January 2023: Governor Hochul Vetoes Two New York Employment Bills

Update Applicable to:
All employers in the state of New York.

What happened, and what are the details?
On December 23, 2022, Governor Hochul vetoed Bill A9368/S8369B. The bill was modeled after the Freelance Isn’t Free Act, enacted in 2016 in New York City, and would have created a state-wide law with the same name, Freelance Isn’t Free Act. The bill would have created New York Labor Law 191-d, imposing requirements relating to payments and contracts with freelance individuals working as independent contractors.

On December 23, 2022, Gov. Hochul also vetoed Bill A5773/S2239. That bill would have created New York Executive Law 15-D and required contractors with agreements with a New York State agency exceeding $50,000 to submit equal pay reports that include compensation data by various employee demographics (e.g., race, gender).

Vetoed bills are returned to the chamber that first passed them. A two-thirds majority from both legislative houses can override a veto. Still, since the legislative session ended in 2022, the bills would need to be reintroduced as new bills during next year’s session that starts in January 2023.

For more information, please see the links below:

A9368/S8369B – The Bill

A5773/S2239 – That Bill

Freelance Isn’t Free Act

Article

What do employers need to do?
Employers should review the links provided above and be on the lookout for any news of these bills is possibly reintroduced come January 2023.