Federal court blocks New York State’s NLRB Trigger Law

New York employers need to know about a recent labor law decision by a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. On November 26, 2025, U.S. District Judge Eric Komitee issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting New York State from enforcing its recently enacted National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Trigger Law.

Chain of events

In September 2025, New York amended its State Employment Relations Act (SERA). This amendment, the NLRB Trigger Law, extended the state law’s coverage to employers whose labor relations had previously been subject only to federal oversight under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

Before the enactment of the NLRB Trigger Law, the New York State Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) regulated labor relations at New York employers in the public sector as well as private-sector businesses, such as agricultural employers, to which the NLRA does not apply. The NLRB Trigger Law amendment to SERA, however, eliminated SERA’s exception for “employees . . . protected by the provisions of the [NLRA].” Instead, SERA, as amended now, presumptively applies to NLRA-covered employees.