As you may recall, on May 5, 2021, the NY HERO Act was signed into law in order to protect employees against exposure and disease during a future airborne infectious disease outbreak. The HERO Act requires employers to take certain measures to protect their employees in the event of future airborne infectious disease outbreaks, which includes requiring employers to have an exposure prevention plan in place in the event of a future outbreak.

As previously reported on this Blog, regulation 12 NYCRR 840.1 entitled "Airborne Infections Disease Exposure Prevention Standard" was proposed over the summer to assist employers in adopting an exposure prevention plan. 

Although 12 NYCRR 840.1 has not yet been approved, the New York State Dept. of Labor has enacted an emergency regulation so that 12 NYCRR 840.1 can be immediately adopted. 

Regardless of whether or not 12 NYCRR 840.1 is ultimately approved, employers should still have an exposure prevention plan in place. However, to err on the side of caution and to avoid a whirlwind of possible future lawsuits, employers should comply with the requirements set forth 2 NYCRR 840.1, especially in light of the Dept. of Labor's recent actions in proposing an emergency regulation to adopt 12 NYCRR 840.1.

Clearly, the Dept. of Labor is gravely concerned about the possibility of future airborne infectious disease outbreaks and their patience is running thin.

If you agree or disagree with the Dept. of Labor's emergency regulation, you can make your voice heard by emailing Michael Paglialonga, Dept. of Labor, at regulations@labor.ny.gov, by December 31, 2021. 

As you may recall, a proposed bill (A2382) was submitted to Gov. Hochul last month, seeking to amend the CPLR & Judiciary Law concerning predatory debt collection practices & consumer actions, as discussed in our blog here.

On November 8, 2021, Gov. Hochul signed bill A2382 into law. 

"When bad actors try and take advantage of consumers, New York will fight back. I'm proud to be signing legislation that will protect New Yorkers from unscrupulous practices by debt collectors and utility companies."  -Gov. Hochul. 

This is huge news considering the new legislation will undoubtedly protect debtors from abusive debt collection practices. 

How big of an impact will this new legislation have on overall debt collection practices in New York? 

Stay tuned....

A proposed bill (A2382), awaiting Gov. Hochul's signature, seeks to amend the civil practice rules in NY (CPLR) & Judiciary Law concerning predatory debt collection practices & consumer credit actions. 

Specifically, the Bill provides the following: 

• Cut the statute of limitations on consumer credit transactions in half (i.e., from 6 years to 3 years);
• Require all consumer credit action pleadings to include additional information (i.e., name of original creditor, last 4 digits of account number on most statement, date & amount of last payment, etc.);
• Allow defendants to raise improper service as a defense (i.e., unwaivable); 
• Require an additional notice of a pending consumer credit action be mailed to a defendant by clerk of the court; &
• Require additional steps for entry of default judgment against a debtor (i.e., affidavit by original creditor of facts related to debt/default in payment, affidavit of sale for every subsequent assignment of sale of debt to a third-party, affidavit of a witness of the plaintiff, including chain of title of debt, etc.). 

As you may recall, all federal contractors now have vaccination requirements because of Executive Order 14042, as discussed in our blog here.

The Order requires that all contracts between federal contractor and subcontractor contain a clause ensuring compliance. However, the specifics of that clause were unknown until September 24, 2021, when the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force (SFWTF) published guidance, which requires:

• Vaccinations of covered contractor employees, except in limited circumstances where an employee is legally entitled to an accomodation; 
• Compliance by individuals, including covered contractor employees and visitors, with the  guidance related to masking and physical distancing while in covered contractor workplaces; and 
• Designation by covered contractors of a person(s) to coordinate COVID-19 workplace safety efforts. 

A proposed rule at 12 NYCRR 141 will increase basic hourly minimum wage for non-farm workers outside of New York City, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties, from $12.50 to $13.20. 

This proposed rule is in compliance with the minimum wage requirements at Labor Law 652(6). 

Although 70 cents may not be considered impactful by many, those struggling to afford monthly expenses, especially during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, will certainly benefit from such an increase. 

To voice your support or opposition to this proposed rule, comments should be sent to Michael Paglialonga, NYS Dept.of Labor at regulations@labor.ny.gov by November 29, 2021.