State Employment Law Articles

With summer nearing, California employers should review their workplace violence prevention plans and complete annual training. Read more about WVPP: California Workplace Violence Prevention: Annual Review and Training Deadlines Are Coming Back Around.

New Jersey Department of Labor Publishes Final ABC Rule After more than a year’s delay, the New Jersey Department of Labor announced a final rule implementing the state’s “ABC” test. The ABC test is used to determine a worker's status as either an employee or as an independent contractor under

In this podcast, Morristown shareholders Justine Abrams and Michael Nacchio break down the latest developments shaping New Jersey employment law. They cover key updates including the expansion of the New Jersey Family Leave Act, new pay transparency regulations, a landmark earned sick leave ruling,

Effective November 1, 2026, Oklahoma House Bill (HB) 3127 makes important changes to the state’s medical marijuana employment protections under 63 O.S. § 427.8 that affect all Oklahoma employers.

In this podcast, shareholders Kevin Bland (Orange County) and Karen Tynan (Sacramento), who is chair of the firm’s Workplace Safety and Health Practice Group, discuss the unique aspects of Cal/OSHA discovery, which differs significantly from federal OSHA and civil litigation discovery processes. Kar

The California Legislature recently introduced a bill ( Senate Bill (SB) 951 ) that would establish the California Worker Technological Displacement Act—a first-of-its-kind law that would require employers to provide advance written notice when artificial intelligence (AI) or automation drives workf

Businesses in the agriculture, construction, and tourism industries may need to take extra safety precautions as required under federal and state laws to protect their employees in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, where smoke from wildfires that ignited in April 2026 are causing unhealthy air q

Workers’ compensation claims arising from the transportation industry in New York State routinely present challenges.

Virginia’s Democratic Trifecta Enacts a Flurry of New Wage and Hour Laws During the General Assembly’s 2026 Session In the 2025 statewide elections, Virginia Democrats gained control of both chambers of the state legislature and the governorship, securing a governmental “trifecta.” The last time Dem

Florida Law Prohibits Government Funding for DEI Initiatives Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed legislation, Florida Senate Bill 1134 , furthering the state government’s efforts to distance itself from so-called “woke” politics. In doing so, the Florida State Legislature is aligning itself wit

California employers familiar with the state’s already complex anti-discrimination laws will want to pay close attention to Assembly Bill (AB) 2064 , which would add “criminal history” as a new protected characteristic under both the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Civil Code Section 51) and the California

Virginia Enacts Paid Family and Medical Leave Program to Apply to Most Private Employers Virginia has enacted legislation ( House Bill 1207 / Senate Bill 2 ) establishing a state-administered paid family and medical leave insurance program, which will provide individuals with paid leave benefits in

In the fifth and final episode of this five-part podcast series, Karen Tynan (shareholder, Sacramento) and Robert Rodriguez (shareholder, Sacramento), who are co-chairs of Ogletree’s Workplace Violence Prevention Practice Group,, discuss how employers can build a high reliability workplace violence

A California appellate court recently issued a decision that reinforced the growing trend that an employee’s representative claims under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) may be extinguished when the employee loses in arbitration on the underlying individual claims.

Philadelphia is moving to active POWER Act enforcement: Proposed regulations make clear the city’s intent to investigate proactively, apply worker‑friendly presumptions, and impose enhanced penalties

In conjunction with the issuance of final regulations to implement the forthcoming paid family and medical leave insurance (FAMLI) program, the Maryland Department of Labor (MDOL) has also completely revamped its FAMLI website to provide new and useful resources for employers (and others).

On April 7, 2026, a California appellate court enforced an arbitration agreement spanning three onboarding documents. The court held that ambiguities among the documents did not negate the parties’ clear intent to arbitrate. It also found the agreement was not unconscionable.

Maine Enacts Wage Transparency Law With the recent enactment of LD 54 – “An Act to Require Employers to Disclose Pay Ranges and Maintain Records of Employees’ Pay Histories” – Maine joins a growing list of jurisdictions mandating wage transparency in job postings. Under the new law, which takes effe

On Friday, April 24, 2026, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board released a revised draft workplace violence regulation for general industry that clarifies the definition of small employer and specifies the elements of a workplace violence prevention plan.

On March 3, 2026, Governor Ned Lamont signed Senate Bill (SB) 298 into law, ushering in significant new standards applicable to warehouse workers and logistics operations in Connecticut.