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Every new year brings changes to the employment laws applicable to New York State and New York City employers. In this article, we review the key employment laws that went into effect in 2024 and highlight some of the new and upcoming laws that may affect your business in 2025. 

On 17 December 2024, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted its opinion on certain data protection aspects related to the processing of personal data in the context of AI models (Opinion). The Opinion comes as a response to the Irish supervisory authority’s (Irish SA) request. The Irish SA’s request made to the EDPB was prompted due to the current lack of harmonisation amongst supervisory authorities when it comes to assessing AI models and addresses key components of an AI model such as training, updating, developing and the operation of AI models where personal data is part of the dataset. The Irish SA posed four specific questions as part of the request which covers: Anonymity in AI models where personal data has been used to train the model; The appropriateness of relying on legitimate interest as a lawful basis and how this can be demonstrated; and The continued use of an AI where unlawfully processed data sets have been used to create, update or develop an AI model. We cover each of these themes in turn below.

The second and third reading of the Construction Industry Security of Payment Bill concluded at the Legislative Council on 18 December 2024. As an important milestone of the security of payment regime in Hong Kong, the Construction Industry Security of Payment Ordinance (“Ordinance”) will be published in the Government Gazette on 27 December 2024. According to section 1(3), the provisions on power of Secretary for Development for registration and administration of Adjudicator Nominating Bodies (“ANBs”) will take effect on the gazettal date, i.e. 27 December 2024. The remaining provisions of the Ordinance will come into operation on 28 August 2025. Construction contracts entered into on or after this date will be governed by the Ordinance.

As 2024 draws to a close, we look back at some of the highlights across BCLP's Litigation & Investigations team. Our lawyers have successfully represented our clients across a myriad of high-stakes disputes globally, as well as being at the forefront of notable Pro Bono efforts and thought leadership initiatives.