State Employment Law Articles

It is well settled that Indiana is an employment-at-will state, meaning an employer or employee may terminate the employment relationship for any lawful reason. The Indiana Supreme Court, however, recognizes a limited number of exceptions to employment-at-will. For example, an employer may not disch

On April 12, 2019, Maine’s Governor, Janet Mills (D), signed L.D. 278, a pay equity bill titled “An Act Regarding Pay Equality.” The law amends existing pay equity legislation and generally prohibits employer inquiries into the salary history of prospective employees until after an offer of employme

New Mexico is the latest state to adopt statewide legislation prohibiting private employers from making inquiries into an applicant’s criminal history on the initial employment application. The state also enacted legislation prohibiting employers from asking applicants for information about a crimin

In the wake of the most destructive wildfire season in California history, California’s Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Occupational Safety and Health (“DOSH”), has issued a proposed emergency regulation intended to protect workers from wildfire smoke. On April 15th, 2019, DOSH relea

Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin (R) recently signed the Pregnant Workers Act, SB 18, to provide pregnancy-related accommodations for employees in the Bluegrass State. This measure amends the Kentucky Civil Rights Act (KCRA) to require employers to make reasonable accommodations for employees related to

As we reported, in late February, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson introduced Senate Bill 561, legislation intended to strengthen and clarify the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

The Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) has released template notices employers may use to fulfill the notice requirement to employees and 1099-MISC independent contractors under the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFMLA), G.L. c. 175M. Employers must provide

Westchester County has released a poster for the Westchester County Earned Sick Leave Law (“WCESLL”). By July 10, 2019, all employers covered by the law must post the poster in English, Spanish and any other language deemed appropriate by the County of Westchester, in a conspicuous location. To date

Beginning June 27, 2019, Kentucky employers must provide reasonable accommodations to employees who are limited due to pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, unless it would impose an undue hardship on the employer to do so.

Reaffirming Indiana’s “strong” presumption of at-will employment, the Indiana Court of Appeals has declined to expand the public policy exception to the at-will employment doctrine to include an employee’s mistaken belief that he was subpoenaed to testify at an unemployment hearing. Perkins v. Memor

New Mexico’s state legislature has been busy over the past few weeks acting on bills introduced earlier this year. The state has enacted at least nine new laws affecting employers, covering many topics from health care access and medical marijuana, to criminal background checks. Unless otherwise not

On April 15, 2019, a California Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment for the employer in an action alleging class-wide violations of the hyper-technical provisions of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).1 Following just shortly after the Ninth Circuit’s pro-employee opinion in a simila

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) recently discussed class certification in state court wage and hour cases in Gammella v. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro.1 The SJC held that the same civil procedure rules applicable to other class actions also apply to wage claims. It also found that uncerta

Executive Summary: On April 4, 2019, the Appellate Division of New Jersey Superior Court reaffirmed that obesity, standing alone, is not a protected characteristic under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD), affirming summary judgment for a bus company employer in Dickson v. Community Bus

Last month, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed S.1567 into law, making the Garden State the first state to mandate a commuter benefit law, joining cities such as New York and San Francisco that have similar laws.

South Carolina Supreme Court Employs Direct Benefits Test

The New Mexico medical marijuana law has been amended to provide employment protections to employees and applicants. The amendments were signed into law by the governor on April 4, 2019.

Colorado legislators are only a few steps away from approving the Colorado “Equal Pay for Equal Work Act” (SB 19-085) and making it the latest to enact enhanced equal pay legislation.

UPDATE: The changes to the Massachusetts data breach notification law described below are now in effect. Thus, if you have discovered a data incident involving the personal information of Massachusetts residents you will want to review these changes carefully – they are significant and the Commonwea

The Westchester County Human Rights Commission, the agency responsible for conducting public outreach for the Westchester County Earned Sick Leave Law (the “Sick Leave Law” or the “Law”), published a copy of the Law, a Notice of Employee Rights (the “Notice”), and Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”)