Now that we’re almost half-way through 2023, it’s time again to review the developments in state and local labor and employment laws. State legislatures and city councils continue to be very busy making new laws and amending existing laws. In fact, due to the large number of updates, we are splitting our post into two parts. … Continue Reading
State and local legislatures were active throughout 2022 in passing laws and ordinances that will impact employers of all sizes and all industries in 2023. Click HERE for our summary of these laws and related developments, including important developments in California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, and elsewhere! If you haven’t already, you might also want … Continue Reading
In our post earlier this week, we covered recent developments in state and local labor and employment laws in the states at the beginning at the alphabet. We now turn our attention to developments in the remaining states.… Continue Reading
Now that we’re almost half-way through 2022, it’s time again to cover all of the development in state and local labor and employment laws. It’s been a busy time in the state legislatures and city councils, with lots of new laws and amendments to existing laws. In fact, due to the large number of updates, … Continue Reading
State legislatures have been busy in 2021 passing new employment-related laws. Here we look at some of the highlights of new laws in Connecticut, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. Connecticut is the latest state to prohibit discrimination based upon traits historically associated with race, including hair texture, protective hairstyles such as wigs … Continue Reading
On February 22, 2021, New Jersey’s governor signed the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act (“CREAMMA” or the “Act”), legalizing the recreational use of cannabis items, i.e., marijuana, for individuals age 21 and older. Importantly, the Act also provides job protections to recreational marijuana users and imposes new drug testing requirements … Continue Reading
In Part One of our year-end State Law Roundup, we covered national minimum wage developments and developments in states at the beginning of the alphabet: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, and Hawaii. In Part Two below, we look at developments in the rest of the states (and localities), from Illinois to Washington D.C. Illinois: Illinois employers … Continue Reading
As we (thankfully) reach the end of 2020, we wanted to provide a year-end update on recent and upcoming state law developments. Despite the fact that state and local governments had their hands full with the COVID-19 pandemic (and passed many laws relating to that topic, which we will not cover here), they managed to … Continue Reading
As we reported here, among the sweeping pieces of legislation signed during the early periods of the COVID-19 pandemic was the passage of New York’s permanent statewide sick leave law. Under the New York statewide sick leave law, all employers in New York State are required to provide sick leave. The law takes effect on … Continue Reading
While promising that the official regulations are still forthcoming, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has just issued additional guidance in the form of questions and answers for employers and employees regarding application of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). These questions and answers – available here – include confirmation that the FFCRA’s paid … Continue Reading
On Sunday, March 22, 2020, Dr. Amy Acton, Director of the Ohio Department of Health, declared all workers in non-essential businesses across the state of Ohio are required to stay at home starting Monday, March 23 at 11:59 PM in order to combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This Order shall remain in effect until 11:59 … Continue Reading
On March 18, 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law providing emergency paid sick leave to New Yorkers. The proposed bill provides job-protected leave benefits for employees affected by COVID-19. Effective March 18, 2020, employees subject to mandatory or precautionary orders of quarantine or isolation issued by the state of New York, the … Continue Reading
COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave On March 17, 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a three-way agreement with the New York Legislature on a paid sick leave bill for New Yorkers. The proposed bill provides job-protected leave benefits for employees affected by COVID-19. Effective immediately upon passage (which is expected in the next few days), … Continue Reading
Philadelphia’s Salary History Ban Upheld On February 6, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled in favor of the City of Philadelphia, upholding the constitutionality of the City’s Wage Equity Ordinance under the First Amendment. The City may now enforce the Ordinance and prohibit employers from asking applicants about their salary … Continue Reading
Minimum Wage, Paid Leave Law Developments, California Compliance, Illinois Update, and More… Minimum Wage With federal minimum wage stuck at $7.25, state and local governments continue to raise minimum wages. Our current state and local minimum wage chart, showing changes that will be going into effect for the new year, is available here.… Continue Reading
Joining the growing list of states enacting privacy and data security laws, on July 25, 2019, New York’s governor signed into law the “Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security” Act (the “SHIELD Act”), amending the state’s data breach notification and cybersecurity law. The SHIELD Act applies to “any person or business that owns … … Continue Reading
Wage Theft Laws In response to Minnesota’s wage theft law, which we previously reported about here, the city of Minneapolis has passed its own wage theft law, Ordinance No. 2019-031, which will go into effect on January 1, 2020. The law applies to any employee that works for an employer for at least 80 hours … Continue Reading
New Jersey joins the growing list of states to offer employment protections for authorized users of medical marijuana. On July 2, 2019, New Jersey’s governor signed into law the Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act (“CUMCA”), providing job protections to medical marijuana users and creating new drug testing procedures for marijuana. The new law … Continue Reading
Minnesota Enacts Criminal Penalties for Wage Law Violations Minnesota governor Tim Waltz recently signed legislation that imposes criminal penalties (including felony charges) on employers who engage in “wage theft.” Effective August 1, 2019, employers will be guilty of a felony if they wrongfully withhold an employee’s pay by virtue of underpayment, misclassification, or refusing to … Continue Reading
On June 5, 2019, Nevada’s governor signed Assembly Bill No. 132, becoming the first state to prohibit pre-employment drug testing for the presence of marijuana (though New York City was the first city to enact such a law, as we discussed in our previous post).… Continue Reading
New York City New York City has enacted a first-of-its kind law (Intro. No. 1445-A) prohibiting pre-employment drug testing for the presence of marijuana or tetrahydrocannabinols. The law makes it an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer, labor organization, employment agency, or agent thereof to require a prospective employee “to submit to testing for the … Continue Reading
Minimum Wage Updates On March 28, 2019, Maryland’s legislators voted to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15.00 per hour by January 1, 2025 for employers with 15 or more employees and July 1, 2026 for employers with 14 or fewer employees.… Continue Reading
