Update Applicable to:
All employers who conduct such meetings with physical or remote employees in NY.
What happened?
On September 6, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation that prevents employers from taking disciplinary actions against employees who choose not to attend captive audience meetings, and took effect immediately.
What are the details?
Businesses can’t require employees to attend meetings where management voices its views on religion, health care, politics, or joining civic or fraternal organizations or labor unions, under the new law. This development was anticipated as Governor Hochul had expressed her intent to ban such meetings in late spring 2023. Subsequently, legislative measures were swiftly introduced in both chambers of New York’s legislature to support this objective.
This move aligns New York with a growing number of states that are implementing or considering legislation to restrict or outright prohibit captive audience meetings. Notably, the list of states taking such measures includes Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota, and Oregon.
This legislative change aims to protect employees’ rights to choose whether to participate in these meetings without facing repercussions from their employers.
For more information, please see the links below:
What do employers need to do?
Employers should review the new law by reading the bill above. Employers who persist in conducting captive audience meetings now face the risk of being accused of unfair labor practices under the National Labor Relations Act. This risk is heightened by the recent enactment of these legislative changes.
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