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New Laws for 2014: Human Rights Laws Extended to Interns (NY)


Each state has a host of new employment and labor related laws that take effect in 2014. This series focuses on several new laws from around the country that are of particular interest.  In this instance, this note focuses on an amendment made by New York City.

Readers of the blog will remember a post from early June in which human rights laws were extended to interns in New York City (Human Rights Laws Extended to Interns (NYC)).  On July 22, 2014, Governor Cuomo of New York signed a similar bill for interns across the entire state of New York that amended the New York Human Rights Law by adding a new section that prohibits employers from discriminating against unpaid interns and prospective interns based upon a host of factors including age, race, color, national origin, and sexual orientation, among other categories.  The amendment also prohibits employers from retaliating against unpaid interns who oppose practices forbidden under the Human Rights Law or who file a complaint, testify, or assist in a proceeding brought under the Human Rights Law. 

Given the increasing number of interns that are in the workforce, this is a welcomed expansion of the human rights laws for interns across the state of New York.

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