Reining in Work Attendance Rules: New York Absence Law Explained

The state of New York will bar retaliation against workers for taking legally protected time off, under a new law targeting widely used but controversial points-based attendance policies in the workplace.

Major employers such as Amazon.com Inc., FedEx Corp., and Walmart Inc., have drawn criticism over their use of “no-fault” policies or similar attendance rules, including from members of Congress. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), and others called for a US Department of Labor investigation into Amazon’s attendance policy earlier this year.

The issue also has cropped up lately as one of the factors in ...