State Employment Law Articles

A controversial amendment to the California Home Care Services Protection Act (Home Care Act) requires the state Department of Social Services (DSS) to provide the names, phone numbers, and addresses of new or renewing registered home care aides (HCAs) to labor unions on request, unless the aides op

The Washington Employment Security Department (ESD) has pushed back the first reporting deadline under this new law to August 31, 2019. By that date, all Washington employers must file reports about their employees, including their wages and associated hours worked during the first two quarters of 2

In 2018, the Supreme Court of California turned much of the established law regarding worker classification on its head with its decision in Dynamex Operations West Inc. v. Superior Court.1 Dynamex addressed a single, narrow question: whether certain workers were appropriately classified as independ

The New York State Legislature recently approved changes to state law addressing prohibited retaliation in employment, and to vehicle and traffic laws, to provide additional protections for employees or their family members regarding their citizenship or immigration status. The bill (S 1747B) amendi

On July 17, 2019, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held the City of Pittsburgh's Paid Sick Days Act (PSDA) was a valid exercise of the City's "express statutory authority to legislate in furtherance of disease control and prevention."1 Although the decision resolves a nearly four-year battle over whet

Noncompete reform continues to crop up in New England. We previously wrote about comprehensive reform in Massachusetts late last year, and now three more states have passed legislation in recent weeks. All three states – Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island – now prohibit employers from entering n

On Monday, July 15, the Associated Builders & Contractors of South Texas, joined by several other business groups, filed suit against the City of San Antonio seeking to block the implementation of the Paid Sick Leave ordinance set to go into effect, for most businesses, on August 1, 2019. The lawsui

Possibly adding to the list of states that have updated their privacy and breach notification laws this year, the Illinois legislature passed Senate Bill 1624 which would update the state’s current breach notification law to require most “data collectors,” which includes entities that, for any purpo

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the Pittsburgh Paid Sick Days Act (“PSDA”) in a decision today, overturning two lower court decisions that found the Act was invalid as an impermissible business regulation.

On July 10, 2019, the California Senate Labor, Public Employment, and Retirement Committee (Committee) advanced a proposed legislative response to the California Supreme Court's opinion in Dynamex v. Superior Court, which abruptly and drastically altered the legal landscape for independent contracto

The authorized use of telehealth to deliver mental health services to New Yorkers has been expanded by amendments to the state Office of Mental Health’s (OMH) Telemental Health Services regulations increasing the types of professionals who may provide care and the places where care recipients can be

In recent weeks, Maine and New Hampshire each enacted a law prohibiting the use of noncompete agreements with lower wage earners. Shortly thereafter, on July 11, 2019, the Rhode Island legislature sent a similar bill to Governor Raimondo’s desk for signature.

On July 3, California made history by enacting the Creating a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act, becoming the first state to ban discrimination on the basis of hairstyles associated with race. The CROWN Act adds hairstyles that are closely associated with race to the class o

The Nevada Legislature’s 80th session recently came to a close after a flurry of activity resulted in over 25 new laws affecting employers. Now, the Nevada Labor Commissioner, charged with enacting and/or amending regulations interpreting the new laws (through the Nevada Administrative Code or NAC),

New Jersey has provided job protections to medical marijuana users and created new drug testing procedures under new law signed by Governor Phil Murphy on July 2, 2019, that took effect upon signing.

A bill aimed at increasing protections for employer “wage theft” by allowing an employer’s current or former employee, or the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL), to place a lien on the employer’s interest in real or personal property for the value of a wage claim, plus liquidated damages, h

Starting January 1, 2020, New York City public accommodations that provide portable ramps for entrance accessibility will be required to post signs advertising portable ramp availability and listing a phone number for portable ramp requests.

Just hours before the constitutionally-mandated end of Oregon’s state legislative session (June 30 at midnight), the Oregon Senate voted to pass HB 2005—which will provide paid family and medical leave to eligible employees beginning January 1, 2023. HB 2005 now heads to the desk of Governor Kate Br

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law on July 2, 2019 the Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act (“CUMCA”) to expand patient access to medical marijuana and to reform the State’s medical marijuana program. The law amends the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, N.

Oregon has joined a growing number of states to require employers to provide their workers paid family and medical leave.