NELA/NY'S LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

NELA/NY’s 2026 Legislative Agenda is robust and ambitious, including both NYS and NYC proposed legislation. For 40 years, NELA/NY has been a leader in advancing legislation that positively impacts the lives of New York's workers and employees. We work with like-minded organizations to advance protections for New York workers. We are excited to share our NYS legislative agenda for this year:

NELA /NY New York State Legislative Agenda 2026

Labor Law and Wage Theft Prevention Bills

EmPIRE Worker Protection Act* (S448C Hoylman-Sigal/A4278B Simon) Empowers employees, whistleblowers, and labor unions to bring public enforcement actions on behalf of the state to enforce the Labor Law’s wage theft, health/safety, and anti-retaliation protections. *NELA/NY is supporting this bill as a member of a workers' rights group coalition.
Remedial Construction of NYLL (S9330 Ramos/A10365 Bronson) Clarifies that the Labor Law's worker-protective provisions should be interpreted liberally consistent with their remedial intent.
Labor Law Enforcement Parity Act (S4473 Ramos/A5000 Bronson) Clarifies that the liquidated and statutory damages available for certain wage violations are not punitive in nature but were instead created to compensate workers. This bill will ensure that New York workers are entitled to Labor Law remedies that are at least as favorable as those available to workers under federal law. Passed Senate Feb. 2026!
Wage Payment Integrity Act (S2236A Gounardes/A2222A Simon) Requires employers to pay promised bonuses unless those bonuses are clearly labeled as discretionary. Passed Senate Mar. 2026!
Wage Theft Attachment Act (S4611 Ramos/A4994 Rosenthal) Addresses the problem of uncollectable judgments in wage theft cases by lowering the high standard for asset attachment and successor liability in wage theft cases and reforming procedures for shareholder liability.

Workplace Fairness & Anti-Discrimination Bills

Jury Verdict Protection Act (S410 Gounardes/A1182 Seawright) Prevents courts from reducing jury awards unless the court finds exceptional circumstances that compel the conclusion that the jury was influenced by partiality, prejudice, mistake, or corruption. Passed Senate Mar. 2026!
Anti-Waiver of Employment Rights (S4424A Ramos/ A5411A Bronson) Prevents employers from forcing workers to waive their rights under the Labor Law and Human Rights Law as a condition of employment, such as waivers shortening workers' time to file claims. Passed Senate Feb. 2026!
Personnel Records (S3460 Gounardes/A2107 Gonzalez-Rojas) Grants employees the right to review and respond to information in their personnel files.
Faithless Servant Reform Act (S7776A Ramos/A8336A Bronson) Limits faithless servant claims against employees when brought in retaliation against workers who assert their rights under the Labor Law or Human Rights Law claims.
Worker’s Rights Enforceability Act (S3868 Hoylman-Siegal/A1424 Dinowitz) Prohibits enforcement of mandatory pre-dispute arbitration and class action waiver provisions in workplace disputes as a matter of New York law, except where their enforcement is required under federal law.
Do Not Darken My Door (S413 Gounardes/A293 Cruz) Prohibits "no rehire" clauses in employment severance and settlement agreements.
Non-Compete Ban (S4641A Ryan/A10023 Bronson) Prohibits most noncompetition agreements and certain restrictive covenants.
Motivating Factor Bill (S2447 Mayer/A4992 Bichotte Hermalyn) Clarifies that the "motivating factor," rather than than "but-for" causation standard applies to discrimination claims under the Human Rights Law. Passed Senate Feb. 2026!
Confidentiality Waiting Period (S1766A Fernandez) Clarifies waiting period for confidentiality terms in settlements of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims under the Human Rights Law.
NY Nexus Bill (S9284 Myrie) Amends Human Rights Law to require that claims for unlawful discriminatory practices have a sufficient nexus with NY State, rather than an impact within the State.
Salary Transparency Bill* (S5990B Ramos/A5906 Bores). Strengthens the salary transparency law by requiring prospective employers to disclose non-salary compensation, including bonus pay and benefits. *NELA/NY is supporting this bill as a member of a workers' rights group coalition.

Join Us!

We encourage you to contact us if you are interested in supporting any of our bills. We are also available to answer any questions or consult on any potential workers’ rights legislation you may be considering.

In solidarity,

Hugh Baran
Julia Elmaleh-Sachs
Christopher Marlborough
NELA/NY Legislative Advocacy Committee Co-Chairs