State Employment Law Articles

Courts addressing FLSA misclassification claims brought by employees classified as salaried exempt workers must determine damages. In a new decision from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Judge Jane Triche Milazzo ruled that successful Plaintiffs in one such mis

Vermont is close to becoming the fifth state, after Connecticut, California, Massachusetts, and Oregon, to mandate that employers provide their employees sick leave benefits.

California's Fair Employment and Housing Council has issued proposed regulations concerning the use of criminal history information in employment decisions. The proposed regulations set forth pre-existing statutory prohibitions on using or inquiring about the following types of criminal history abou

The recent death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia will give public sector unions a short respite in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association et al., a case that was likely to limit public sector unions’ ability to require mandatory fees from public workers. Following last month’s oral arg

With little fanfare or advance notice, Santa Monica, California, became the latest municipality to enact its own minimum wage and sick leave ordinance (“Ordinance”), proposed by the City Council on January 12, 2016, and approved shortly thereafter on January 26, 2016.

The Massachusetts Senate has passed a bill to amend the state’s Equal Pay Act that would impose more rigorous equal pay obligations on employers by prohibiting certain conduct. The House is considering the bill.

California’s minimum wage increased to $10 per hour effective January 1, 2016. This is the second increase in just 18 months under legislation originally signed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2013. Unfortunately, this latest increase to the statewide minimum wage is not the only one facing California em

Denying an employer’s motion to compel individual arbitration of a wage and hour class action, a California federal court ruled that the employer’s dispute resolution program violated its employees’ right to engage in concerted action under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). Totten v. Kellog

Emphasizing that Puerto Rico legislation protects employees’ breastfeeding rights in the workplace and that maternity enjoys special judicial protection in the Commonwealth’s legal framework, the Puerto Rico Supreme Court has ruled that employers, public and private, regardless of their circumstance

A new Illinois state law requires certain employers to post notices informing employees and other members of the public of a helpline to assist any person who is subject to human trafficking.1 This law, effective January 1, 2016, and entitled the “the Human Trafficking Resource Center Notice Act,” l

On January 25, 2016, the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico held that employers in Puerto Rico should provide a safe, private, and hygienic place for working nursing mothers to extract breast milk during the nursing period as provided under Act No. 427-2000, as amended (“Act 427”).

Certain health care facilities specializing in long-term care in Connecticut will be required to register with a statewide background check portal beginning February 8, 2016.

Executive Summary. As most home care agencies know, the United States Department of Labor ("USDOL") eliminated the companionship exemption for home care agency workers on October 13, 2015 in its Final Rule on the Application of the FLSA to Domestic Service Workers ("Final Rule"). What they may not h

In keeping with actions taken by other states, such as California and New York, Massachusetts is poised to pass an updated equal pay law that will greatly expand the ability of individuals to bring claims for violations of equal pay. The proposed law also puts limits on an employer’s effort to seek

On January 6, 2016, the Commissioner of Health of the State of New York certified that the medical marijuana program established by New York’s Compassionate Care Act could be implemented in accordance with public health and safety interests. The next day, the first dispensaries offering medical mari

Earlier this month, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed legislation that expands the New York City Human Rights Law, making New York City the latest municipality1 to protect caregivers from discrimination in their terms or conditions of employment.2 The amendments take effect May 4, 2016.3

Navigating the California laws on discrimination and accommodation of pregnant employees is a significant challenge for retail employers. The Golden State’s protections for pregnant employees are many and they differ from those of federal law and of other states.

Minnesota’s Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are both preparing to enact local laws affording employees paid sick leave. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and the St. Paul City Council have announced that the Council will convene a Task Force to discuss an ordinance mandating that all private and

New York State and New York City have issued expansive new guidelines to protect the rights of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals.

Must a New Mexico employer allow an employee to use medical marijuana as a reasonable accommodation for the employee’s disability? “No,” according to a New Mexico federal district court. On January 7, 2016, the court held that New Mexico’s medical marijuana statute and the New Mexico Human Rights Ac