State & Local Employment Law Developments: Q2 2024

At a Glance

• State and local governments continue to increase workplace regulations. Although it is not feasible to discuss all laws, this update provides an overview of significant recent and upcoming legislative and regulatory developments to help you and your organization stay in compliance with local and state employment laws.

California

Workplace Violence Prevention Plans: Effective July 1, 2024, most employers will be required to establish and maintain a workplace violence prevention plan. Additionally, employers will be required to maintain a violent incident log and satisfy workplace violence prevention training requirements, as detailed in the Cal/OSHA fact sheet.

Heat Illness Prevention Regulation: On June 20, 2024, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board voted to adopt a new regulation focusing on Heat Illness Prevention in Indoor Places of Employment. The new regulation could be implemented as early as August 1, 2024. See our team’s recent update for more information.

Colorado

Restrictions on Age-Related Job Application Questions: Effective July 1, 2024, the Colorado Job Application Fairness Act prohibits employers from inquiring about age-related information on job applications unless questions are mandated by other laws or to ensure compliance with safety-related age requirements.

District of Columbia

Pay Transparency: Beginning on June 30, 2024, all employers with at least one employee in the District of Columbia must include in all job postings and job advertisements the minimum and maximum projected salary or hourly rate information for the job. Employers are prohibited from screening prospective employees based on wage history and are required to disclose the existence of health care benefits before the first job interview.

Idaho

Employer Immunity for Firearms: Effective July 1, 2024, Idaho law was amended to provide civil immunity to employers whose policy allows or does not prohibit employees from lawfully carrying firearms.

Illinois

Paid Leave Final Regulations: On April 30, 2024, and effective immediately, the Illinois Department of Labor published final regulations implementing the Paid Leave for All Workers Act. The final regulations include broad carveouts for qualifying pre-existing leave policies, clarify calculations for accrual, permit a 40-hour carryover cap (if other requirements are met), and provide greater discretion to employers for denial of leave requests. Read the full final regulations.

Illinois Freelance Worker Protection Act: Effective July 1, 2024, entities that retain freelancers to provide products or services valued at $500 or more (in a single contract or when aggregated over 120 days) must enter a written contract with the freelancer that meets minimum requirements and pay the freelancer within 30 days. The act contains an anti-retaliation provision preventing entities from discriminating against freelancers exercising rights under the act. The act also creates a private right of action.

Chicago

Chicago Paid Leave Law Replaced: Effective July 1, 2024, Chicago’s previous paid sick leave law is replaced by the Chicago Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance. In addition to requiring up to 40 hours of accrued paid sick leave per year as provided under the previous law, the ordinance allows employees to accrue up to 40 hours of paid leave for any reason per year. Covered employees accrue paid leave and paid sick leave at a rate of one hour for every 35 hours worked. On May 1, 2024, the city also issued Final Rules interpreting particular sections of the ordinance, including an employee’s right to carry over up to 80 hours of sick leave even if that leave is frontloaded.  

Wage Theft Ordinance Amendments: Effective July 1, 2024, amended and clarified portions of the Chicago Wage Ordinance took effect, including the addition of day laborers to covered employees and additional record requirements.

Indiana

New Hire Reporting Amendments: Effective July 1, 2024, Indiana’s new hire reporting law is amended to change the definition of a “newly hired employee” (that must be reported), and to require the reporting of additional information, all of which must be reported electronically.

Maryland

Vaping Ban: Effective July 1, 2024, the Clean Indoor Air Act is amended to prohibit vaping in indoor places of employment.

Noncompete Ban for Veterinary Professionals: Effective June 1, 2024, employers may not use noncompete agreements in employment contracts for veterinary care professionals. This restriction does not prevent employers from entering agreements with veterinary professionals regarding proprietary client-related information.

Minnesota

See our team’s May update covering the significant recent changes to Minnesota employment laws.

New Mexico

Military Status Discrimination Ban: Effective May 16, 2024, the New Mexico Human Rights Act was amended to prohibit discrimination based on military status. 

New York

Paid Lactation Breaks: Effective June 19, 2024, employers must allow New York employees 30 minutes of paid break each time an employee needs to express breast milk at work, for up to three years after the birth of the employee’s child. Employees are also permitted to use existing paid meal and break time if they need additional time beyond the 30-minute period. The New York Department of Labor has a webpage with more information.

