Workforce Bulletin

What employers should know about key developments this week:

• Severance Agreement Overhaul: The No Severance Ultimatums Act, awaiting Governor Kathy Hochul’s signature, would extend a 21-day review period plus a seven-day revocation period to all employees and require severance agreements to explicitly state that the employee has the right to consult counsel. The legislation would take effect immediately upon signature.
• Trapped at Work Act Amendments: On December 19, 2026, New York’s ban on “stay or pay” promissory notes takes effect. The Trapped at Work Act carves out financial bonuses and wage advances and adds new conditions for tuition repayment agreements. New York joins California and Connecticut in banning certain promissory notes.
• Earned Safe and Sick Time Act Update: Amended Earned Safe and Sick Time Act rules, now in effect for New York City employers, require 32 hours of unpaid protected time off immediately upon hire and set new obligations for employers that use electronic systems to track sick leave balances for departing employees.

In this episode of Employment Law This Week^®, Epstein Becker Green attorney Drew C. Ambrose discusses the No Severance Ultimatums Act and what employers should be doing now to prepare their severance agreements ahead of the governor’s signature.

On March 4, 2025, the New York Senate passed Senate Bill S372 (the “No Severance Ultimatums Act” or “S372”). If enacted, S372 would add a new section to the New York Labor Law requiring New York employers to provide for a 21-business day review period and a seven-day revocation period in all severance agreements. Currently, similar protections are afforded to employees who are over the age of 40 pursuant to the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA), which amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). Similar protections are also available to New York employees who enter into agreements settling claims of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, but only if the agreement contains a non-disclosure provision relating to those claims.

Specific Requirements Under Consideration

Under the terms of S372, any severance agreement offered to an employee or former employee will need to:

• contain a notice advising the employee of their right to consult an attorney regarding the agreement;
• provide at least 21 business days for review of the agreement; and,
• acknowledge a seven-day period within which the employee may revoke the agreement.

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday:  This week, we’re showcasing the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel’s memo on non-disparagement and confidentiality provisions in severance agreements, Illinois’ new law permitting Illinois employees to take paid leave “for any reason,” and New Jersey’s upcoming implementation of the “Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights.”

On February 21, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) continued its aggressive application of the National Labor Relations Act (“Act” or “NLRA”) to workplaces without union representation and lessened the value of severance agreements for all employers by finding it unlawful for an employer to merely proffer a severance agreement that includes broad non-disparagement and confidentiality provisions to an employee. In McLaren Macomb, the Board held that a severance agreement that contains a confidentiality clause and a non-disparagement clause was unlawful because, in the Board’s view, these provisions impermissibly infringe on employees’ rights under the Act. Specifically, the Board found that these two provisions limit employees’ ability to discuss their wages, hours, and working conditions (which could include disparaging remarks) with other employees, prevent employees from assisting other employees seeking assistance, and hinder employees themselves from seeking assistance from the NLRB, unions, and other outside organizations.

On April 14, 2020, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law a new amendment (“New Amendment”) to the New Jersey Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act, commonly referred to as the New Jersey WARN Act (“NJ WARN Act”), which was modified in January of this year, to among other things, require payment of severance to eligible employees who suffer a NJ WARN Act covered termination of employment and to require 90 days’ notice of such terminations (the “January Amendment,” which we discussed previously here).

The New Amendment, which was driven by ...

Our colleagues Michelle Capezza, Jeffrey M. Landes, and Susan Gross Sholinsky will host Epstein Becker Green's retail roundtable summit from 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. on May 21. Join us for an open discussion among retail industry executives. The summit will be devoted to retail industry labor and employment issues that general counsel and human resources executives are facing.

Topics to include:

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By Paul Burmeister

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) has ruled that negotiations between the Hotel Bel-Air and UNITE HERE Local 11 were not at impasse when the employer implemented its last, best final offer, which included severance payments to union employees. Hotel Bel-Air, 358 NLRB 152 (September 27, 2012). The NLRB upheld the ALJ’s order for the employer to bargain with the Union and to rescind all the signed severance agreements containing a waiver of future employment with the Hotel Bel-Air.

The Hotel Bel-Air is a luxury hotel located in Los Angeles. The Hotel ...