State Employment Law Articles

Employers operating in Massachusetts are already aware of the Commonwealth’s Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) law.1 CORI refers to the database of criminal information maintained by the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (DCJIS).

Although most employers are very familiar with the usual discovery process of litigation, they may not be as familiar with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure’s Rule 202, which concerns pre-suit depositions.

Effective July 1, 2017, new regulations will further limit employers’ ability to consider criminal history when making employment decisions.

As we recently reported regarding the City of Los Angeles, both the City of San Diego and the California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (“DLSE”) have updated their “Frequently Asked Questions” (“FAQs”) related to the respective local and state sick leave requirements. Below are some of th

Massachusetts law requires most retail employers to pay employees time and a half for work performed on Sundays and certain holidays. In a case of first impression, a Massachusetts Superior Court judge recently held that retail employers that fail to make such payments may be sued under the state Pa

A trier of fact can make reasonable inferences about employees’ duties to determine status for overtime pay under California labor law, the California Court of Appeal has ruled, affirming the trial court’s holding. Batze v. Safeway, Inc., No. B258732 (Cal. Ct. App. Apr. 4, 2017).

In late 2016, after more than a year of debate, the District of Columbia Council voted to create one of the most generous paid leave laws in the country. After making it through the congressional review period, the Universal Paid Leave Act of 2015 (“the Act”) became effective on April 7, 2017. The A

Executive Summary: In Bowman v. State Bank of Keysville, the Virginia Supreme Court first recognized an exception to the employment at-will doctrine based upon an employer’s violation of public policy in the discharge of an employee. In subsequent cases dealing with the Bowman exception, the Court h

On April 19, 2017, the Department of Industrial Relations for the State of California issued an important update to Cal/OSHA’s new Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard for Construction. The standard is substantially similar to Federal OSHA’s new rules for silica. The new standard is found under Ti

The City of Philadelphia has agreed to stay the enforcement of the Philadelphia Wage Equity Ordinance, which was to take effect on May 23, 2017, and be codified in the Philadelphia Code at Sections 9-1103((1)(i) and 9-1131. The Ordinance has generated controversy because it bans employers who do bus

The issue of paid time off for employees remains a debated issue throughout the nation. Currently, there is no federal law mandating private employers provide paid time off for employees. While many states and cities have legislation mandating paid time off under certain circumstances, there is no s

On April 6, 2017, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez signed HB 15, making New Mexico the 48th state to enact a data breach notification law. The law has an effective date of June 16, 2017 and follows the same general structure of many of the breach notification laws in other states.

As we recently blogged, the California Fair Pay Act (CFPA), barely a year old, was expanded to prohibit pay differences based on race or ethnicity between employees performing substantially similar work. Effective January 2017, California employers are prohibited from paying differently employees wh

It is no secret that California lawmakers and the Trump administration do not agree on immigration policy. With the Trump administration stepping up enforcement efforts against illegal immigration, California is trying to thwart those efforts, including through a new bill that seeks to throw Califor

The Michigan Department of Civil Rights has updated a poster that employers must post at their Michigan work sites. The poster—Michigan Law Prohibits Discrimination—is a required posting under the Michigan Elliott Larsen Civil Rights Act and the Michigan Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act (M

The New York City Council has approved a bill that makes it an “unlawful discriminatory practice” for employers to inquire about the salary history of a prospective employee, or to rely upon salary history unless the applicant offers the information voluntarily. The legislation is aimed at eliminati

Earlier this month, the New York City Council approved a bill that would prohibit NYC employers from inquiring about an applicant’s salary history during all stages of the employment process. NYC employers should take a close look at the bill and revamp their hiring procedures to be compliant.

As Littler reported in March of 2015,1 a New York Supreme Court, Kings County Justice found that sleep and meal periods must not be excluded from the hourly wages of a home attendant who does not reside in the home of his or her client, and certified a class of over 1,000 home care attendants who wo

Executive Summary: The California Supreme Court recently held that California Health and Safety Code section 1278.5(g), which protects health care workers and medical staff from discrimination and retaliation for reporting unsafe patient care and conditions, does not provide a right to a jury trial.

Executive Summary. Tuesday, April 11, 2017, the First Department, Appellate Division of the NYS Supreme Court held that 24-hour case home care workers must be paid for all 24 hours if they are “nonresidential,” that is, they do not exclusively reside in the patient’s home. Tokhtaman v. Human Care, L