Law and the Workplace
Photo of Arielle E. Kobetz

Arielle E. Kobetz

Associate

Arielle E. Kobetz is an associate in the Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the Employment Counseling & Training Group. Her practice focuses on providing clients with strategies and counseling related to a variety of workplace-related disputes, including employee terminations and discipline, leave and accommodation requests, and general employee relations matters. She also counsels clients on developing, implementing and enforcing personnel policies and procedures and reviewing and revising employee handbooks under federal, state and local law.

Prior to joining Proskauer, Arielle served as a law clerk at the New York City Human Resources Administration, Employment Law Unit, where she worked on a variety of employment discrimination and internal employee disciplinary issues.

Subscribe to all posts by Arielle E. Kobetz

New York State Enacts Phone, Email, and Internet Monitoring Notice Law for Private Employers

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has signed into law a bill that will require employers to provide notice to employees of electronic monitoring of telephone, email, and internet access and usage. The law, which takes effect on May 7, 2022, will require all private employers, regardless of size, with a place of business in New … Continue Reading

New York Paid Family Leave Law Amended to Allow Leave to Care for Siblings

New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law an amendment to the New York Paid Family Leave Law (NYPFLL), which will allow employees to take leave to care for siblings with a serious health condition. In effect since 2018, the NYPFLL provides a phased-in system of paid, job protected leave for eligible employees: (i) to … Continue Reading

New York State Issues Updated Guidance On HERO Act

On September 30, 2021, the New York State Department of Labor (“NYSDOL”) released an updated set of frequently asked questions on the HERO Act. As we previously reported, the HERO Act requires all employers in New York to implement certain safety standards and adopt a prevention plan to protect against the spread of airborne infectious … Continue Reading

OSHA To Issue Emergency Temporary Standard Requiring Large Employers to Mandate Vaccination or Weekly Testing for Employees

On September 9, 2021, the Biden Administration announced that the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is developing an Emergency Temporary Standard that will require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require unvaccinated workers to provide a negative COVID-19 test result at least … Continue Reading

New York State Issues HERO Act Prevention Standard and Model Plans

On July 6, 2021, the New York State Department of Labor published multiple model documents related to the implementation of the New York HERO Act (the “Act”), which, as we previous reported, requires all employers in New York to adopt a prevention plan to protect against the spread of airborne infectious diseases in the workplace. … Continue Reading

New York State Passes Significant Amendments to the HERO Act

***UPDATE: on June 11, 2021, Governor Cuomo signed the HERO Act amendments into law. As discussed below, section 1 of the Act takes effect on July 5, 2021, though employers are not required to adopt an airborne infectious disease exposure prevention plan until the state issues its model. Section 2 (permitting the creation of a … Continue Reading

New York State Passes Bill to Mandate COVID-19 Safety Standards in the Workplace

***UPDATE: Governor Cuomo signed the HERO Act into law on Wednesday, May 5, 2021. The Act is currently scheduled to take effect on June 4, 2021; however, section two of the Act, which permits the creation of a joint employer-employee workplace health and safety committee (as discussed below), takes effect on November 1, 2021. On … Continue Reading

OSHA Issues Guidance on Employer Recording Obligations Regarding Mandatory Vaccination Programs

***UPDATE: On May 21, 2021, OSHA published a new FAQ establishing that employers do not need to record adverse reactions from COVID-19 vaccines on their OSHA 300 Logs, at least through May of 2022.  The enforcement position applies regardless of whether an employer requires, recommends, or incentivizes employees to receive the vaccine. On April 20, … Continue Reading

New York State Legalizes Recreational Adult Use of Marijuana

On March 31, 2021, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the New York State Cannabis/Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act, which legalized the use of recreational marijuana for individuals ages 21 and older. Among other things, the Act establishes a Cannabis Control Board and Office of Cannabis Management that will be responsible for regulating … Continue Reading

New York State Issues Guidance on COVID-19 Vaccine Leave Law

The New York State Department of Labor (“NYSDOL”) has issued guidance on the State’s recently enacted COVID-19 vaccine leave law, which went into effect on March 12, 2021.  As we previously reported, the law requires employers to provide employees with “a sufficient period of time, not to exceed four hours” per dose to be vaccinated … Continue Reading

New York State Passes Bill Granting Employees Paid Time Off for COVID-19 Vaccinations

***UPDATE: Governor Cuomo signed this bill into law on Friday, March 12. The law takes effect immediately.*** The New York state legislature passed Bill S2588A/A3354B, which would amend the New York Labor Law to grant employees paid leave time for the COVID-19 vaccination.  Below is a brief summary of what New York employers need to … Continue Reading

