State Employment Law Articles

Protections for transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming employees in New York have been given a boost. Significant changes to the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) will expand the scope of prohibited discriminatory conduct. Additionally, New York State has enacted the Gender Express

On February 25, 2019, 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), which was enacted in June of 2018. If enacted, this would be the second amendment to

Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (SB 19-085), originally introduced on January 17, received its first hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 20, 2019.

In an unpublished opinion, a state appellate court held the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act (MMMA) did not provide a cause of action for an applicant whose conditional job offer from the City of Lansing was rescinded after he tested positive for marijuana during a mandatory pre-employment drug test.

Yesterday, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Assemblymember Marc Levine (D-San Rafael)announced Assembly Bill 1130 which is intended to strengthen California’s existing data breach notification law. In short, AB 1130 would amend the existing law to include passport numbers and biometric

The New York City Commission on Human Rights (NYCCHR) released enforcement guidance on Monday, February 18, 2019, defining discrimination based on natural hair and hairstyles as a subset of race discrimination.1 The NYCCHR explained that “[b]ans or restrictions on natural hair or hairstyles associat

On December 6, 2018, the Philadelphia City Council passed the Fair Workweek Employment Standards Ordinance, to become effective on January 1, 2020.1 Under the Ordinance, large retail, hospitality and food service establishments will be required to: (1) give existing employees the right of first refu

Illinois has joined the growing number of states proposing mandatory sexual harassment training with a bill that requires training for restaurant employees. If the Restaurant Anti-Harassment Act is enacted, restaurants must provide sexual harassment prevention training to all employees in Illinois.

As anticipated, today Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the “Lifting Up Illinois Working Families Act,” under which the state’s minimum wage will increase to $15.00 per hour over the next six years. Under the law, the hourly minimum wage will increase to $9.25 on January 1, 2020; to $10.00 on July 1, 20

The Lifting Up Illinois Working Families Act amends the Illinois Minimum Wage Law (IMWL) to raise the state minimum wage in stages until it reaches $15.00 per hour. While the amendments’ increases to the minimum wage have received significant coverage, some of the most important changes to the IMWL

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the Lifting Up Illinois Working Families Act into law on February 19, 2019. The Act gradually increases the minimum wage to $15 per hour over the next six years. Illinois is now the fifth state (after California, New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts) to rais

Executive Summary: On February 19, 2019, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law legislation that significantly expands an employee’s right to unpaid and paid leave under New Jersey’s existing Family Leave Act (“NJFLA”), Temporary Disability Benefits Law (“NJTDL”), and Security and Financial

The Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act (NJEPA) does not apply retroactively to conduct occurring before to its effective date, July 1, 2018, a federal district court has ruled. Perrotto v. Morgan Advanced Materials, 2:18-cv-13825-WJM-MF (D. N.J. Jan. 14, 2019). The court granted the employer’s motion to d

Effective March 4, 2019, private employers in New York’s Westchester County will be restricted from inquiring about a job applicant’s criminal background during the preliminary stages of the application process.

Legal enforcement guidance on race discrimination on the basis of hair from the New York City Commission on Human Rights affirms that employer policies on appearance and grooming that ban, limit, or otherwise restrict natural hair or hairstyles may be unlawful under the New York City Human Rights La

On February 19, 2019, Governor JB Pritzker signed into law the “Lifting Up Illinois Working Families Act,” which raises the state’s minimum wage, in increments, to $15 per hour by 2025.1 With the enactment of this bill, Illinois has become the fifth state to pass a statewide increase in the minimum

Executive Summary: On February 15, 2019, New Jersey’s governor and leaders of the State senate and assembly reached an agreement for legalizing, regulating, and taxing marijuana for adult recreational use. The proposed legislation remains largely unchanged from Senate Bill 2703, introduced on June 7

In South Carolina, as in most jurisdictions, unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce are unlawful. See South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act (the “Act”), S.C. Code Ann. §39-5-10, et seq. In order to be actionable, an act mus

What is CalSavers?

The Illinois legislature has now passed the “Lifting Up Illinois Working Families Act,” under which the state’s minimum wage will increase to $15.00 per hour over the next six years. Governor J.B. Pritzker has stated that he intends to sign the bill into law prior to his first budget speech on Febru