State Employment Law Articles

New legislation introduced in the New York City Council would add a private right of action to the Earned Sick Time Act (Introduction 1667) and prohibit employers from entering into a covenant not to compete with any low-wage employee of that employer (Introduction 1663).

The City of San Francisco (SF) is the latest governmental entity to join the trend towards prohibiting employers from asking job seekers about current or prior salary or wage rate or pegging starting pay to prior pay. The SF Ordinance is based on the following premise:

Capturing the time employees’ work can be a difficult business. In addition to the complexity involved with accurately tracking arrival times, lunch breaks, overtime, etc. across a range of federal and state laws (check out our Wage and Hour colleagues who keep up on all of these issues), many emplo

On July 18, 2017, in Gold v. New York Life Ins. Co., New York’s Appellate Division, First Department1 issued a decision that directly contradicted the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Sutherland v. Ernst & Young, LLP.2

Terminated employees, even those recently separated, are not entitled to inspect their personnel file under the Pennsylvania Inspection of Employment Records Law (the “Act”), according to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Inc. v. Pennsylvania Department of Labor a

All Washington employers must provide paid family and medical leave under a bill signed by Governor Jay Inslee on July 5, 2017.

Under current California law, employers may ask job applicants about their wages in current or former jobs. A new ordinance in San Francisco, however, will make such inquiries illegal.

On July 19, 2017, Mayor Ed Lee signed an ordinance that will significantly affect the hiring practices of San Francisco employers. When Ordinance No. 170350 becomes operative on July 1, 2018, it will be illegal for employers to inquire about a job applicant’s salary history or to provide such inform

The Workers’ Compensation Board adopted the final regulations for New York’s new Paid Family Leave Benefits Law (PFL) on July 19, 2017. Final Regulations were issued previously by the Department of Financial Services on May 16, 2017.

Emphasizing the broad right of discovery and the remedial nature of the California Private Attorneys General Act of 2004, the California Supreme Court has ruled that, in pretrial discovery, plaintiffs under PAGA has a right to employer records containing other employees’ names and contact informatio

An employee fired after she tested positive for marijuana on a test administered in the hiring process should be able to proceed with her “handicap discrimination” claim under Massachusetts’ anti-discrimination statute, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled. Barbuto v. Advantage Sales &

On July 17, 2017, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court unanimously held that an employee may pursue a disability discrimination claim under state law against her former employer for failing to accommodate the employee’s use of medical marijuana. This is the first decision by any state’s highest

The Nevada Equal Rights Commission has issued an official Notice for the Nevada Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act.

New Jersey is moving closer to enacting a law that would prohibit employers from inquiring about applicants’ salary histories. The bill, passed in the Democratic-controlled state Assembly and now the state Senate, is one of several similar bills that have passed or are being considered across the co

On July 13, 2017, North Carolina helped farmers by improving statutory protections against unionization. Although farmworkers generally do not have a statutory right to unionize under N.C. or federal law, unions are using indirect tactics to force farmers to unionize, such as asserting economic pres

On July 1, 2017, all Arizona employees became eligible to begin accruing “Paid Sick Time” benefits under the Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act (“the Act”).1 For several months following the law’s enactment on November 8, 2016, the Industrial Commission of Arizona (“ICA”), the agency charged with e

As Littler has reported, the number of class action lawsuits against employers alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) has continued to spike. Most lawsuits proceed in federal court, but the FCRA allows plaintiffs to file in either federal or state court. On July 13, 2017, a clas

A registered nurse employed by a New Jersey health care system for approximately 10 years may proceed to a jury trial with her disability and perceived disability claims under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, the Supreme Court of New Jersey has ruled. Grande v. Saint Clare’s Health Sys., 2

In January, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed Executive Order 162, which requires most state contractors and subcontractors to disclose employee job title and salary data, in addition to the equal employment opportunity information (such as sex, race, and ethnicity) already required.

Oregon Governor Kate Brown recently signed Senate Bill 299 into law, which makes some clarifications and changes to Oregon’s Paid Sick Time law, which took effect on January 1, 2016.