State Employment Law Articles

The future of the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act (Secure Choice) is uncertain following Governor Bruce Rauner’s amendatory veto that could make employer participation in the Secure Choice program optional.

On Friday, August 10, 2018, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a bill amending the State’s unemployment insurance law to provide benefits to employees in a variety of new and, in some cases, novel circumstances. Specifically, the new law provides for unemployment insurance benefits to be paid: (

A federal court in New Jersey has held that neither the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act (“NJCUMMA”) nor the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“NJLAD”) compels an employer to waive its requirements for employees to pass drug tests, even when those drug tests include testing fo

Executive Summary: As part of the new anti-sexual harassment laws passed in response to the #MeToo movement this past spring, New York City now requires employers to post a notice of employees’ rights and remedies if they have been subjected to sexual harassment. (FordHarrison previously discussed t

Executive Summary: Just months after New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed Executive Order No. 25 establishing a task force to combat employee misclassification, the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development (LWD) entered into a cooperation agreement with the US Department of Labor (USDOL) t

Employers in Illinois with at least 25 employees must comply with the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act (Secure Choice) or offer employees an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Secure Choice is set to roll out in November 2018.

Employers in Illinois with at least 25 employees must comply with the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act (Secure Choice) or offer employees an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Secure Choice is set to roll out in November 2018.

In April 2018, New York State and New York City each adopted expansive legislation directed at educating employees about workplace sexual harassment and reducing the incidence of harassment claims, as we reported in our prior article.

Just before midnight on July 31, 2018, the last day of its legislative session, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a significant bill regulating the use of non-compete agreements in the Commonwealth. Today, August 10, 2018, Governor Charlie Baker signed that bill into law.

Missouri voters have rejected right-to-work. Senate Bill 19, which would have made Missouri the nation’s 28th right-to-work state, was passed by the Missouri legislature on February 2, 2017, and signed into law by then-Governor Eric Greitens. Labor organizations and their supporters gathered enough

New York is close to becoming the second state to enact legislation requiring employers to provide employees with bereavement leave. The legislation recently passed the New York Assembly and Senate and awaits the possible signature of Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The South Carolina Human Affairs Commission (SCHAC) has released its new workplace poster, revised to reflect certain changes required by the recently enacted South Carolina Pregnancy Accommodations Act.

On July 1, 2018, the newly implemented Hotel Housekeeping Musculoskeletal Injury Prevention Program (MIPP) regulation took effect.1 This program requires all California hotel/motel employers to institute and maintain written policies and training practices regarding housekeeping-related workplace ha

On January 1, 2018, California’s salary history ban (A.B. 168) took effect. Under A.B. 168, California employers are prohibited from “seek[ing] salary history information” from an applicant.1 The statute also prohibits employers from relying on an applicant’s prior salary history “as a factor in det

With the growth of the Alt-Right and other hate groups in recent years, business owners face increased challenges to uphold values of diversity, ensure employee and customer safety, and protect their brand from association with customers’ possible bigotry. At the same time, questions have arisen reg

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is setting the stage to begin debate over the legalization of marijuana for recreational use during the 2019 Legislative session. The current marijuana program, restricted to medical marijuana usage, was signed into law in 2014.

Unlike most licensed professions, the practice of law can significantly restrict an attorney’s geographic mobility.

A Suffolk County jury recently awarded a Haitian–American nurse an unprecedented $28.2 million in total damages on her claim of retaliation against Brigham & Women’s Hospital, her former employer. At the same time, the jury rejected the nurse’s claim of race discrimination.

Just before midnight on July 31, 2018, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a bill regulating the use of non-compete agreements in the Commonwealth. This development is a long time coming, as the Legislature had been attempting for nearly a decade to create a non-compete law.

As discussed in our prior Alert, the Massachusetts Legislature has been considering legislation focused on reforming non-compete covenants. The Legislature has now passed a major overhaul of non-compete law, known as the “Massachusetts Noncompetition Act.” Assuming Governor Charlie Baker signs the b