State Employment Law Articles

On March 21, 2023, the Michigan Senate passed Senate Bill No. 34 in the final step of the legislative process to repeal Michigan’s right-to-work law governing private-sector employers. The Senate’s action comes on the heels of the Michigan House of Representatives’ passage of a similar bill, House B

The struggle to provide certainty on employment issues to the private sector in Puerto Rico is not over.

On March 14, 2023, Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox signed HB 324 into law amending Utah’s protective order statute to allow employers to petition for and obtain workplace violence protective orders against an individual who has engaged in or threatened potential workplace violence. The law will become

A long, drawn-out multimillion-dollar lawsuit connected to a 2016 construction accident has been dismissed by a Queens Supreme Court judge, who ruled in favor of a fence company represented by Goldberg Segalla.

Florida’s most recent anti-“WOKE” legislation places diversity-related work and diversity-focused positions on state campuses under threat.

Workplace violence is a serious concern for California employers in all industries, but the state’s workplace violence prevention regulations are currently applicable only to the healthcare industry. A bill recently introduced in the California Legislature would require the state’s occupational safe

On March 3, 2023, Gov. Hochul signed Bill A999/S1326 into law, which amends New York’s Pay Transparency Law (NYPTL) that will place New York among the growing number of states to require salary ranges with job advertisements.

On February 6, 2023, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board held that employers must provide their outdoor workers with drinking water at a location “as close as practicable,” effectively creating a new precedent for interpreting the state’s requirements related to the proximity o

The Seattle City Council passed a first-of-its-kind ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on caste in employment, housing, and public accommodation. Seattle’s mayor approved the ordinance on February 23, 2023, and the ordinance will take effect March 25, 2023, 30 days from the mayor’s approval.

The Illinois Supreme Court’s decision that a separate claim under Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) accrues each time an entity scans or transmits an individual’s biometric identifier or biometric information will lead to absurd and unjust results not intended by the Illinois Genera

On March 8, 2023, the Michigan House of Representatives passed a bill ( S.B. 4 ) expanding the language of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA)’s protected categories to include sexual orientation and gender identity or expression as prohibited categories for discrimination. The state senate

On March 8, 2023, the Michigan House of Representatives passed two bills that would repeal Michigan’s current right-to-work law. The two bills, House Bill (HB) 4004 and HB 4005, passed 56–53 along party lines. HB 4004 relates specifically to right to work in the public sector; HB 4005 relates to

On March 3, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico issued a decision declaring Law 41-2022 null and void, effectively reinstating the prior state of many of Puerto Rico’s employment statutory entitlements. The decision will impact employees’ statutory benefits and rights, incl

On February 16, 2023, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. announced the creation of a special unit to “investigate and prosecute” wage theft, harassment, and exploitation of workers. He also announced the establishment, in partnership with the New York State Department of Labor, of a fund

The District Court for the District of Puerto Rico has nullified Act No. 41-2022, enacted in June 2022, which had instituted significant changes to labor and employment laws in Puerto Rico. Employers in Puerto Rico are once again subject to the law as it was prior to the

Part of a recently passed pay predictability ordinance in Los Angeles is already causing some confusion for employers over a provision requiring retail employers to pay workers a premium for working a second shift within ten hours of the first shift. Such tightly scheduled shifts often occur when a

In June of 2022, the New York legislature passed the Warehouse Worker Protection Act (WWPA) ( A10020/S8922 ), which Governor Hochul signed into law on December 21, 2022.

Less than a year after its enactment, a federal district court has declared null and void Puerto Rico Act 41-2022 , a law that rolled back parts of the 2017 employment law reform. Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico v. Pierluisi Urrutia , No. 17 BK 3283-LTS (D. P.R. March 3, 202

On February 28, 2023, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor (PDOL) published regulations concerning three distinct types of job-protected paid leave employers must provide under the Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces Ordinance (PHFWO). This is the third iteration of what PDOL label

On February 22, 2023, the Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division ruled that a hospital employee discharged for disciplinary reasons was not entitled to payment of accrued paid time off (PTO) because the hospital had an express policy that PTO would not be paid out after a disciplinary disch