See what is new with us and keep up on the latest employment laws and legislation that affect your business with articles by Joe Stein, WNY HR Professional.
Hiring? January is the BEST TIME to reach candidates!
More applicants apply for jobs in January than?ANY?other month of the year, and since January 1st we've seen a huge spike in applications!?Oddly, fewer employers advertise in January to take advantage of this phenomenon. So if you want a competitive edge on new hires – now is the time to advertise! And that is just online. With?WNYJOBS?you also reach candidates with our weekly employment paper, available to job seekers for free throughout WNY, helping you reach?even more applicants. Contact your sales rep for advertising rates and to get started today!
2 Job Fairs with 1 Issue – January 10, 2025
With our next issue (January 10, 2025) you can take advantage of the greater number of Job Seeker Responses that January brings?and?also get extra targeted distribution at two area job fairs. This paper will be distributed at both the?Sumitomo Outplacement Job Fair?in Tonawanda on January 10th and the?Niagara WorksourceOne Job Fair on January 15th. Deadline is Wednesday, January 8 by 4pm.
In addition to your print ad, all ads appear online for 30 days. Remember, your WNYJobs postings get even more exposure on national websites!?Ask your rep for details.
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January 2025 Human Resources Update
It is now a new year, and we hope everyone had a terrific holiday season. While we may have been celebrating the holidays, the world around us (in particular, NY State) continued to make changes impacting our work lives. As always, we have compiled this monthly update in our attempt to make sure you are informed of what has happened in the past month.
- The beginning of a new year is a great time to remind everyone of the updated New York State minimum wages (outside of New York City).? The hourly minimum wage went up 50 cents to $15.50/hr. For those planning ahead, the 2026 rate is also set to increase 50 cents and then 2027 forward, the rate increase is tied to the consumer price index. For New York State exempt employees, the new minimum threshold is $60,405.80. Planning ahead, for 2026, this exempt minimum is scheduled to be $62,353.20.
- Another reminder is the “Clean Slate Act” which went into effect in NY on November 16th. This legislation seals misdemeanors three years after prison release or an imposition of sentence in situations where there were no incarceration. Felonies are sealed eight years after the individual’s release from prison or sentence imposition (if no incarceration). Exceptions are sex crimes, sexually violent offenses, and Class A felonies. Employers cannot make any inquiry regarding automatically sealed convictions or take any adverse action towards an individual’s employment based on automatically sealed convictions.
- January 1st was the effective date that required all New York private-sector employers to provide 20 hours of paid prenatal leave (in a 52-week period) to all eligible employees. This time off is separate and not inclusive of any paid time off program that an employer might already have. Also, employers can’t require an employee to use all of their other available paid time off options prior to using this new benefit. Eligible prenatal services include physical examinations, medical procedures, and related testing. The 52-week time period begins on the first day used, regardless of the length of time employed. Finally, employers cannot require the submission of medical documents to verify the prenatal leave need.
- The New York State Legislature announced its plans in 2025 to introduce legislature that will revise the employment non-compete clause agreements in the state. If you recall, the State Legislature (in 2023) tried to pass similar legislation banning most non-compete agreements but were met by a veto from the Governor.
- On December 3, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor released a proposed rulemaking notice highlighting its plan to phase out the issuance of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) 14(c) certificates, which allow employers to pay employees with disabilities below the applicable minimum wage. The plan is to end the issuance of these certificates and allow employers to apply for certificate renewals for three additional years after the effective date. After that time period, all who were under these certificates would need to be paid at/above the applicable minimum wage.
- In rather depressing news, the WTW Global Medical Trends survey was recently released, and it is not good news for U.S. employers. Insurers expect costs to rise by 10.2%, almost a full percent increase over 2024. The only partial silver lining is that this is still less than the 10.4% increase projected globally.
- Traditionally, the political party in the White House will have a 3 person to 2 control over the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). On December 11th, the U.S. Senate failed to confirm current NLRB chair Lauren McFerran’s (a Democrat) term renewal. McFerran’s term expired December 16th and this departure allows incoming President Trump to nominate his own chair.
- In an interesting move, President Trump nominated House of Representatives member Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon to lead the Department of Labor. Chavez-DeRemer has a reputation of being pro-union and co-sponsoring the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) legislation while in office.
- The Department of Labor did, on November 26th, file an appeal over the November 16th decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas to overturn and vacate its 2024 exempt salary threshold adjustment. So, currently (as of the writing of this update) the federal exempt threshold is at the 2020 level (of course…see above, New York State has its own minimum).
We have now completed another update. Many of the items covered above are quite complex, and a short paragraph summary does not begin to address the subject. We encourage you to further research any of the items above that are of interest to you. See you again in February!
The following has been prepared for the general information of readers. It is not meant to provide advice regarding any specific legal or policy matter and should not be acted upon without verification by the reader.
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