Articles About Vermont Labor And Employment Law.

Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed H.704 on June 4, 2024, mandating pay transparency in job postings and advertisements. Effective July 1, 2025, employers with at least five employees must include in any “Vermont job opening” advertisement the compensation or range of compensation for the advertised position.

Why It Matters
The law

On December 6, 2022, Vermont Governor Phil Scott announced that the state will launch a voluntary paid family and medical leave program that will provide workers in the state with such leave insurance by 2025. With the move, Vermont joins its neighbor New Hampshire as the second state with such

Vermont will join its neighboring state New Hampshire in implementing a voluntary paid family and medical leave insurance program.

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As the COVID-19 pandemic presses on, privacy and security matters continue to be at the forefront for federal and state legislature. We recently reported that Washington D.C. updated its data breach notification law. Now, the Vermont legislature also amended its data breach notification law, with significant overhauls including expansion of

In a landmark ruling, the Vermont Supreme Court recently held that a patient had standing to sue both the hospital at which she was a patient and the employee who attended to her, for negligent disclosure of her personal health information to a third-party. Neither the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) nor Vermont law provide for a private cause of action for damages arising from a medical provider’s disclosure of information obtained during treatment.

Vermont’s “An act relating to the prevention of sexual harassment” makes numerous changes to state law related to sexual harassment. The act provides expansive protections for both current and prospective employees and creates new restrictions and obligations for employers. The changes go into effect on July 1, 2018.

Vermont’s recreational marijuana law, which goes into effect on July 1, 2018, lifts penalties for individuals possessing limited amounts of marijuana. However, the new law does not require employers to tolerate marijuana possession or use in the workplace. Further, employers may continue to test for marijuana, though any adverse employment actions must be considered carefully for the risk of disability discrimination claims.

Vermont’s recreational marijuana law will take effect on July 1, 2018. (Click here for our previous blog summarizing this law and its impact on employers). On June 14, 2018, the Vermont Office of the Attorney General published the Guide to Vermont’s Laws on Marijuana in the Workplace. The Guide provides employers with an overview of the changes to Vermont’s marijuana laws, and summarizes existing employment laws relating to drug testing in the workplace.

The categories of individuals protected under Vermont’s anti-discrimination statute (21 V.S.A. §495) has been expanded to include crime victims.

Beginning July 1, 2018, employers in Vermont will be prohibited from requiring a prospective employee to disclose his or her salary and benefit history under legislation (H.B. 294) signed by Governor Phil Scott on May 11, 2018.

On May 11, 2018, Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed legislation restricting employers from making salary history inquiries. The new law, H. 294, effective July 1, 2018, prohibits asking a prospective, current, or former employee about or seeking information regarding his or her compensation history. For these purposes, compensation includes base compensation, bonuses, benefits, fringe benefits, and equity-based compensation. Under the new law, employers are also prohibited from requiring that a prospective employee’s current or past compensation satisfy minimum or maximum criteria for employment. If an employer discovers a prospective employee’s salary history, the employer may not determine whether to interview the prospective employee based on this information.

Vermont’s Governor Phil Scott signed a recreational marijuana law on January 22, 2018. The law is the first recreational marijuana law to be enacted by a state legislature without a ballot initiative. It will take effect on July 1, 2018.

The law prohibits an employer from requesting “criminal history record information,” including arrests, convictions, or sentences, on the initial employment application form, unless the individual is applying for a position for which state or federal law creates a mandatory or presumptive disqualification for employment, based on convictions for certain offenses, or the employer is subject to an obligation imposed by state or federal law not to employ an individual convicted of certain offenses.