New York City

Prohibition on Agreements Limiting Time to File Harassment Claims: Effective May 11, 2024, New York City employers are prohibited from including any provision in an employment agreement that attempts to contractually shorten the time limit for filing a claim alleging discrimination, harassment or violence in violation of the New York City Human Rights Law.

Workers’ Bill of Rights Poster: New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection published a “Know Your Rights at Work” poster, which must be posted in the workplace, distributed electronically through systems regularly used to communicate with employees, and provided to employees and any new hires beginning July 1, 2024. The poster has a QR code that, when scanned by employees, will take them to a website containing information about federal, state and local employment laws and rights under those laws.

Oregon

Definition of One-Year Period Under Family Leave Act: Effective July 1, 2024, the Oregon Family Leave Act is amended to define a “one-year period” as 52 consecutive weeks starting on the Sunday preceding the first date of family leave.

Family and Medical Leave Laws Amendments: Effective July 1, 2024, the Oregon paid family and medical leave law and Family Leave Act are updated to clarify and reduce the inconsistencies between the two laws.

Pennsylvania

Lehigh County

Human Relations Ordinance: Effective June 1, 2024, the Lehigh County ordinance bans employment discrimination based on the ordinance’s enumerated protected classes. Furthermore, the ordinance prohibits inquiring into an applicant’s salary history and limits criminal history screenings only to cases where the criminal history pertains to the applicant’s suitability for employment.

South Dakota

Employer Protections Regarding Medical Cannabis Use: Effective July 1, 2024, South Dakota’s workplace drug law is amended to allow employers to take adverse action if an employee in a safety sensitive position tests positive for THC metabolites.

Tennessee

Hours Worked Aligned With FLSA: Effective July 1, 2024, Tennessee wage and hour law is amended to define “work” to have the same meaning as the Fair Labor Standards Act, as interpreted by the Supreme Court. 

Utah

Religious Accommodation Law: Effective May 1, 2024, the Utah Antidiscrimination Act was amended to prohibit an employer from forcing an employee to act in a way the employee believes would burden or offend their sincerely held religious beliefs, except if an employer can show that the accommodation would cause an undue burden by substantially interfering with the employer’s mission, ability to conduct business in a financially or effective manner, or ability to provide training and safety instruction for the job.

Child Labor Laws: Effective May 1, 2024, Utah’s child labor laws were amended to modify working hours for those 16 years old and younger and to update certain types of jobs permitted for minors.

Vermont

Hairstyle Discrimination Ban: Effective July 1, 2024, the Vermont Fair Employment Practices Act (VFEPA) is amended to prohibit employment discrimination based on race to include traits associated or perceived to be associated with race, including hair type, hair texture, hairstyles and protective hairstyles.

Virginia

Discrimination Based on Ethnic Origin Ban: Effective July 1, 2024, the Virginia Human Rights Act is amended to prohibit employment discrimination based on ethnic origin.

Washington

Captive Audience Meetings Protections: Effective June 6, 2024, employers were banned from threatening to or disciplining, discharging or penalizing an employee for not attending an employer-sponsored meeting or listening to employer communications that’s sole purpose is to communicate the employer’s religious or political opinions.

Warehouse Protections: Effective July 1, 2024, covered employers must provide employees with a written description of information pertaining to production quotas.

Renton

Scheduling Ordinance: Effective July 1, 2024, the City of Renton mandates that covered employers should first offer additional hours of work to existing employees and use a reasonable, transparent and nondiscriminatory process to distribute the hours of work among those existing employees. However, employers are not required to offer the work hours if they would need to pay overtime or a premium rate.

West Virginia

Firearms in Parking Lots: Effective June 6, 2024, the Business Liability Protection Act was amended to restrict employers from taking adverse action against an employee for lawfully storing a firearm inside a motor vehicle in the employer’s parking lot. Employers are also barred from inquiring about the presence of a firearm in a locked motor vehicle or conducting an actual search of a motor vehicle to find out if a firearm is present.

This alert was prepared with assistance from summer associates Aidan Parker and Paige Wynkoop.