New York Severance Agreement and Job Posting Bills Await Governor’s Signature

Two bills with significant implications for employers’ recruiting and separation strategies have passed both houses of the New York State Legislature and now await delivery to Governor Hochul for her signature.

In June 2026, the New York State Legislature passed two bills that reflect New York’s continued focus on regulating employer practices. The first bill, S372A (No Severance Ultimatums Act) would impose minimum review and revocation periods for severance agreements. The second bill, S8877/A6292A, seeks to address “ghost jobs” by requiring certain employers and third-party job posting entities to include specified disclosures in their job advertisements. Both bills are currently awaiting delivery to Governor Hochul for her signature.

NO SEVERANCE ULTIMATUMS ACT

On June 1, 2026, the New York State Legislature passed S372A (the No Severance Ultimatums Act). If signed into law, the bill would immediately amend the New York Labor Law by establishing minimum review and revocation periods for severance agreements that require employees to release waivable claims against an employer.

The protections in the No Severance Ultimatums Act largely mirror the procedural safeguards required under the federal Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA) for the valid release of age discrimination claims. Specifically, if enacted, the No Severance Ultimatums Act would require employers to provide employees with the following:

• The right to consult an attorney regarding the severance agreement
• A consideration period of no less than 21 calendar days within which to consider the agreement
• A revocation period of at least seven days, only after which the agreement will be effective

An employee can lawfully consent to signing the agreement before the 21-day review period ends, provided the decision is made knowingly and voluntarily. S372A, however, expressly prohibits employers from inducing an employee to sign the agreement before the expiration of the review period through fraud, misrepresentation, a threat to withdraw or alter the consideration period before the expiration of the consideration period, or by providing different terms if the employee agrees to sign before the review period expires.

S372A further provides any severance agreement that is not negotiated in compliance with the act would be void and unenforceable. Unlike the OWBPA, which generally renders only the waiver of Age Discrimination in Employment Act claims invalid if its requirements are not satisfied, S372A provides that a noncompliant severance agreement is automatically void and unenforceable in its entirety. S372A does not address the effect of such invalidity on any severance payments already made or otherwise owed.

JOB ADVERTISEMENT DISCLOSURE BILL/’GHOST JOBS’ BILL

On June 2, 2026, the New York State Legislature passed S8877 (the “Ghost Jobs” Bill). If enacted, the Ghost Jobs Bill would amend the New York Labor Law to require employers and third-party job posting entities to disclose the timeframe in which the employer anticipates hiring an individual for the job advertised posting.

The Ghost Jobs Bill’s requirements, if enacted, would extend to employers that have at least 100 employees, while excluding the State of New York, public authorities, and other governmental agencies and instrumentalities. Third-party job posting entities are defined in the bill as any person or entity that is not the employer that posts multiple job vacancies or listings on behalf of or independently of employers for job seekers to search and apply to on one platform. The bill would create the following requirements for employers and third-party job posting entities:

• If the employer or third-party job posting entity anticipates that the position will be filled in 90 days or less, the advertisement should include the following in capital letters and bold text: THIS POSTING IS FOR A CURRENT VACANCY AND THE EMPLOYER INTENDS TO FILL THIS POSITION BY (INSERT DATE).
• If the employer or third-party job posting entity anticipates that the position will be filled in more than 90 days, the advertisement should include the following in capital letters and bold text: THIS POSTING IS FOR A CURRENT VACANCY AND THE EMPLOYER INTENDS TO FILL THIS POSITION NO SOONER THAN (INSERT DATE).
• If the employer or third-party job posting entity does not anticipate the position to be filled, the advertisement should state the following in capital letters and bold text: THIS POSTING IS NOT FOR A CURRENT VACANCY BUT THE EMPLOYER IS SEEKING RESUMES TO REVIEW IN THE FUTURE WHEN JOBS BECOME AVAILABLE.

Further, when an advertised position has been filled, employers must remove the job listing from its website within two weeks of the date that the position has been filled, and employers must notify a third-party posting entity if the employer knows or should reasonably know that a third-party job posting entity independently posted the position.

Third-party job posting entities must remove filled or “expired” postings within two weeks of when they know or have reason to know that the position has been filled or has “expired.” Although the bill does not define "expired," the surrounding statutory language suggests that a posting expires when the employer no longer intends to fill the position.

If enacted, the New York Department of Labor would be responsible for enforcement of this bill, including by conducting audits of job advertisements and collecting reports of violations from injured parties. Civil penalties would begin at $2,500 for each print publication or digital platform on which a noncompliant advertisement appears.

Accordingly, a single noncompliant advertisement posted across multiple publications or platforms could result in separate penalties for each posting. If the violation is not cured within 30 days of the initial citation, the penalty would increase to $5,000. Thereafter, for each additional 30-day period that the violation remains uncured, the penalty for each violation would double.

NEXT STEPS FOR EMPLOYERS

If signed, both bills would also have an immediate effective date, leaving employers with no transition period to bring their severance agreements or job posting practices into compliance. Accordingly, employers with New York operations may wish to evaluate the potential impact of the legislation now and consider whether updates to their policies, templates, and hiring practices would be appropriate if either bill is enacted.

With respect to the No Severance Ultimatums Act, employers may wish to review their severance agreement templates and separation procedures to assess whether they could readily incorporate the bill's proposed requirements, including notice of an employee's right to consult counsel, a 21-day consideration period, and a seven-day revocation period.

Employers also may wish to evaluate their separation practices and manager and human resources training to minimize the risk that employees are inadvertently encouraged to sign severance agreements before any applicable consideration period has expired.

Similarly, employers covered by the proposed "Ghost Jobs" Bill should consider evaluating their recruiting and job posting practices to determine what operational changes would be necessary if the legislation becomes law. For example, employers using evergreen or recurring job postings could consider how those postings would be updated to include the bill's proposed disclosures regarding hiring timelines and hiring status.

Employers also may wish to assess whether existing processes are sufficient to monitor job postings maintained on their own websites and by third-party recruiting firms or job boards so that, if enacted, any required updates could be made promptly.

Finally, because the current version of the bill does not expressly limit coverage based on where a covered employer's employees are located, employers may wish to monitor for guidance or clarification from the New York Department of Labor regarding the statute's geographic scope, particularly as it relates to remote positions.