New York Enacts Laws on Captive Audience Meetings, Wage Theft, Gender Identity

​During a busy term at the New York Legislature, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation prohibiting captive-audience meetings, categorizing wage theft as larceny, and giving interns protections against discrimination related to gender identity and expression.

Captive-Audience Meetings

Hochul signed into law the captive-audience bill a day after it reached her desk. The law went into effect immediately upon signing.

The new law prohibits an employer from disciplining employees who refuse to attend an employer-sponsored meeting, "the primary purpose of which is to communicate the employer's opinion concerning religious or political matters." The law defines "political matters" to include the decision on whether to support or join a labor organization. In essence, the law prohibits employers from forcing employees to attend meetings in which the employer attempts to dissuade employees from unionizing.

Captive-audience meetings have a long history of being protected employer speech under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). According to the NLRA, an employer may hold mandatory employee meetings and speak to employees about unionization. An employer cannot threaten, punish, or promise benefits to employees during these meetings, as such action may violate Section 8(c) of the NLRA.

The New York law makes it unlawful for an employer to refuse to hire, employ, or license or to discharge or otherwise discriminate against an individual over terms of employment because the individual refuses to attend an employer-sponsored meeting, listen to speech, or view communications where the primary purpose is to communicate the employer's opinion concerning religious or political matters, including unionization.

New York is the fourth state to prohibit mandatory captive-audience meetings. However, courts are considering whether captive-audience bans are preempted by the NLRA. For instance, litigation is ongoing over Connecticut's captive-audience ban on the basis that the ban is preempted by Section 8(c) of the NLRA.

Wage Theft

Hochul also signed into law a bill intended to combat wage theft. This enactment amends the New York Penal Law to add wage theft to the types of activities included in the crime of larceny. The new law took effect immediately upon signing.

Under the new law, employers can be charged with larceny if they do not pay wages at the minimum wage rate and overtime rate, or the promised wage rate (if greater), to an employee for work performed. The law allows aggregation of all nonpayments or underpayments to one person from one person into one larceny count. The law also allows aggregation of all nonpayments or underpayments from a workforce into one larceny count.

Gender Identity or Expression

Hochul signed a bill adding gender identity or expression as a protected class for the purposes of the New York State Human Rights Law's prohibitions on discrimination against interns. The law went into effect immediately upon signing.

The enactment is consistent with other provisions of the New York Human Rights Law that extend these same protections to employees.

Richard Greenberg, Daniel Jacobs, Henry Shapiro, Christopher Valentino and Kevin Murray are attorneys with Jackson Lewis. © 2023. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.