State Employment Law Articles

As discussed in a prior article, unsuccessful bills proposed in the California legislature in 2017 can carry over into the 2018 session. State lawmakers may revive measures that did not make it through both chambers of the legislature —or reintroduce bills that Governor Brown vetoed.

It’s a new year, and there is a lot of publicity about recreational marijuana now being legal in California. However, many people seem to have the mistaken belief that they cannot be fired or refused a job for smoking marijuana (since it’s legal and all). Wrong. It is important for both employers an

Dear Littler: We need to hire some key personnel for our new tech company. We intend to offer them equity in the enterprise as compensation. The equity should be very valuable in the long run, and the deal we have in mind is reasonable for our industry. But we figured we should double-check with a l

New Jersey has amended its “ban-the-box” law to prohibit inquiries into a job applicant’s expunged criminal record during the initial employment application process.

Several of our clients have operations in California and their HR teams are often tasked with supporting facilities and employees that are based in California. Yet another important California difference is what employers must do, and must not do, when faced with a Federal immigration compliance ins

In a ruling that may have significant impact on the recent wave of biometric privacy suits, an Illinois state appeals court held that plaintiffs must claim actual harm to be considered an “aggrieved person” covered by Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), in a dispute arising from the

With the approaching New Year bringing the possible passage of non-compete legislation in Massachusetts, we examine here the “Garden Leave” provision included in several proposed bills. The proposed “Garden Leave Bills” attempt to limit the frequency of enforcement of non-compete agreements and requ

The Massachusetts Legislature has spent the past several years seeking to regulate the use of restrictive covenant agreements in the Commonwealth. Despite repeatedly falling short in that initiative, the 2017 legislative session strongly signaled the Legislature’s enduring interest in this subject b

While the federal minimum wage for non-exempt employees has remained unchanged at $7.25 per hour since 2009, and the federal salary level for exempt employees has been stymied in litigation and rulemaking since 2014, New York State has forged ahead on the wage and hour front for 2018. The state has

With the turn of the year comes a wave of new California disability and leave laws. Employers should review their existing policies and procedures to determine if they will be compliance with these new laws—many of which will go into effect on January 1:

he New York City Council has passed a bill to protect employees in the City who seek temporary changes to their work schedules for a “personal event.” The bill also protects employees from employer retaliation for making certain other schedule change requests.

The New York City Council has passed a bill requiring entities covered by the New York City Human Rights Law (HRL) to engage in cooperative dialogue with individuals who may be entitled to reasonable accommodations under the Law. Passed on December 19, 2017, Int. 804-A applies to employers, provider

On December 12, 2017, Prince George’s County, Maryland enacted Bill Number CB-87-2017, which mandates that covered employees be allowed to accrue and use paid leave for absences connected to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. For employers covered by one or more paid sick and safe time

Bruce Sarchet and Corinn Jackson, both with Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute, review the status of the California Private Attorney Generals Act, which authorizes employees to recover penalties for many Labor Code violations. They discuss how PAGA currently operates, explore open questions concer

Executive Summary: On December 11, 2017, the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Aaron Fichtner (the “Commissioner”), ruled that the New Jersey Unemployment Compensation Law’s (NJUCL) exemption for owner-operators not only applied to the case at bar, but als

Washington has joined the growing list of jurisdictions requiring employers to provide paid sick leave to employees. All Washington employers, regardless of size, must provide their employees paid sick and safe leave (“PSSL”) starting January 1, 2018.

As previously discussed, on October 4, 2017, the Puerto Rico Department of the Treasury (the “PR Treasury”) issued Administrative Determination No. 17-21 (“AD 17-21”) granting temporary income tax exemption for payments considered “Qualified Payments made for Disaster Assistance” related to the rece

On December 6, 2017, the Puerto Rico Secretary of the Department of Labor and Human Resources (“Secretary”) published the proposed Regulation to Administer Act No. 379 of May 15, 1948, as amended, known as Puerto Rico’s Working Hours and Days Act. On the same day, the Puerto Rico Department of Labor

While parts of Northern California are still reeling from damaging wildfires there two months ago, multiple fires are currently threatening Santa Barbara/Ventura, Los Angeles and Northern San Diego Counties. Fueled by high winds, the Southern California blazes are far from being contained. Without a

In November 2017, the California Labor Commissioner’s office, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (“DLSE”), published updated guidance on employer provided paid 10-minute rest breaks.