The Labor & Employment Podcast Barclay Damon LLP

In this ongoing, in-depth conversation, Lee Jacobs and
Rosemary Enright get further into “the minutia” and related topics of employee onboarding. In part 3, they cover the importance of job applications and descriptions, offer letters, and employment agreements—once again emphasizing customizing to the organization’s specific needs. They also discuss contracts and agreements, hospitality tips and tip pooling, uniform acknowledgments, direct deposit, cashless bans, the New York City commuter benefits form, training and certificates, and notices and posters. If you’re following along, stay tuned for future episodes on topics like offboarding and the right time and way to conduct workplace investigations.

In this in-depth conversation, Lee Jacobs and Rosemary
Enright get into “the minutia,” covering the importance of using the correct forms and documents during the employee onboarding process. They emphasize the potential legal consequences of not providing the wage acknowledgement form, among other forms, and the importance of ensuring compliance with relevant laws and regulations.

In this episode, Lee Jacobs and Rosemary Enright discuss many aspects of employee onboarding as well as related topics like job postings, applications, interviews, and more. Regarding onboarding, they emphasize setting the right tone from day one, cover the difference between onboarding and orientation, and highlight the legal requirements and potential pitfalls of the process. To be effective, Lee and Rosemary say, onboarding must be tailored to each specific business. In this wide-ranging conversation, Rosemary and Lee also touch on document storage and paper versus electronic documents, onboarding high-level employees, accommodations, and best practices. Look for more episodes soon on related topics.

Resources for this episode:


Federal Poster Requirements


New York State Poster Requirements


New York City Poster Requirements


New York Department of Labor

Lee Jacobs and Rosemary Enright discuss updates for 2024 for employee handbooks, covering topics that include policy changes around sexual harassment, paid family leave, lactation accommodation, marijuana
testing, electronic monitoring, and height and weight discrimination. They also touch on artificial intelligence in hiring decisions. Lee and Rosemary emphasize the importance of updating employee handbooks to ensure compliance with New York State and New York City laws as well as of providing employee training and resources to promote a safe and inclusive work environment.

In the first of a two-part conversation, Lee Jacobs and Rosemary Enright cover the basics of employee handbooks, emphasizing the importance of customizing your organization’s handbook rather than relying on a generic one. They touch on the need to update handbooks annually, and they highlight key policies that should
be included in handbooks, like those involving employment at will, drug and alcohol-free workplaces, and EEOC statements. Additionally, Lee and Rosemary discuss the importance of disability policies and the inclusion of required forms and acknowledgments. Be sure to tune in to Part 2, when Rosemary and Lee will address updates for 2024.

Welcome to Season 3 of the Labor & Employment Podcast and the first episode recorded in Barclay Damon Live’s new state-of-the-art podcast studio! With regular host Ari Kwiatkowski out on maternity leave, her Barclay Damon colleagues Lee Jacobs and Rosemary Enright have stepped in to continue the conversation until Ari returns this spring. In this episode, Lee and Rosemary discuss important changes related to minimum wage in New York State, covering minimum wage increases, overtime eligibility, exemptions, and penalties for noncompliance. They also touch on the Wage Theft Prevention Act and the importance of providing accurate wage statements. Stay tuned for a new episode soon that will dig into employee handbooks.