On April 1, 2016, new California regulations take effect requiring employers to develop written anti-discrimination and harassment policies that meet numerous new and detailed requirements.1 These regulations require employers to develop and distribute anti-discrimination and harassment policies to employees in English as well as in any additional languages that are spoken by at least 10% of the workforce. The regulations also impose requirements for conducting discrimination and harassment investigations.
Articles Discussing Labor And Employment Law In All Fifty Us States And Puerto Rico.
New Jersey Court: Meal Preparation, Other Tasks Properly Part of “Companion” Duties Under Old Test
In 2013 the Department of Labor announced new regulatory language that substantially limited the scope of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s companionship exemption. Those regulations, of course, were challenged through litigation which remains ongoing, and their implementation by the USDOL was delayed until many months after the original effective date of January 1, 2015. Though the new companionship services regulations have taken effect, pending review by the U.S. Supreme Court, claims brought under the prior regulations continue to work their way through the court system. A federal district court in New Jersey decided one such case last week, finding an FLSA claimant had failed to properly plead that she was not exempt from minimum wage and overtime under the prior version of the exemption. Simoliuniene v. Estate of Maszer, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25953 (D.N.J. Mar. 1, 2016).
Historic Minimum Wage Increase in Oregon
On March 2, 2016, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed the first geographically-tiered minimum wage hike in the country. Senate Bill 1532 also gives Oregon the nation’s current highest projected state-wide minimum wage.
First Circuit: FAAAA Preempts Massachusetts’ Contractor Law
On February 22, 2016, the First Circuit issued its decision in Schwann v. Fedex Ground Package System, Inc. This decision clarified the extent to which the Massachusetts Independent Contractor statute, G.L. c. 149 § 148B (“§ 148B”), as applied to motor carriers, is preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994, 49 U.S.C. § 14501(c)(1) (“FAAAA”). Schwann v. FedEx Ground Package Sys., 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 3050 (1st Cir. Mass. Feb. 22, 2016).
New Jersey Appellate Division Clarifies When Employers Can Require Employee Psych Examinations
The circumstances under which a company or organization may require an employee to undergo a medical examination can be confusing for employers, and for good reason: The “rules” are cobbled together from a variety of sources and are from the model of clarity. The Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey recently attempted to synthesize and clarify these rules in the case of In re Williams, a decision whose importance will likely increase as disability and reasonable accommodation issues continue to be fertile ground for plaintiffs’ attorneys. 2016 N.J. Super. LEXIS 15 (App.Div. Jan. 25, 2016)
Vermont’s Health Plan Reporting Law Impermissibly Impacts National Plan Administration and Falls to ERISA Preemption, Supreme Court Holds
If you were to ask most employers whether reporting is a core function of employee benefit plan administration, they would likely say yes, particularly as many are currently in the middle of completing IRS Forms 1094-C and 1095-C. On top of the numerous reporting requirements for group health plans imposed by IRS and other federal agencies, a number of states, including Vermont, have enacted laws that add a layer of state reporting obligations for plans, including self-funded group health plans. In what is clearly welcome news for employers and plan sponsors, this added state law burden has been lessened by yesterday’s Supreme Court decision in Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co., No. 14-181.
California Legislative Update: Proposals Include PAGA Reform, Salary History Limitations, and Equal Pay Expansion
The pace of employment legislative activity in Sacramento picked up as February drew to a close. The following highlights some of the more notable issues under consideration in the Golden State.
Wading through the Changing Tide of Paid Sick Leave Laws in Washington State
2016 may be the most dynamic year yet for paid sick leave developments in Washington State. Two months into the new year we have already seen significant changes to the Seattle sick and safe time law, a new paid leave ordinance taking effect in Tacoma, and a new ordinance enacted in Spokane. At the state level, legislators are considering a bill to mandate paid sick leave statewide.
Philadelphia’s Amended Ban-the-Box Law Effective March 14
Amendments to Philadelphia’s “Ban the Box” legislation, the Fair Criminal Records Screening Standards, will go into effect on March 14, 2016.
Alabama Governor Signs Law Voiding Birmingham Minimum Wage Ordinance
Employers with operations in Birmingham, Alabama, may breathe more easily now. Governor Robert Bentley has signed into law a prohibition against individual municipalities in the state from enacting their own minimum wage laws. The Alabama Senate passed the measure and the Governor signed the bill on February 25, 2016.
State Budget Proposal Seeks to Reduce PAGA Litigation Through Increased State Oversight
On January 7, 2016, Governor Brown’s office submitted a 22-page Budget Change Proposal for 2016-2017 (http://web1a.esd.dof.ca.gov/Documents/bcp/1617/FY1617_ORG7350_BCP474.pdf) in an effort to “stabilize and improve the handling of Private Attorneys General Act cases.”
Birmingham, Alabama, City Council Attempts to Implement Immediate Minimum Wage Increase for All Employers
The Birmingham City Council has voted to implement a new ordinance increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 beginning February 24, 2016, for all employers within the city limits.
Proposed Regulations Issued by the New York City Commission on Human Rights Clarify and Expand the Citywide “Ban-the-Box” Law
New York City’s Fair Chance Act (FCA), which became effective on October 27, 2015, imposes obligations on covered employers and employment agencies well beyond all other “ban-the-box” laws.1 On November 5, 2015, the New York City Commission on Human Rights (the Commission) released its 13-page Interpretative Enforcement Guidance regarding the FCA. As explained in our previous Insight, the ambitious scope of the Guidance makes the onerous nature of the FCA more apparent, with the Commission expounding at length on protections that ex-offenders enjoy in New York City throughout the hiring process—as well as during employment—as the Guidance defines the term “applicant” to include both prospective and existing employees.2
Governor Brown’s Proposed PAGA Unit May Have Power to Challenge PAGA Settlement in Court
The budget change proposal for the 2016/17 Fiscal Year [document:
Reasonable Data Security Defined by California AG
Last week, California Attorney General, Kamala D. Harris – who has been mentioned as a potential nominee to fill Justice Antonin Scalia’s recently vacated seat on the U.S. Supreme Court – issued the California Data Breach Report (Report). The Report provides an analysis of the data breaches reported to the California AG from 2012-2015.