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Regulatory Changes and Upcoming Deadlines - Are You Ready?


We may be experiencing a summer slowdown and packing our bags for vacation, but some recently introduced regulatory changes and deadlines that apply to all employers are already into effect. Are you all set?

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NY State Voting Rights Expanded

Effective immediately:

  • Workers are entitled to have up to 3 hours of paid time off to vote, regardless of their work schedules.

  • Each organization can designate the notice period as long as employees can request the time off 2 working days before an election.

  • Employers will be able to decide whether the time requested needs to be taken at the beginning or end of the shift.

Previously:

The Election Law previously provided 2 hours of paid time off only when the employee did not have 4 consecutive hours in which to vote between the opening or the polls and the beginning of their shift, or the end of their shift and the close of the polls.

What do you need to do?

1. Edit your voting policy to reflect the new requirements.

2. Communicate the changes to your staff.

3. Update your labor posters to reflect the new voting rules.

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Definition of Protected Classes Extended

The NYC Human Rights Law was reviewed to include “sexual and other reproductive health decisions” to the list of protected classes. This has already been in effect since May 20th.

What does this mean?

Workers are now officially protected from discrimination based on their sexual and reproductive choices, and family planning. This includes any decision by an individual to receive services such as fertility-related medical procedures, sexually transmitted disease prevention, testing, and treatment, and family planning services and counseling, such as birth control drugs and supplies, emergency contraception, sterilization procedures, pregnancy testing and abortion. Please note that this does not require NYC employers to provide specific reproductive health benefits.

What do you need to do?

  1. Revise your Employee Manual to incorporate sexual and other reproductive health decisions to the list of categories protected from discrimination.

  2. Communicate the changes to your staff.

  3. Ensure to segregate any information relating to an employee’s reproductive health from your personnel files and other documents accessible to other than HR.

  4. Verify that sexual and other reproductive health decisions are not taken into consideration when your organization makes employment decisions.

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Reminder: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Fees Are Due July 31st

Do you sponsor a self-insured health plan? This includes offering a Health reimbursement account (HRA) or Medical Expense Reimbursement Plan (MERP). Then you are required to submit this form to the IRS and attach payment by July 31st.

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), a Washington D.C.-based institute, funds evidence-based research on the comparative effectiveness of medical treatments so that patients and their doctors can make better-informed health care decisions.

How does this form work? Refer to page two – part II of the form to designate the average number of covered for the year. The current amount is set at $2.45 per person, for plan years ending from 10/01/2018 through 09/30/2019. Lastly, indicate in the payment voucher, at the end of the form, that the tax period for the fee is the second quarter of the year.

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