State Employment Law Articles

For cases filed on or after Oct. 1, 2015, in North Carolina state courts, there are new changes to how the parties will approach expert disclosure and discovery.

The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County has invalidated the Pittsburgh Paid Sick Days Act (“PSDA”), the ordinance requiring all employers of employees within the Pittsburgh city limits to provide paid sick leave to all full- and part-time employees.

New York State Hospitality Industry employers face several significant changes to employee compensation, effective December 31.

In a ruling issued December 21, 2015, a trial court judge held that the City of Pittsburgh did not have the authority under state law to enact the Paid Sick Days Ordinance that Pittsburgh's City Council passed on August 3, 2015. It remains to be seen whether the City of Pittsburgh will appeal this d

The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) has adopted regulations for the Opportunity to Compete Act, the state Ban-the-Box Law, clarifying many questions, including the Act’s impact on businesses with multistate operations.

Amendments to Philadelphia’s “Ban the Box” legislation, the Fair Criminal Records Screening Standards, were signed into law by Mayor Michael Nutter on December 15, 2015. The amendments to Philadelphia’s ordinance, which take effect on March 14, 2016, expand the reach of existing law to more business

In what has been a string of recent favorable decisions for employers, the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico recently issued another opinion, this time elaborating on the evidentiary standard for wrongful termination claims under Act No. 80 of May 30, 1978 (“Act 80”) after a corporate reorganization. Add

On December 14, 2015, in DirecTV, Inc. v. Imburgia, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a California State Court of Appeal decision that had invalidated an arbitration provision based on language from the agreement rendering the entire arbitration provision unenforceable if the “law of your state” makes

New York City’s Mass Transit Benefit Law requires that most New York City employers with at least 20 full-time employees offer such full-time employees the opportunity to use their pre-tax earnings, up to $130 per month,1 to pay for certain “qualified transportation fringe benefits,” but not qualifi

The U.S. Solicitor General filed a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court December 16, 2015 opposing Nebraska and Oklahoma’s challenge to Colorado’s legalization of marijuana. Last December, the states of Nebraska and Oklahoma filed a motion in the U.S. Supreme Court seeking permission to file suit against

Following other recent pro-employee legislation enacted in New York City, the New York City Council on December 16, 2015, passed a bill banning employment discrimination based on an individual’s actual or perceived status as a caregiver. (See our articles, New York City Issues Enforcement Guidance R

Last week, an Ohio, a federal judge held that a home health aide failed to demonstrate that she performed general housework unrelated to the care of her patients, and therefore qualified as a provider of companionship services under the Fair Labor Standards Act’s previous formulation of the “compani

In-home personal care employees in Georgia were covered by the state’s minimum wage law, the Georgia Supreme Court has ruled, notwithstanding the fact that those employees were exempt from the minimum wage requirements of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Anderson v. Southern Home Care Services,

Correctly classifying workers as either employees or independent contractors can be complicated and difficult. Multiple and different classification tests apply to a single working relationship – including, but not limited to, distinct tests for: (1) workers’ compensation coverage and premiums; (2)

Two cases involving employees who were terminated shortly following protected leaves of absence lead to opposite results for the employers, with one case being dismissed and the other proceeding to trial. In one case, the California Court of Appeal rejected a bank employee’s claim that she was wrong

Executive Summary: California's amended Fair Pay Act goes into effect on January 1, 2016, and is considered the most stringent law in the nation. The new law received broad support from both Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature. It arises out of their finding that "in 2014, the gender wage g

Two new employment decisions were issued today, one by a California Court of Appeal and the other by the Ninth Circuit. In Prue v. Brady Company, the California court held that a plaintiff who suffered a work-related injury and subsequently was fired stated a valid legal claim against the employer f

Denying class certification in an action for alleged meal period violations under the California Labor Code and Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Order No. 5-2001 (“Wage Order 5”), the California Court of Appeal ruled that a 24-hour residential care facility for developmentally disabled individuals

On November 30, 2015, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio signed a bill establishing an “Office of Labor Standards,” to be headed by a Director appointed by the Mayor. The Office, once established, is tasked with “study[ing] and mak[ing] recommendations for worker education, safety and protection, ed

Seeking to allow non-exempt employees to use paid sick leave for the illnesses of their family members and others, the Puerto Rico Legislature has sent a bill to Governor Alejandro García-Padilla to so amend the Commonwealth’s existing paid sick leave law. If House Bill 695 is approved, the amendmen