Compliance Stuff

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed a bill significantly amending the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA) on May 15, 2024. The MHRA, otherwise known as Minnesota’s anti-discrimination statute, already prohibited discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, marital status, disability, status with regard to public assistance, sexual orientation, familial status, and age. The definitions of the protected classes covered by the MHRA were expanded , as were the remedies and enforcement capabilities of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR), the state agency responsible for enforcing the statute. Definition and Breadth of Protected Classes Expanded Protected Classes Under MHRA – “One or More”: The amendments specifically prohibit an employer from discriminating against an individual because of one or more of the identified protected classes. Definition of “Disability” Expanded: The definition of disability was expand...

Does it seem like you are dealing with more mental health issues in your workforce? If so, you are not alone. Recent mental health claim statistics show an alarming increase in chronic illnesses since the pandemic. For adults between the ages of 35 and 44, mental illness diagnoses have increased from 48% in 2019 to 58% in 2023 , according to the American Psychological Association . In its most recent Strategic Enforcement Plan , the EEOC listed “workers with mental health related disabilities” as one of the categories of vulnerable workers on which they will focus their efforts to prevent harassment, retaliation and discrimination. With these types of issues on a dramatic rise, it is worth a reminder about an employer’s obligations under the ADA for mental health issues. What Does the ADA Require? As we know, the ADA requires employers to provide “reasonable accommodations” to a qualified employee with a disability. For a condition to meet the definition of a disability under the statu...

Washington is one of the latest states to implement legislation prohibiting employers from requiring employee attendance at meetings promoting the employer’s view on religious or political matters. Washington’s SB 5778 will become effective June 6, 2024 as the state joins several others who have passed similar legislation, including:   Connecticut Maine Minnesota New York Oregon New Jersey What is Bill SB 5778?  SB 5778 addresses a sensitive topic employees and employers may face in the workplace. According to the law, Freedom of Speech is a “foundational ideal that is core to the nation’s identity,” but when it encompasses topics such as politics and religion in the office, it is understandable that questions and concerns may be raised, by both employers and employees. To mitigate potentially hostile situations, SB 5778 asserts that employers may not do the following:  Force an employee to attend an employer-sponsored event with the employer, their representative, ...

  The Maine Department of Labro issued proposed rules for the state's Paid Family and Medical Leave Program, providing employers with initial clarification regarding covered employees, contribution amounts, substitution of private plans, and other facets of the law. Public comment period for the proposed rule closes on July 8, 2024. While the department’s proposed rules answer several critical questions, revisions to the proposal are expected following the public comment period. According to the PFML Benefits Authority (the fifteen-member committee tasked with advising the department on its rulemaking process), the department will issue revised rules this fall, after reviewing and addressing public comments submitted by the July 8 deadline. Further, the department likely will provide a second comment period after issuing revised rules. The PFML Benefits Authority next meets with the department for a public hearing on June 10, 2024. The department has not addressed concerns related ...

Chicago finalized the new Chicago Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave Rules on May 1, 2024. Both the ordinance and the rules go into effect on July 1, 2024, and will require employers to annually provide up to 40 hours of Paid Leave and up to 40 hours of Paid Sick Leave to covered Chicago employees. Below, we highlight key provisions in the final rules that employers should keep in mind while updating their paid leave policies in anticipation of the July 1 compliance date. Definition of a benefit year The final rules define “benefit year” as the 12 consecutive-month period that an employer sets for an employee to receive Paid Leave and Paid Sick Leave benefits. Employers are permitted to set different dates for each employee (e.g., based on the anniversary date of employment) or synchronize all covered employees to have benefits granted at the same time (e.g., based on a calendar year or fiscal year). Employers who elect to synchronize the benefit year for all employees must ensure that ea...

While a traditional non-compete clause falls squarely in the “prohibits” category, the FTC also expressed concern regarding other agreements that may “function to prevent workers from seeking or accepting other work or starting a business after their employment ends.” As a result, employers should consider reviewing other employee agreements and prepare for the possibility that the FTC may attempt to bar those “functional non-compete” agreements in the future. For example, many employers reimburse employees’ tuition fees or training costs to encourage employees to seek further work-related education or training. In such cases, the employees are often required to remain employed for a certain period of time after they receive reimbursement. If they leave before that time period ends, employers reserve the right to deduct the cost or a percentage of the cost from the employee’s final paycheck.  In its commentary on the non-compete rule, the FTC found that some “training repayment agr...

