New York Bans No-Fault Attendance Policies

New York State has enacted legislation that bans "no-fault" attendance policies. The new law, which will take effect on February 19, 2023, prohibits employers from penalizing workers based on "use of any legally protected absence pursuant to federal, local, or state law," and clarifies that assessing attendance points (or taking similar actions such as issuing demerits/occurrences or deducting from a time bank) constitutes retaliation under the law. 

While no-fault attendance policies have long been required to take protected absences into consideration to avoid penalizing employees for taking legally protected time off,  New York's law now declares that the issuance of any attendance points for protected absences constitutes retaliation, even when such points do not result in discipline or termination. Accordingly, New York employers must consider exceptions for any and all absences that result in attendance points to workers, and not only when they receive formal discipline as a result. Employers that use no-fault attendance policies in New York should be mindful of this change in the law, and employers elsewhere should continue to be careful to ensure that no-fault policies include exceptions for protected absences. Click here to read more, courtesy of Foley & Lardner.