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In Growing Trend, Maine Passes Broadest Paid Leave Law
The Maine State Legislature has passed a bill that would require private employers with ten or more employees to provide 40 hours of paid leave each year—with no restrictions on permissible uses. While other states require paid sick leave to allow employees to...
Maine Prohibits Employers from Requiring Job Applicants to Disclose their Social Security Number
Beginning January 1, 2020, employers in Maine will not be able to ask a prospective employee to disclose his or her social security number on an employment application or during the application process, except for the purpose of substance abuse testing or a...
New York Extends Employee Paid Time Off Voting Benefit
New York has amended the New York Election Law to require that employers provide employees with paid time off to vote in elections. Prior to the amendment, employers were required to provide employees with two hours of paid time off to vote, but only if the employees...
Unemployment Rate Declines to 3.6% in April
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that the unemployment rate declined by 0.2%, to 3.6%. This marks the lowest rate since December 1969.
Washington State Adopts Law Restricting Noncompete Agreements
Washington State has passed new legislation that will significantly limit the enforceability of noncompetition agreements under Washington law. Employers may not enter into or enforce a “noncompetition covenant” unless the restricted employee’s...
Terminating An Employee For Talking To The Press
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has held that a policy prohibiting employees from speaking to the media at any time violates the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRB explained: “Employees have a statutory right to speak publicly about their...
Kentucky Court of Appeals Rules Employers Must be Represented by Licensed Attorneys in Unemployment Hearings​
The Kentucky Court of Appeals has held the longstanding Kentucky law allowing a non-lawyer to represent a business entity at an administrative unemployment hearing is unconstitutional. For decades, Kentucky law has permitted employers who contestformer...
Employers Settle Lawsuits Alleging Age and Disability Discrimination
In separate developments, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced the settlement of age and disability discrimination lawsuits lodged against unrelated employers located in Texas, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Atlas Energy Group LLC has...
Court Orders EEOC to Collect Compensation Data by September 30
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has ordered the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to collect detailed data on employee compensation and hours worked from covered employers sorted by job category, pay band, race, ethnicity, and...
All Employers Are Required to Display Federal and State Postings
All employers are required to post certain federal and state postings. On a federal level, if an employer has less than 50 employees, they are required to post 5 notices: Fair Labor Standards Act; Employee Polygraph Protection Act; Equal Employment Opportunity;...