- Posts by Isabel WolfAssociate
Isabel Wolf applies her focused and diligent approach to assist employers with effective and dependable solutions for their employment law challenges.
Isabel assists employers on complex federal, state, and local employment ...
President Donald Trump has made several significant and sudden changes at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC” or “the Commission”), the agency responsible for enforcing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. First, he appointed current Commissioner Republican Andrea Lucas as new Acting Chair and then removed Karla Gilbride (a nominee of former President Biden) from her role as EEOC General Counsel. Both of these decisions were routine and unsurprising for the start of a new presidential administration. President Trump then removed Commissioners Jocelyn Samuels and Charlotte Burrows, two of the three Democratic commissioners. This move was far from routine and is likely to be challenged in court.
These sweeping changes initiated by President Trump at the EEOC should be seen as a critical element of an ever-expanding goal of government-wide elimination, not just of DEI, but of all forms of affirmative action. This remaking of the EEOC should be viewed in parallel with Trump’s firing of two Democratic Members and the General Counsel at the National Labor Relations Board, revocation of Executive Order 11246, which contractually required covered federal government contractors and subcontractors to meet certain affirmative action obligations, and the possible elimination of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”).
With 2024 winding down, New York employers should be aware of the updates to the New York State Paid Family Leave (PFL) program that take effect in 2025.
As a reminder, PFL allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected, partially paid time off within a 52-week period for permitted reasons, such as to bond with a newborn, care for a family member with a serious health condition or assist when a family member is deployed abroad on active military service.
As we noted in a bulletin post last year, New York has modified its program several times since establishing PFL in 2018. While PFL’s changes for 2025, as explained below, are ministerial, it should be noted that New York recently expanded other mandatory benefits, including the provision of paid lactation breaks and the addition of paid leave for prenatal care under the New York paid sick leave program.
It is time, again, to update your workplace posters. Coinciding with the effective date of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”), the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released a revised “Know Your Rights” poster on June 27, 2023. The new poster replaces the one that was issued in late 2022, to add information regarding the PWFA.
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