State Employment Law Articles

In response to growing public concerns over outsourcing and offshoring, state legislators across the country have recently introduced a spate of bills intended to crack down on businesses that move call center operations out of state. Many of these bills require employers to provide advance notice t

Following the lead of other courts around the country, a Pennsylvania state court has held that employees can bring lawsuits against their employers asserting claims under the state’s medical marijuana law. Palmiter v. Commonwealth Health Systems, Inc., 19-CV-1315 (Lackawanna County Nov. 22, 2019).

The New York City Commission on Human Rights (NYCCHR) has released a factsheet providing guidance on its view of the scope of the anti-discrimination protections provided to individuals performing services as independent contractors and freelancers under the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) t

In his 2020 budget proposal, Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed creating a 9-member marketplace worker classification task force to address seismic changes to the way independent contractors and other gig economy workers are classified. This task force will have until May 1, 2020 to propose legislation

Oregon’s active 2019 legislative session has prompted the need for several policy and handbook updates for employers doing business in Oregon. This Insight provides an overview of the most notable recent employment law developments in Oregon.

Assembly Bill 5 (“AB 5”), feared by some to be the death of independent contractor relationships in California, faces a growing number of lawsuits. Organizations representing three industries have filed lawsuits challenging the bill on constitutional grounds. In each lawsuit, the plaintiffs have sou

Maryland has joined a growing number of jurisdictions by enacting a “ban-the-box” law prohibiting employers from asking job applicants about their criminal history on the initial job application. The new Maryland law, the Criminal Record Screening Practices Act, will take effect on February 29, 2020

The City of St. Louis Board of Alderman unanimously passed “ban the box” legislation prohibiting employers in the City of St. Louis, Missouri, from basing job hiring or promotion decisions on applicants’ criminal histories. The Ordinance will take effect on January 1, 2021, for employers with at lea

New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in federal court (State of New York v. Wolf et al, 1:20-cv-01127) over its new policy prohibiting New Yorkers from registering or re-registering for various Trusted Traveler Programs.

On February 6, 2020, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Philadelphia’s salary history ordinance and reversed the decision of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania which had held that one of the ordinance’s provisions was unconstitutional. Greater Philadelph

New York Workers’ Compensation Law (WCL) dictates that an injured worker is entitled to reimbursement for certain expenses relating to an established compensable claim. WCL Section 13(a) provides that an employer is obligated to provide an injured employee with such medical, surgical, or other atten

On February 7, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California issued an order supporting its injunction of Assembly Bill 51 (AB 51), an expansive anti-arbitration law enacted in October, which was scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2020.1 In its order, the court expressly n

On January 31, 2020, the district court in Chamber of Commerce of the United States, et al. v. Becerra, et al., E.D. Cal. Case No. 2:19-cv-2456, granted the request for a preliminary injunction enjoining the State of California (the State) from enforcing Assembly Bill 51 (AB 51) against arbitration

Many businesses and their service providers have been awaiting final guidance from the California Attorney General concerning the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

Beginning March 16, 2020, sweeping minimum wage, overtime, and other rules affecting the payment of wages will take effect in Colorado. The changes are included in the Colorado Overtime & Minimum Pay Standards (COMPS) Order, formerly known as the Colorado Minimum Wage Order.

Last year, the City of Columbia, South Carolina enacted an ordinance that appeared to require substantial changes to private employers’ criminal record and salary history inquiry practices. At the time of enactment, the ordinance defined a covered “employer” as the “City, private employers and gover

Not surprisingly, OTO, LLC, the employer in OTO, L.L.C. v. Kho, 8 Cal. 5th 111 (2019), on January 13, 2020, petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review a 2019 California Supreme Court decision not to enforce an arbitration agreement. Employers with California arbitration agreements should watch clos

Executive Summary. In our December 23, 2019 Legal Alert we reported that the NYS Department of Health’s (“DOH”) Request for Offers (“RFO”) required a “Joint Employment Attestation” in any offer to continue or first become a Fiscal Intermediary (“FIs”) under NYS’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistanc

As California employers continue to grapple with recent legislation effective January 1, California Governor Gavin Newsom is releasing his plans for even more employment legislation. Along with the Governor’s proposed budget, the Governor has announced various “trailer bills.” Trailer bills are meas

As reported by Bloomberg Law, data breach class action litigation has begun under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Filed in the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, a putative class action lawsuit against Hanna Andersson, LLC and its ecommerce platform provider, Salesf