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Legal team outlines changes in labor laws

Jun-29-08, 07:00 PM

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Religion, layoffs, undocumented workers and Eliot Spitzer were among the topics discussed at a recent seminar for human resources managers.

White Plains-based Jackson Lewis held its 21^st annual labor and employment conference at the Newburgh Ramada Inn. More than 150 people showed up for the four-hour seminar, hosted by the Orange County Chamber of Commerce and the Mid-Hudson Valley Society of Human Resource Managers.

Attorney Robert Heifernan of Orange County has been hosting the yearly confab with fellow attorney Lewis Silverman to keep the small-business community abreast of industry trends.

Dealing with employees without proper documentation, changes in tracking employees’ race for purposes of determining whether minorities are getting a fair shake at upper-management jobs, Family Medical Leave Act changes and new reporting requirements for employers with 100 or more workers were among the topics covered.

Heifernan said the resignation of Eliot Spitzer created an unusual situation for the state: “Typically, we have a governor for 12 years. We had this governor for one year, and when he resigned, several people resigned with him, including the new human rights commissioner, Tumiko Gibson. She instituted several aggressive mandates to handle wage and hour discrimination suits … as a result, we have seen these claims triple from 7 to 22 percent.” He added that “although Gibson is gone, the policies remain in force.”

While Heifernan’s firm believes settling is usually the employer’s best option, others are cashing in on the rise in claims. In one case, Heifernan said, the claimant received $1,000, while the attorney received $27,000 in fees. “Clearly, it is a way for some to earn money. An employer has to ask themselves, ‘Is it worth it?’ In most cases, settling is the best way to handle the situation, because of the money involved … and the time taken away from the workplace,” Heifernan said. “You also have more control over confidentiality agreements, terms you can negotiate with the disgruntled employee and lessen media exposure.”

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