Raymond J. Berti

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Raymond Berti advises clients on a wide variety of employment law issues, including matters involving claims of discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wage-and-hour violations, and breach of contract in state and federal courts, before state and federal administrative agencies, and in arbitrations. Ray also provides clients with day-to-day advice and counseling on a broad range of pre-litigation employment matters, drafts employee handbooks and agreements, and conducts employment investigations and audits.

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NY Employers: Note New NY COVID-19 Guidance

By Raymond J. Berti and Blog Admin on Posted in Employee Handbooks & Policies, Employment Discrimination Harassment & Retaliation, Workplace Safety & OSHA
With the COVID-19 landscape in New York changing rapidly, employers may be understandably confused about what rules to abide by when it comes to things like masks, social distancing, and safety protocols. Significant changes may be on the horizon, but employers should not pull the trigger on any sweeping changes to their policies just yet. … Continue Reading

Predictive Scheduling and the Fight for a “Fair Workweek”: What Employers Need to Know

By Raymond J. Berti on Posted in Employment Counseling & Workplace Claims Prevention, Wage & Hour
Retailers and fast food companies in particular should be aware of the growing push for “fair workweek” legislation at the city, state, and federal levels. In just the past few years, over a dozen states and cities have considered enacting such laws, which are designed to ensure that employees are given consistent, predictable schedules. (They … Continue Reading

State and Local Governments: Battling for Control of Workplace Laws

By Raymond J. Berti on Posted in Employment Counseling & Workplace Claims Prevention, Wage & Hour
While local governments are increasingly seeking to regulate the workplace, many states are taking aggressive action to counter these efforts. Over the past several years, more than 20 states have enacted preemption laws which prevent such localities from increasing the minimum wage, expanding anti-discrimination protections, requiring employers to provide paid sick leave, and regulating employee … Continue Reading

States May Step Into Void Created by Demise of DOL’s Overtime Rule

By Raymond J. Berti on Posted in Employment & Consulting Contracts, Employment Counseling & Workplace Claims Prevention, Wage & Hour
Since the Department of Labor announced the new overtime rule last May, we have been closely following its rocky implementation in a series of posts. Presently, the rule – which would render an estimated 4 million workers eligible for overtime by effectively doubling the salary threshold for exempt employees to $47,476 – remains stayed by … Continue Reading

Catch-22 for Franchisors: The Joint Employment Dilemma

By Raymond J. Berti on Posted in Disability, Employment & Consulting Contracts, Employment Counseling & Workplace Claims Prevention, Employment Litigation
As government agencies steadily expand the concept of  joint employment, franchisors increasingly find themselves in a difficult position. Since August 2015, when the NLRB ruled in Browning-Ferris that entities with the ability to exercise direct or indirect control over workers can be joint employers (prior blog post here), franchisors have experienced increased scrutiny from both federal … Continue Reading

Takeaways from the EEOC’s Loss of Noteworthy Transgender Rights Case

By Raymond J. Berti on Posted in Employment Discrimination Harassment & Retaliation
Since the EEOC first ruled in 2012 that discrimination based on transgender status constitutes sex discrimination in violation of Title VII, the EEOC has continued to expand protections for transgender employees, finding that intentional misuse of a transgender employee’s new name and pronoun may represent sex-based harassment and/or discrimination (decision available here); that an employer’s … Continue Reading
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