State Employment Law Articles

On April 1, 2021, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed into law House Bill (H.B.) 2067, which amends Arizona Revised Statute (A.R.S.) Section 13-905 to allow the courts to issue an order for a “Certificate of Second Chance” for individuals “whose judgment of guilt is set aside” after a criminal convic

On June 15, 2021, Governor Tom Wolf’s administration certified the results of the May 2021 municipal primary election, and thereby formalized the approval of an amendment to the Constitution of Pennsylvania giving lawmakers the broad new power to extend or end disaster emergency declarations. Becaus

By: Cal/OSHA Voted To Approve Revised ETS Standards Bringing More Comfort to The Workplace Yesterday, the Cal/OSHA standards board approved the revised Emergency Temporary Standards, posted on Friday, June 11. While the ETS were approved without revision and will take effect Monday, June 21, Governo

On June 17, 2021, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Standards Board), voted and passed its latest set of proposed revisions , with a 5 to 1 vote, to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s (Cal/OSHA) COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards Regulation (Revised ETS

On June 17, 2021, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (“Cal-OSHA”) voted to adopt its (now third) revised COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Temporary Standards, which take effect immediately as a result of Governor Gavin Newsom signing an executive order waiving the normal 10-day l

On June 17, 2021, at the end of yet another chaotic day in administrative rulemaking, California’s new COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) finally became effective. The ETS bring substantial changes to the COVID-19 regulatory requirements with which employers have struggled since California

On June 11, 2021, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed into law House Bill 2935, also known as the CROWN Act (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair), joining several other states in explicitly prohibiting employers and public schools from discriminating against individuals based on phys

The Marin County, California Board of Supervisors has enacted an urgency ordinance that requires employers in the County’s unincorporated areas with 25 or fewer employees to provide supplemental paid sick leave (SPSL) for certain COVID-19-related reasons through September 30, 2021. The ordinance was

On June 14, 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the Pandemic Liability Protection Act into law. The law became effective upon his signing. This new law provides COVID-19 liability protections for health care providers, businesses, non-profits, religious institutions and schools that follow certa

On May 5, 2021, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the New York Health and Essential Rights Act (NY HERO Act), which mandates workplace health and safety protections from any airborne infectious disease that the commissioner of health has designated as “a highly contagious communicable disease th

On June 14, 2021, the Colorado Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Nieto v. Clark’s Market , holding that company policies that provide for the forfeiture of earned vacation pay are unenforceable under Colorado law. The Colorado Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s decision and ali

On June 15, 2021, Cal/OSHA updated the FAQs related to its Emergency Temporary Standards (“ETS”). The update addresses the recently proposed ETS revisions, which were released on June 11, 2021 (after the Standards Board withdrew the previously proposed revisions last week).

On May 28, 2021, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a significant ruling in Magadia v. Wal-Mart Associates, Inc., on both California’s wage statement laws and standing to pursue claims under the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA) in federal court.

On June 8, 2021, Governor Kate Brown signed into law House Bill (HB) 2474, amending the Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA) to update and expand the law’s eligibility and leave provisions. The amendments give eligibility to take leave to employees reemployed after a separation or returning after a tempor

Earlier this month, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed House Bill No. 5158, “An Act Concerning Breastfeeding in the Workplace.” Effective October 1, 2021, this legislation will expand the scope of an employer’s obligation to accommodate lactating and breastfeeding employees.

On June 15, 2021, Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed House Bill 271 prohibiting any county, city, town, or village government receiving public funds from requiring COVID-19 vaccination documents (commonly known as “vaccine passports”) from citizens. In addition, according to the new law, Missouri

On June 7, 2021, Governor Lamont signed House Bill Number 6380, which requires employers to disclose to applicants and employees the salary ranges for positions. Significantly, the law also expands Connecticut’s prohibition of gender-based pay discrimination to require equal pay for “comparable,” as

On June 11, 2021, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Standards Board) released its latest set of proposed revisions to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s (Cal/OSHA) COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (Revised ETS). The Standards Board will vote on the Revi

For those of you still on the edge of your seats after last week’s Cal/OSHA activity, the saga continues!

At its emergency meeting yesterday, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board withdrew the amended Emergency Temporary Standards.