State Employment Law Articles

Executive Summary: A cornerstone of Governor-elect Phil Murphy’s campaign platform was the decriminalization of marijuana in New Jersey. The proposed bill most likely to become law with the new administration comes as employers are just getting comfortable with a workforce eligible for medical marij

Big changes may be in store for employers in New York who require employees to be “on call” or who are accustomed to making quick changes to employee schedules, including canceling shifts when customer or client demand changes.

On the eve of the November 26, 2017 effective date of New York City’s own predictive scheduling regulations that affect retail and fast food employers,1 the New York State Department of Labor has issued proposed predictive scheduling regulations for certain industries. The proposed regulations would

On November 10, 2017, Puerto Rico's Secretary of the Department of Labor and Human Resources (“Secretary”) issued Opinion No. 2017-002 (“Opinion”) addressing allowable deductions from non-exempt employees’ pay following hurricanes Irma and María. Many employers have been helping their employees by a

On November 8, 2017, the Governor of Puerto Rico signed Executive Order No. 2017-067 (“EO 2017-067”) authorizing the Secretary of the Department of the Treasury (the “PR Treasury”) to establish tax rules for distributions from qualified retirement plans and individual retirement accounts following H

Bruce Sarchet and Corinn Jackson, both with Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute, explore the nitty-gritty details of California’s new salary history inquiry ban. The new law – which takes effect January 1, 2018 – prohibits employers from relying on, or seeking out, pay history information about job

Beginning with contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2018, direct (general) contractors in California will be held jointly liable for their subcontractors’ unpaid employee wages, fringe benefit or other benefit payments or contributions under Assembly Bill 1701, signed into law by Governor J

It is axiomatic that a contract requires consideration to be binding. Ordinarily, courts only inquire into the existence, but not the “adequacy,” of consideration.

The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) has issued proposed rules for the implementation of the Fair Workweek Law in an attempt to clarify and assist employers with compliance. The Law is intended to reform scheduling practices for fast food and retail workers in the City and will go

Slightly one year after the New York City Council introduced a bill that would expand the city's paid sick leave requirements to cover "safe time" leave, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed it into law on November 6, 2017. The law, Int. 1313-A, expands the list of covered reasons for which paid sick leave c

The Maine House of Representative upheld November 6, 2017 Governor Paul R. LePage’s veto of a bill to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana. The 74-62 vote fell 17 votes short of the two-thirds margin required to override the Governor’s veto. The bill had been drafted by a special committee t

Effective January 1, 2018, new obligations will be imposed on California employers to shield their employees from immigration enforcement efforts in the workplace. Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 450 along with Senate Bill 54, a “sanctuary state” legislation that limits California state and local law

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed Intro 1313-A into law, requiring employers to provide paid time off for hours taken in connection with family offense matters, sexual offenses, stalking, and human trafficking, grouped collectively as “Safe Time.”

In 2014, the Cal/OSHA Division received a petition for a new workplace violence regulation for general industry. Petition 542, which was originally submitted on behalf of teachers, has been used as the basis for consideration of a general industry standard on workplace violence. This year, the CA St

On November 2nd, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced his proposal of the SHIELD Act – Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security Act – a bill that would heighten data security requirements for companies and better protect New York residents from data breaches of their perso

The New York City Council overwhelmingly voted on October 31, 2017, to pass legislation (Int. 1652) that repeals the City’s longstanding Cabaret Law. At the same time, Int. 1652 retains certain security requirements of the old law for large establishments.

As the 2017 legislative session closed in Illinois, Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed several measures relating to labor and employment issues. He rejected a statewide minimum wage increase, for example, as well as a ban on salary history inquiries. Illinois employers should be aware, however, that the g

To provide hospitality workers greater protections against sexual harassment and assault, the Chicago City Council passed the “Hands Off Pants On” Ordinance on October 11, 2017. The Ordinance requires all hotels in the City to adopt a panic button system and an anti-sexual harassment policy. The Ord

The passage of Hurricane María through Puerto Rico in September 2017 left catastrophic damages. In an effort to encourage employer assistance and provide temporary economic relief to employees in Puerto Rico, local government agencies have issued the following measures and guidance related to employ

In Lampley, et al. v. Missouri Commission on Human Rights,1 the Missouri Court of Appeals held that sex stereotyping can form the basis of a sex discrimination claim when the complaining party is gay, but should not be construed as a claim for sexual orientation discrimination.2 The latter cause of