City’s pay transparency law, which requires most New York City employers to disclose salary ranges in their job postings, took effect on November 1, 2022. As we previously reported, the new law amends the New York City Human Rights Law to require covered employers who post a job, promotion, or transfer opportunity for … Continue Reading
Who says wage and hour law is boring? Not us. We came across two wage and hour stories this year that are too awesome not to share. Auto-Repair Shop Owner Pays Employee’s Final Wages in Pennies, Is Sued by DOL As the New York Times reported back in January, the U.S. Department of Labor filed … Continue Reading
In the first reported decision we’ve seen addressing the issue head on, a federal district court in California dismissed a putative collective action claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) seeking payment for time spent in pre-shift COVID screening. Prior to clocking in each day, the plaintiff—a non-exempt truck driver whose job duties included … Continue Reading
UPDATE: Governor Hochul vetoed the bill on December 23, 2022. In 2016, New York City enacted the Freelance Isn’t Free Act, a local law establishing protections for certain freelance workers providing services for entities located in the City. Earlier this month, the New York State Legislature approved a bill providing similar protections to freelance workers … Continue Reading
***UPDATE: Governor Kathy Hochul signed the bill into law on December 21, 2022. The law takes effect on September 17, 2023.*** The New York State Legislature has passed Senate Bill S9427, which will require employers with four or more employees to include in job postings – including those for promotion or transfer opportunities – the … Continue Reading
***UPDATE: Mayor Adams signed the bill into law on May 12, 2022. It takes effect immediately.*** The NYC Council has approved a bill to amend the pending New York City pay transparency law that will require employers to disclose salary ranges in job postings. The bill amends several aspects of the law, including, notably, extending … Continue Reading
The New York City Commission on Human Rights (NYCCHR) has released a fact sheet providing some additional details and guidance regarding the upcoming salary disclosure law. As we previously reported, the new law will make it an unlawful discriminatory practice under the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) for a covered employer or its … Continue Reading
