The U.S. Department of Education, New York Office for Civil Rights, (“OCR”) recently determined that a BOCES discriminated against students by failing to publish a non-discrimination notice that complied with federal laws and regulations.[1] We encourage all of our school district and BOCES clients (“schools”)...
Governor Cuomo recently signed legislation that expands access to emergency medication for students and school personnel. One new law, which goes into effect on March 5, 2015, allows school employees to administer epinephrine auto-injectors (“epi-pens”) to students or staff without prescriptions in emergency situations.[1] The...
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) recently issued guidance in the form of a “Dear Colleague” letter to public elementary and secondary schools regarding schools’ legal obligations to provide students with equal access to educational resources without regard to race,...
With the proliferation of “red-light-cameras” at traffic intersections, and the emergence of “school-zone-speed-cameras,” an emerging issue is who is responsible for paying the fines that employees receive from these cameras while operating employer-issued vehicles. This memorandum summarizes when, if at all, an employer can require...
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has issued new guidance on how to interpret and apply the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (“PDA”). This guidance replaces the EEOC’s 1983 guidance and provides increased employer accommodation requirements for pregnant employees with pregnancy-related impairments....
Last month was National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month and this month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In light of these annual campaigns to increase awareness and prevention of these diseases, we write to remind you of your employees’ rights regarding leaves of absence for cancer...
With the fall season upon us and a new class of interns commencing internships with employers across New York State, we are writing to remind you of the State and federal laws governing how to determine whether an individual is an intern or an employee,...
As we advised in our February 25, 2014 memorandum (copy attached), effective January 1, 2014, the Affordable Care Act (“the ACA”) prohibits a waiting period in excess of 90 calendar days before an individual is eligible to enroll in health insurance coverage. The Departments of...
As we advised you in our February 19, 2013 memorandum, the Affordable Care Act (“the ACA”) includes a shared responsibility provision that potentially penalizes covered employers that do not offer affordable health insurance coverage to their full-time employees. The ACA regulations define “affordable” as requiring...
The Governor recently signed legislation expanding the list of persons mandated to report cases of suspected child abuse and requiring the Commissioner of Education to issue regulations regarding required coursework for reporting child abuse and maltreatment for individuals holding temporary coaching licenses or professional coaching...
