Employers in many jurisdictions across the country are dealing with laws that prohibit adverse actions against employees who use marijuana, whether for recreational or medicinal purposes, away from the workplace and during non-working hours. A recent appellate court decision in one of the more marijuana-friendly states, Connecticut, reassures employers that they do not have to
Last fall, California enacted a new law (SB 553/Labor Code 6401.9) requiring almost all employers to implement a workplace violence prevention plan. Employers are required to have a plan in place by July 1, 2024. Cal/OSHA recently published guidance on the requirements as well as a model plan template that employers may use as a
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) collected 2017 and 2018 pay data from employers on the EEO-1 form. The pay data collected, referred to as Component 2, was the subject of controversy because the broad pay bands and job categories render the data essentially meaningless in terms of determining the existence of pay discrimination. In
Many employers use arbitration agreements with their employees as a means of providing a more streamlined process than court actions for resolution of disputes. Companies using these agreements with California employees need to be aware of a unique California law that allows an employee to move their claims into court if an employer does not
National employers must navigate a maze of state and local paid sick leave laws with different requirements. That maze is especially burdensome for employers in Minnesota, where employers have dealt with local sick leave ordinances in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Bloomington, and Duluth. Last year, Minnesota passed a statewide paid sick leave law that went into
The minimum wage in Portland, Maine for 2024 is ordinarily $15.00. Due to a unique provision in Portland’s minimum wage law, though, the minimum wage increases to $22.50 for in-person work performed during a declared state of emergency.
On January 11, 2024 at 12:15 p.m., Governor Mills declared a state of emergency due to
California has a unique law that requires employers to provide new hires who are non-exempt from overtime with a “wage theft act notice” (a strangely named document) that provides the employee with specified information such as rate of pay, overtime rate, the employer’s name and address, pay day information, workers’ compensation information, and paid sick
Many state and local jurisdictions across the country will see moderate increases to their minimum wage rate on January 1, 2024. In fact, the current count of jurisdictions with a minimum wage increase on that date is a whopping 63! Most of these changes are the result of laws that provide for an automatic increase
Last fall, California enacted a new law, effective January 1, 2024 that creates a new leave of absence right under the Fair Employment and Housing Act for a reproductive loss. Employees must be allowed to take up to 5 days (which do not have to consecutive) of leave following a reproductive loss event. A
Effective January 1, 2024, California increased the minimum amount of paid sick leave that must be provided to employees to 5 days/40 hours per year (up from 3 days/24 hours). Employers are permitted to frontload sick leave (give employees a bucket of sick leave at the beginning of each year of at least 5 days/40