California’s right-to-disconnect bill, which SHRM opposed, has been shelved. The legislation has been “held under suspense” by the California State Assembly Committee on Appropriations, meaning that the bill has effectively been defeated for the remainder of the 2023-2024 California legislative session. California Assembly Bill 2751 would have required employers to establish workplace policies that provide employees with the right to disconnect from communications from the employer during nonworking hours, said Chris Micheli, a founding partner of Snodgrass & Micheli in Sacramento, Calif. The bill would have granted a right for employees to ignore communications outside of work hours except for in an emergency or for scheduling.  “There is little doubt that there are situations in which a limited number of employers abuse their ability to contact employees during nonworking time, but this legislation attempts to address the issue in a manner that would unnecessarily tie employe...

Effective January 1, 2025, Minnesota mandates all employers with 30 or more employees in Minnesota to include a pay range or fixed pay rate on all job postings. The hope is that job seekers have a better understanding of their potential earnings prior to submitting an application. This new pay equity and pay transparency law builds on the state's recent legislation which prohibits asking applicants about their pay history. A few key points include: It applies not only to job postings but to job postings by third party recruiters, such as "staffing agencies". If the listing includes a pay range, it must be a "good faith estimate" reflecting realistic expectation of what will be offered for the position.  It should not be an open-ended range. The job posting must also include a general description of benefits and "other compensation" offered.  This includes health insurance, retirement plans, bonuses, and any other financial perks associated with the pos...

Now more than ever, businesses need to take a proactive, predictive, and preventive approach to enterprise risk management. Here JD Supra shares an article from Mayer Brown--Mayer Brown shares the key takeaways from a recent high-level discussion they had with their senior executives from leading multinational corporations on smart strategies for managing risk across an entire organization. PLAN BY DESIGN SO RESPONSES AREN’T “BY DEFAULT” Businesses must put more effort toward crises management before they happen. Effective planning requires clear thinking, prioritization, and discipline—specifically, a real understanding of risk exposure, buy-in from senior management, eliminating information silos, having a mechanism in place for elevating critical information, and cultivating a speak-up culture. Most importantly, companies must generate reliable and actionable intelligence before a crisis that will enhance the quality of their decision-making during and after a crisis. MAKE “REHEARSE...

 A new legal challenge by more than a dozen business groups seeks to overturn the enforcement of the Department of Labor's new rule raising the earning thresholds for the FLSA's white-collar overtime exemptions---same as 2016. The new lawsuit alleges that the DOL acted arbitrarily and capriciously (meaning, it was made on unreasonable grounds or without any proper consideration of circumstances) in setting the new thresholds, ignoring concerns from the business community. This lawsuit intends to stop the first threshold increase, which is set to take effect on July 1, 2024. Source: Ogletree Deakins , received on May 28, 2024

 Maryland's Wage Transparency Law (SB 525/HB 649) will take effect October 1, 2024. Under the Wage Transparency Law, a job posting is defined as any "solicitation intended to recruit applicants for a specific available position," and includes job recruitment directly by the employer as well as through third parties, such as job posting websites. Employers will be required to disclose the "wage range," meaning the positions minimum and maximum hourly rate or salary, set by the employer in good faith by reference to:  Any applicable pay scale; Any previously determined minimum and maximum hourly rate or salary;  The minimum and maximum hourly rate or salary of an individual holding comparable position at the time the job is posted, or The budgeted amount for the position. In each public or internal posting for a position, employers will be required to disclose: (1) the wage range; (2) a “general description of benefits”; and (3) “any other compensation offered fo...

Under the new rule, total annual compensation requirement for HCEs will increase from $107,432 per year to $132,964 per year on July 1, 2024 and will rise to $151,164 per year on January 1, 2025.  Earning thresholds will be updated every three years starting on July 1, 2027. This increase is expected to affect nearly 300,000 currently highly compensated dependent on the relaxed job duties test.   Criteria for Classification as an HCE An employee must meet several criteria before being classified as an HCE. First, the employee must be paid a total annual compensation of at least $132,964 as of July 1, which includes at least $844 per week on a salary basis. Effective Jan. 1, 2025, the total compensation threshold will increase to $151,164, which includes at least $1,128 per week paid on a salary basis. The weekly salary amount of $844, or $1,128 as of Jan. 1, 2025, must be paid in its entirety. Employers may not use nondiscretionary bonuses and incentive payments— incl...

 Effective July 1, 2024, Vermont is the most recent state to pass its own version of the CROWN Act. CROWN Acts expand the definition of race to include hair protections.   Under Vermont's Fair Employment Practice Act (FEPA), it is unlawful for "any employer" employment agency, or labor organization to harass or discriminate against any individual because of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, place of birth, crime victim status, or age or against a qualified individual with a disability." House Bill 363 (HB363) was approved by Vermont Governor Phil Scott on April 24, 2024.  HB363 adds a clarifying definition of race to FEPA, which includes the following: “Race” includes traits associated with or perceived to be associated with race, including hair type, hair texture, hairstyles, and protective hairstyles. As used in this subdivision, the term “protective hairstyles” includes hairstyles such as individual braids,...