Happy Thanksgiving from your friends at The Coppola Firm! We’ve got more news from the NY Legislature and Department of Labor, and – as we’ve come to expect – it adds another obligation to employers in New York, including non-profits and some quasi-governmental entities.
Effective this month, New York now requires employers to complete and provide to any separating employee a so-called Record of Employment form. For non-government employers, you’re already issuing a separation notice letter pursuant to Labor Law § 195(6), and so this form can be included with that letter – or you can provide it separately.
Importantly, this Record of Employment form must be given to an employee who is terminated, who quits, who no-shows, or who is laid off. As a result, then, ANY separation from employment will trigger the employer’s duty to issue the form.
What should employers do?
- First, bookmark the Record of Employment form, download the form, and have it readily available.
- Update your offboarding procedures to ensure that the business owner, HR manager, or offboarding clerk knows to complete the form.
- Have the relevant information accessible so that you complete the form properly.
- Have your NYS Employer Registration and your Federal Employer ID Numbers at your fingertips.
- Last, keep a copy in your records, noting the date on which you furnished the form to your separated employee.
NOTE: The Record of Employment form also must be completed and provided to any employee whose hours are reduced to 30 or fewer per week. Specfically, Labor Law § 590(2) provides in part that the Record of Employment form:
shall be given at the time of each permanent or indefinite separation from employment, reduction in hours, temporary separation, and any other interruption of continued employment that results in total or partial unemployment. . . .
But why should employers have to do this?
We hear this question a fair bit, and it’s a fair one, especially for an employee who voluntary quits, resigns, or no-shows. Typically, they would not be eligible for unemployment benefits. Nonetheless, the New York Legislature has deemed it necessary to provide this notice to every employee who leaves.
Yes, it’s another burden placed directly on the shoulders of entrepreneurs and business owners, managers, and HR professionals.
Our job here at The Coppola Firm is to keep you informed and provide guidance to our clients when requested.
Don’t ever hesitate to reach out to us with questions about how to implement this process at your company. Reach out to us at any time at info@coppolalegal.com or 716.839.9700.