New York Court Dismisses Amazon Workers’ COVID-19 Health and Safety Claims

*** UPDATE: On November 24, 2020, the Plaintiffs in Palmer, et al. v. Amazon.Com, Inc., et al. filed a notice of appeal. The Plaintiffs appealed Judge Cogan’s order dismissing the case to the Second Circuit. We will continue to monitor this case and provide updates. *** On November 2, 2020, the Eastern District of New … Continue Reading

Reminder: New York State Paid Sick Leave Law Takes Effect September 30

As we previously reported, the New York State paid sick leave law will take effect, and covered employees will begin accruing leave time, on September 30, 2020. However, employees may be restricted from utilizing accrued sick leave until January 1, 2021. As set forth in our previous blog: Employers with 4 or fewer employees and … Continue Reading

DOL Releases Additional COVID-19 Guidance Related to FFCRA, FMLA and FLSA

As we have previously reported, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) continues to update its COVID-19 guidance. Most recently, on July 20, 2020, the DOL issued additional Q and A guidance related to COVID-19 and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and the Families First Coronavirus Response … Continue Reading

U.S. Supreme Court Holds That Title VII Prohibits Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

In a 6-3 decision authored by Justice Gorsuch on June 15, 2020, the United States Supreme Court held that Title VII’s prohibition on discrimination “because of…sex” includes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Bostock v. Clayton County, No. 17-1618 (590 U.S. ___ (2020). In doing so, the Court made clear that … Continue Reading

EEOC and OSHA Issue New COVID-19 Guidance

As the nation continues to move toward reopening, the EEOC and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued additional guidance for employers to consider as they plan employees’ return to the workplace. These updates supplement earlier guidance issued by both agencies, which we discuss in our previous posts. EEOC Guidance On June 11, 2020, … Continue Reading

OSHA Updates Guidance Regarding COVID-19 Recordkeeping Requirements

On May 19, 2020, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued a memorandum updating previous guidance regarding employers’ obligation to record cases of COVID-19 in the workplace. On May 26, 2020, the previous guidance will be rescinded and OSHA’s updated guidance will go into effect, the key provisions of which are … Continue Reading

New Voting Leave Laws in New York State and Washington D.C.

New York State and Washington D.C. have enacted legislation regarding paid time off to vote. The details of these new laws are summarized below. New York Nestled into the FY 2020-21 NY state budget is a revision to the statewide time off to vote law, which was revised in April 2019 to increase paid voting … Continue Reading

New York State Issues Guidance for Re-Opening of Businesses

*** Last Updated: July 17, 2020 *** New York State has issued detailed guidance on Governor Cuomo’s “New York Forward” Plan, under which the State will re-open in four phases on a regional basis. The guidance includes additional information regarding: (1) when regions will be permitted to begin re-opening; (2) which businesses are included in … Continue Reading

New York’s Governor Outlines Plan to Re-Open Businesses

***Updated May 5, 2020 to account for new information released by the Governor’s Office.*** In his daily press conference on April 26, 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a plan to re-open the state in phases on a regional basis. Under the plan, businesses will re-open on a business-by-business level within each region, with … Continue Reading

New York State Issues Updated Guidance on Essential (And Non-Essential) Businesses

***Last Updated: May 18, 2020*** On April 9, 2020, Empire State Development (“ESD”) released guidance for determining whether a business or service is “essential” under a series of executive orders issued by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. These orders, which we addressed in a previous post, require that only businesses and not-for-profit entities deemed essential … Continue Reading

New York Enacts Statewide Paid Sick Leave Law as Part of FY 2021 Budget

On April 3, 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the fiscal year 2021 New York State budget, which, notably for employers, includes a new statewide paid sick leave requirement.  As described below, the new leave provisions, which amend the NY Labor Law, will require New York employers of all sizes to provide … Continue Reading

New York State Issues Guidance on COVID-19 Quarantine Leave Law

***Updated April 16, 2020*** On March 25, 2020, New York State published Frequently Asked Questions and other guidance regarding the state’s recently enacted Covid-19 Paid Sick Leave Law and expansions to New York’s Paid Family Leave Law (PFL) and Disability Benefit Law. This bill was signed into law on March 18 and became effective immediately … Continue Reading

District of Columbia Orders Closure of All Non-Essential Businesses

D.C. Governor Muriel Bower has issued an emergency order, Mayor’s Order 2020-053, (“the Order”) requiring that all non-essential businesses cease on-site operations beginning at 10:00 p.m. on March 25, 2020. The Order also prohibits gatherings of 10 or more people. The Order, as of now, will remain in effect through April 24, 2020. The Order … Continue Reading
LexBlog

This website uses third party cookies, over which we have no control. To deactivate the use of third party advertising cookies, you should alter the settings in your browser.

OK