State Employment Law Articles

With the enactment of the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (AB1522), California has become the second state in the nation, after Connecticut, to mandate employers provide their employees, including part-time and temporary workers, paid sick leave.

A new District of Columbia law prohibits employers from inquiring into a prospective employee’s criminal conviction background on its application and before making a conditional offer of employment.

On September 10, 2014, California Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. signed into law the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 ("California paid sick leave act") with an effective date of January 1, 2015. With the signing of this law, California becomes the second state to mandate that certain

A franchisor could not be held vicariously liable under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) for alleged sexual harassment in the franchisee’s workplace in the absence of evidence establishing the franchisor “retained or assumed a general right of control” over employment decision

California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed Assembly Bill No. 2751 (AB 2751) to amend a recently-enacted law that prohibits employers from retaliating against undocumented workers who engage in protected activity.

Following a developing nationwide trend, on September 3, 2014, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel signed an executive order that will require City of Chicago contractors and concessionaries (those operating retail businesses on City property) to pay a minimum wage of $13 per hour to all employees. The Septe

By its own declaration, the California Legislature finished its 2013-2014 session in the early morning hours of Saturday, August 30 – a day early. Those bills it passed are now on the way to, or pending before, Governor Jerry Brown. The Legislature is in recess, with adjournment scheduled for Novemb

On August 25, 2014, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed Senate Bill 3551 (“SB 3551”) amending the Illinois Migrant Labor Camp Law (“IMLCL”).

Under an ordinance signed on September 3, 2014, Philadelphia now requires public and private employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees who need to express breast milk. Philadelphia employers must provide employees paid (if otherwise available to the employee) or unpaid break time t

In a matter of first impression, the Washington Supreme Court has held that the "joint employer doctrine" is a viable theory under Washington's Minimum Wage Act (WMWA), and adopted the Fair Labor Standards Act's economic reality test to determine whether one or more entities are joint employers for

The Georgia Court of Appeals handed down a tough lesson for an employer in Mapei Corporation v. Prosser, A14A0368 (Ga. Ct. App. July 9, 2014). The Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for an employee on the claim he breached his non-compete with his prior employer. The Court found a subsequent

The Kentucky Supreme Court has held that continued employment alone is not valid consideration for non-compete agreements. In Charles T. Creech, Inc. v. Brown, 2014 Ky. LEXIS 233 (Ky. 2014), Donald E. Brown was employed by Charles T. Creech, Inc. for over 18 years before he was asked to sign a non-c

On August 28, 2014, the Supreme Court of California, in Patterson v. Domino's Pizza, LLC, decided whether a franchisor was entitled to summary judgment on the plaintiff's claims that the franchisor was vicariously liable for alleged tortious conduct by the franchisee's employee. In a 4-3 decision, t

On August 26, 2014, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed into law House Bill 8 (the amendments), which amends the Illinois Human Rights Act (the Act) to provide greater protections to applicants and employees who are or become pregnant. The Act previously prohibited an employer from discriminating aga

A new Massachusetts law gives employees who are victims of domestic violence a right to job-protected leave from work.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has approved a law providing additional protections for pregnant women in the workplace. The law will go into effect on January 1, 2015.

In yet another example of an increasing willingness to enforce properly-drafted forum selection clauses in non-compete disputes, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently denied a motion to dismiss and motion for transfer of venue brought by the former franchisee defendants, a

A California Court of Appeal recently issued a decision in Cochran v. Schwan’s Home Services, Inc., B247160 (Aug. 12, 2014) that took an expansive view of an employer’s obligation to reimburse employees’ business expenses. The trial court determined that no expense was incurred, and no reimbursement

In a significant decision that provides support for employers who are pushing back against plaintiffs’ attempts to litigate unmanageable wage and hour claims on a class-wide basis, a California federal court denied a motion for class certification in Ordonez v. RadioShack, Inc., a putative class act