State Employment Law Articles

Most employers are familiar with legal issues surrounding the classification of workers as employees or independent contractors. Until recently, these discussions centered primarily around the decision on how a worker should be classified. Based on recent legislation in North Carolina, however, that

Washington’s legislature recently passed a new Healthy Starts Act (the “Act”),1 which places significant obligations on Washington employers with respect to pregnant employees. These new obligations are not otherwise required under the Washington Law Against Discrimination (“WLAD”) or the Americans

The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has set cybersecurity regulations that require minimum standards for protecting the customer information and information systems of the financial services industry. Unless an exemption applies, the deadline to comply with the first set of req

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (the “Department”) recently provided guidance regarding the taxation of contributions made under, and benefits paid under, New York State’s new paid family leave program (“Program”). After reviewing applicable law and other guidance, and after co

A former staffer for the Iowa Senate Republican Caucus in Iowa has been awarded $2.2 million in damages for retaliation that will be paid from Iowa’s already-floundering general fund. Kirsten Anderson was terminated from her position as communications director for the caucus in 2012. She alleged the

This week, a California Court of Appeal confirmed that employment arbitration agreements require arbitration not only of employment claims filed in court but also of administrative wage claims filed before the Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (“DLSE”). Employers may recall that in 2013, the

Delaware joins the growing number of states that recently amended their data breach notification law. On August 17th, Delaware amended its data breach notification law with House Bill 180, the first significant change since 2005, effective 240 days after enactment (on or about April 14, 2018).

Though employment issues were not the focus of the 85th Regular and Special Legislative Sessions of the Texas Legislature, Texas employers should be aware of a handful of new Texas laws which take effect September 1, 2017.

There has been a lot of media attention recently over companies firing employees based on their political views and activities, or otherwise making known to employees that company leadership is of a particular political mindset and that contrary beliefs are not welcome. Based on these publicized sto

Connecticut’s “An Act Concerning Pregnant Women in the Workplace” strengthens considerably the workplace protections for pregnant employees and applies to employers who employ at least three employees. The Act takes effect on October 1, 2017.

Are you an employer located in New York? Or might you employ even one worker in New York?

New York has joined a growing list of states with ethics boards limiting an attorney’s ability to participate in online legal service providers like Avvo and LegalZoom. Similar to other jurisdictions, the New York ethics board authored an opinion honing in on the so called “marketing fee” charged by

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently reaffirmed long-standing precedent holding that employment-at-will agreements may not be modified by a policy or procedure unless it contains an express provision demonstrating that the parties intended to be bound by something other than the established at-wi

The Illinois state legislature passed House Bill (HB) 2462 which would prevent employers from inquiring about a job applicant’s salary history and lower the burden on employees claiming equal pay violations. The Bill now awaits Governor Bruce Rauner’s signature.

A New Jersey appeals court recently ruled that a two-year statute of limitations applies to a claim by an HIV-positive patient asserting one of his doctors improperly disclosed his medical status to a third party without consent. The three-judge Appellate Division panel rejected arguments by the doc

Executive Summary: Starting October 31, 2017, a New York City law will make it illegal for employers to “inquire” into an applicant’s salary history. The law also prohibits employers who are aware of an applicant’s salary history from relying on that history in determining his or her compensation.

A new Oregon law clarifies Oregon’s daily and weekly overtime laws and sets new maximum-hour limits for certain Oregon employers. The new statute, which Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed on August 8, 2017, requires most employers in the manufacturing sector to pay employees the greater of daily or w

On August 10, 2017, the Puerto Rico Secretary of Labor and Human Resources issued and made effective the Uniform Guidelines for the Self-Assessment of Equal Pay in the Workplace (“the Guidelines”).

Paid-sick-leave ordinances (PSLOs) became effective in the City of Chicago and Cook County on July 1, 2017. The PSLOs require employers to grant paid sick leave to employees on terms more generous than what most employers have historically offered. (For example, see our article, Cook County, Illinoi

A new Oregon statute will require certain large employers to provide their Oregon employees with advance notice of their work schedules. The notice period will initially be 7 days starting next year before increasing to 14 days in 2020. “Predictive scheduling” requirements have been considered by le