State Employment Law Articles

On August 9, 2019, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker enacted sweeping changes to the landscape of employment law in Illinois. See Public Act 101-0221, http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/101/101-0221.htm. Among other changes, the amendments create the Workplace Transparency Act (WTA), which lim

Hackers are getting creative. As they gather information about potential targets for identify theft and other cybercrimes, they increasingly target companies’ human resources departments. Employee records often contain troves of sensitive personal information that would be valuable to such criminals

Executive Summary. On August 12, 2019, New York State (NYS) amended its Human Rights Law to make it easier to prove discriminatory harassment for members of all protected classes, including age, race, creed, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military sta

Under current California law, an employer with an establishment in California must report a serious work-related injury, illness or death that occurs at the employer’s place of employment or in connection with their employment to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health by telephone or email w

With the resumption of the current legislative session on August 12, 2019, the California Senate Appropriations Committee briefly considered Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5), the legislature’s purported solution to the California Supreme Court's opinion in Dynamex v. Superior Court (Dynamex). In Dynamex, the

In line with recently passed legislation in New York and California, Illinois’ legislature rallied to create a bill that would help increase employee protections by combating discrimination and harassment in the workplace. On June 2, 2019, the General Assembly, through bi-partisan efforts, passed S.

New York state has enacted sweeping new workplace harassment protections for employees, including lowering the standard for when harassment is actionable.

In Connecticut, the “traditional” rules of workers’ compensation are relatively well established. A restaurant employee cuts his finger preparing food on shift; a home health aide pulls a muscle in her back while moving a patient on shift; a delivery truck driver gets into a motor vehicle accident w

Rhode Island has followed the recent trend of its neighboring states—including Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire1—by enacting a law that largely prohibits employers from entering into noncompete agreements with their employees. The Rhode Island Noncompetition Agreement Act, R.I. Gen. Laws 28-5

Employers in Illinois will have new obligations related to employment contracts, training, and agency oversight under a wide-ranging bill signed by Governor J.B. Pritzker on August 9, 2019, that is intended to combat workplace harassment and provide greater protections for employees.

On August 8, 2019, the Minneapolis City Council unanimously passed the Wage Theft Prevention Ordinance, creating new requirements for Minneapolis employers and giving the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights enforcement power. If Mayor Jacob Frey signs the Ordinance as is expected, the ordinance w

Introduction: On the heels of the broadest Pay Equity law in the country, New Jersey has just passed the broadest wage theft law in the country, which is certain to lead to increased litigation. Unwary employers may not only be facing insurmountable fines and penalties, but potentially jail time for

On August 6, 2019, New Jersey enacted its Wage Theft Law, transforming the state’s wage and hour laws into one of the most robust in the country. As discussed below, the law substantially expands the civil and criminal recourse available for nonpayment of wages and for retaliation. Among other thing

On August 1, 2019, just a day prior to his resignation as Governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló signed into law Act No. 83 of August 1, 2019 (“Act 83” or “the Act”), a very detailed leave statute applicable to public and private employers. Act 83, in general terms, provides employees with 15 day

Assembly Bill (AB) 5, currently pending in the California legislature, would impose the “ABC” test on California businesses and workers, dramatically altering the legal standards applied in evaluating whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. If AB 5 is enacted in its current for

New Jersey has enacted a new law prohibiting employers from seeking or relying on job applicants’ salary history.

Act No. 2 of October 17, 1961 (Act 2) created a procedural process for the expeditious adjudication of employment claims in Puerto Rico. Among other ways to streamline the process, Act 2 bars the employer from filing a counterclaim against the employee.1 In Bacardí Corporation v. Evaristo Torres Arr

The Colorado Court of Appeals recently decided an issue of first impression regarding noncompetition and nonsolicitation agreements. The decision in 23 LTD v. Herman highlights an important consideration for Colorado restrictive covenants: it is the parties’ job to craft narrow agreements, and they

After four years of policy debate, rulemaking, testing, and approval, medical marijuana became available for purchase at nine Louisiana pharmacies yesterday.

New Jersey’s Wage Theft Act (WTA) significantly enhances employer penalties under the state’s wage and hour laws by adding liquidated damages and providing extra protections for employee retaliation claims. In addition, the WTA makes client-employers and labor contractors jointly and severally liabl