New York City Passes Grocery Worker Retention Act: Various Documents Updated

Author: Michael C. Jacobson, XpertHR Legal Editor

New York City has passed a law protecting workers of certain grocery stores from termination in the 90 days following a change of ownership like a merger or acquisition. The law goes into effect the second week of May 2016. The new law will be codified as section 22-507 of the administrative code of the city of New York.

After the 90-day period concludes, successor employers are required to author written performance evaluations for all existing employees and to keep records of those evaluations for a period of three years. Once the written evaluation and 90-day waiting period have been satisfied, successor employers may elect to retain existing workers, but they are not required to.

The law applies only to some grocery stores, depending on their size and the percentage of their revenue derived from off-site food consumption. Various exceptions may apply to the 90-day waiting period for existing employees following a restructure.

In light of this development, the following New York sections of the Employment Law Manual have been updated:

In addition, a Legal Timetable entry has been added.