The old adage, “if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere,” is no less applicable to employers operating in New York City than to Broadway performers. Companies doing business in the Big Apple over the last few years have had to implement an ever-expanding array of employment law mandates not seen in many other jurisdictions. This can be daunting for new and seasoned New York City employers alike.

In this article, we highlight some of the most recent and most critical employment-related laws for employers conducting or contemplating business in New York City to consider.

Legislative Backdrop

At the outset, it is imperative employers recognize that both state and city anti-discrimination laws, as well as wage and hour laws, generally are much more expansive than their federal counterparts. This is true not only in terms of the range of individuals protected, but also the scope of remedies and damages available to aggrieved individuals. For example, both the New York State Human Rights Law (SHRL) and City Human Rights Law (CHRL) protect more categories of individuals than federal discrimination law (e.g., sexual orientation and marital and domestic violence victim status) and generally apply lower standards of proof for claims.

Indeed, the CHRL, by virtue of the Local Civil Rights Restoration Act of 2005, is required to be “liberally construed” for the accomplishment of its “uniquely broad and remedial purposes.” To that end, claimants can prove claims of hostile work environment merely by showing they were treated “less well” than comparators, and respondents cannot defend against liability on the basis of having user-friendly complaint procedures that employees unreasonably decline to utilize. Further, the CHRL provides for uncapped emotional distress and punitive damages.