The Illinois Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA) provides employees who are victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, gender violence, or any other crime of violence, and employees who have a family or household member who is a victim of such violence, with unpaid, job-protected leave; reasonable accommodations; and protections from discrimination and retaliation. VESSA applies […]
On April 7, 2022, Maine Governor Janet Mills signed legislation (L.D. 225) to require some Maine employers to pay out employee’s earned vacation time at the end of employment. Prior to L.D. 225, Maine law provided that employers could choose whether to pay out unused, accrued vacation. More specifically, Maine law provided that only when an employer […]
On May 11, 2022, “An Act Concerning Nondisclosure Agreements in Employment” (HP 711) was signed into law. The law is effective August 8, 2022. The law applies to all Maine employers. Under the law, employers are prohibited from requiring an employee, intern, or job applicant to enter into: A contract or agreement that waives or limits any of […]
Effective August 8, 2022, the Maine Human Rights Act is amended (LD 598) to specify that the definition of “race” includes traits associated with race, including hair texture, Afro hairstyles and protective hairstyles. Protective hairstyles include braids, twists and locks. Next Steps for Employers Employers should review and update their existing equal employment opportunity and non-harassment/non-discrimination policies to […]
The Disclosing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Act of 2018 was enacted in 2018, and it created a disclosure survey for the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights (MCCR) to collect data on sexual harassment settlements across two reporting cycles over a five-year period. 2022 marks the second reporting cycle. The first reporting cycle ended on July 1, […]
At the end of April, Governor Waltz signed SF 2677 into law, providing frontline workers with bonus payments in recognition of their perseverance and sacrifices made during the COVID-19 emergency declared by the state. The state has implemented an online application process in order for eligible workers to apply to receive a bonus payment. The tentative date […]
New Mexico becomes the next state within the US to mandate private employers begin providing paid sick leave to employees. Taking effect on July 1, 2022, New Mexico has enacted the Health Workplaces Act (HWA) (HB 20), which requires employers with one or more employees within the state to provide a paid sick leave benefit. Amount of Earned Sick […]
On May 24, 2022 the Adult Survivors Act (Act) (S.668A/A.648) was signed into law and took effect immediately. The new law creates a one-year window for the revival of time-barred civil lawsuits based on sex crimes committed against individuals who were 18 years of age or older. Prior to the Adult Survivors Act, victims who were at least […]
As an update to our prior post last month, on May 12, 2022, New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed Introduction Number (Int. No.) 134-A into law, just days before the current salary disclosure law was set to take effect (May 15). This means that New York City’s salary disclosure law will now officially take effect on November 1, 2022, which […]
At present, state law currently allows employers to schedule home care aides to work 24-hour shifts, commonly referred to as “live in” shifts. Under such an arrangement, the employer need compensate the aide only for 13 hours of work, so long as the aide has an opportunity to receive eight hours of sleep, five hours […]
