pec's blog

To the people that live in work in New York City it can feel like NYC is its own world. And when it comes to employment protections it kind of is. While employees in New York City are protected under New York state and federal law, New York City also has unique employee protection laws that only apply to workers in the city.

What Are Some of New York City’s Employment Laws

Some of the unique employment laws that NYC has passed to protect the workers specially in the city are:

Employees in at will states vs. right to work states often don’t fully understand the distinctions between these two employment models. This can prevent them from understanding their legal rights when employers terminate them or take other such actions.

Workers in all industries should familiarize themselves with the differences and similarities of right to work vs. at will employment. Doing so may be key to determining if you have grounds to take legal action against a former employer.

If you believe you were illegally fired in New York, you can file a wrongful termination claim. This is because under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 workers are protected from being fired if the termination is based on discrimination, such as the color, ethnic identity, gender, religious affiliation, pregnancy status, age, sexual orientation of an employee. In addition, New York State and New York City also have laws protecting certain employees from wrongful termination.

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 guarantees workplace protections to pregnant people. If you’ve been discriminated against or your workplace rights were violated while you were pregnant or after you gave birth you may be able to file a claim against your employer for damages.

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act works in conjunction with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to guarantee that pregnant persons are not fired, demoted, or in any way penalized for pregnancy. It also ensures that pregnant persons who have special physical needs get accommodations for their condition.

The ADEA protects employees aged 40 and over from discrimination in the workplace. It prohibits employers from making hiring and promotion decisions based on a job applicant’s or employee’s age. It has been a law since 1967. Despite the long-term presence of the ADEA some employers still discriminate against job applicants and employees due to their age. In 2019, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received 15,573 complaints about age discrimination.

The PUMP Act for Nursing Mothers is part of the Consolidation Appropriations Act. It’s legislation designed to give more protections to working mothers who are breastfeeding children. The Fair Labor Standards Act and the Break Time For Nursing Mothers Act offer some protections for nursing mothers but the PUMP Act goes further to guarantee that women have appropriate time and an appropriate place to breastfeed or pump breast milk.

Were you forced to quit your job because of harassment or discrimination? While forced resignation isn’t the same as getting fired if you were forced to quit a job because of something illegal that your employer did, you can file a wrongful termination claim against that employer. Employers sometimes put employees in positions where they have no choice but to quit,  like cutting their hours down to almost nothing. But that’s discrimination, and you can file a wrongful termination suit against an employer for that.