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Our blog offers important resources, helpful articles, and practical ideas on the human resources topics that matter to you.
Home / Media / Blog / July Labor Law Updates
INFINITI HR is happy to provide Monthly State Labor Law Updates as a service to our subscribers. These briefs provide a general description and are not meant to be all inclusive of compliance requirements. This list is not inclusive of all legislative changes for employers across the U.S. Changes may have been addressed in previous updates, which can be accessed from our blog.
This list is not inclusive of all legislative changes for employers across the U.S. Other changes may have been addressed in previous updates, which can be accessed online on our website https://inspiringhr.com/blog/
Employers are encouraged to work with their Inspiring HR Consultant before making policy changes to capture the full requirements of these laws.
Some of the notable recent and upcoming state changes in this issue are as follows:
Beginning January 1, 2023, the state of Colorado will begin collecting insurance premiums for the new Colorado Paid Family Leave Insurance (FAMLI) from employers.
FAMLI creates a paid leave system funded by employees and employers for those employed in Colorado. Contributions will be collected as follows:
Posting of employee’s rights under the Act is required and employers must track and provide balances on employee pay stubs. Additional provisions apply.
Under HB 22-1317, newly enacted revisions to Colorado’s restrictive covenants (such as non-competes and non-solicitation clauses) will affect agreements entered into or renewed after August 10, 2022.
Highlights of the Revisions:
Changes include but are not limited to:
We suggest seeking legal advice to review existing non-compete and non-solicitation agreement templates to ensure compliance with this amended law, and to revise agreements for enforceability after August 10, 2022.
This law creates for covered employees up to twelve weeks of paid family and medical leave for qualified events through a new paid leave trust fund administered by the State and contributed to by employers
The new law provides benefits to replace up to 80 percent of a covered individual’s average weekly wage and job-protected leave for the following reasons:
The maximum amount of leave benefits a covered individual may take is 12 weeks per year for parental leave and an aggregate of six weeks in any 24-month period for other qualifying reasons, for a cumulative total of up to 12 weeks of benefits per year.
Any employee, primarily reporting for work in Delaware, who has worked for one year for their employer and at least 1,250 hours in the previous 12 months is eligible to use the benefits and leave provided by the new law.
Employers with 10 -24 employees in Delaware must contribute to the program and provide parental leave. Employers with at least 25 employees also must provide family caregiving and medical leave. The law includes an exemption for employers that are closed for at least 30 consecutive days during the year, and those employers who have an approved plan for a similar benefit can opt to keep their plan and will not be required to contribute to the State fund.
Small businesses who do not qualify as “employers” under the Act will be able to opt into the plan on a benefit-by-benefit basis bust must do so for a period of least three years.
Employees who exercise their right to take covered leave are entitled to their previous position or one of equivalent seniority, status, pay and benefits upon return.
We anticipate this new regulation may raise many questions, so we suggest seeking assistance from your HR professional or legal counsel to review current paid time off benefit plans and leave of absence policies for compliance with this new law.
Under the new obligations, employers must provide training to employees and supervisors on sexual harassment prevention and how bystanders should respond to sexual harassment.
This new policy and training obligations for employers licensed by or with work locations in the city requires every employer to have a written policy in each employee’s primary language, to be distributed to each employee within the first calendar week of employment. The policy must include the following elements:
In addition, employers must display posters designed by the commission on sexual-harassment prohibitions in at least one location where employees commonly congregate. They must post at least one poster in English and one in Spanish.
Additional documentation requirements on policies and provided trainings apply to show compliance with the ordinance. Failure to maintain the required records for a period of at least five years creates a presumption that the employer violated the ordinance.
A person who violates the sections of the ordinance prohibiting sexual harassment, defining the mandatory elements of the policy, and mandating annual training is subject to a fine ranging between $500 and $1,000 per day.
Employers need to create anti-harassment policy according to the city ordinance, post the required notice and conduct the required training. Visit the IL Department of Human Rights website for sanctioned sexual harassment prevention training materials.
The salary threshold amounts will increase every five years by $5,000 until January 1, 2037, when the amount will equal $90,000. For non-solicit agreements, the salary threshold amounts will increase every five years by $2,500 until January 1, 2037, when the amount will equal $52,500.
Employers are now required to include in their non-compete and non-solicit agreements a notice that the employee may consult with an attorney and must be given a 14-day waivable period. Employers will need to incorporate this timeline into any onboarding documents
The amended law empowers the state attorney general to bring claims with civil penalties up to $5,000 for initial violations and $10,000 for repeat violations. Employees may also recover attorneys’ fees if they prevail in a claim challenging a restrictive covenant.
We suggest employers with employees in Illinois seek legal advice to review existing non-compete and non-solicit agreement templates to ensure compliance with this amended law.
All NJ employers who use a device to track employee-operated vehicles are required to provide a written notice to employees subject to tracking, prior to using the tracking device.
A tracking device is defined as “an electronic or mechanical device which is designed or intended to be used for the sole purpose of tracking the movement of a vehicle, person or device.” The law does not apply to devices used for the purpose of documenting employee expense reimbursement, such as mileage counters or odometer readers.
If your Company uses any tracking devices or applications to track a vehicle, person, or device, then you must:
The Act requires all New Mexico employers to provide paid sick time (leave) effective July 1, 2022.
Under the Act, all private employers and employees are covered with the exception of those subject to the federal Railway Labor Act (RLA), the federal Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA), or Title II (air carriers) working in New Mexico.
The Act provides the accrual of an hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 64 hours per year. Once accrued and put to use, employers cannot require employees to find replacement workers to cover their absence and use of this paid sick time cannot be counted toward an absence or punitive attendance policy that may lead to or result in discipline, discharge, demotion, suspension, or any other adverse action.
Under the Act, Paid Sick Time can be used for preventative care, diagnosis, care, or treatment for mental or physical illness, injury or health condition of employee or family member; an employee’s need to meet at the employee’s child’s school or place of care related to the child’s health or disability; and medical attention, services, counseling, or relocation if an employee or family member is the victim of domestic abuse, sexual violence or stalking.
Posting of employee’s rights under the Act is required and employers must track and provide balances on employee pay stubs.
Additional provisions apply.
Interested in other current employment trends? Click the link to view the recent blog: What’s Your Plan to Shape Up Employee Experience? or check back for more on human resources, payroll, insurance, and benefits.
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