Recent news

Latest items of recent news relevant to the United States as reported in our fortnightly newswire ‘Dernières nouvelles’.

USA: Workers in Maine to receive paid family and medical leave

Starting in 2026, the new law will apply to businesses with 15 or more employees, although companies that already offer comparable benefits may stick with their current plans …

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USA: Washington State bars employer vehicle searches

Starting from 23rd July 2023, employers in Washington State will be prohibited from searching their employees’ private vehicles, including those in the company parking lot …

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USA: Illinois requires electronic work notices for remote employees

Illinois employers with employees who do not regularly report to a physical workplace, such as home workers or workers who travel in order to perform their work, are now required to provide work-related notices via the employer’s intranet, or individually email them the notices …

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USA: Colorado law bans age-related questions on job applications

With effect from 1st July 2024, the Colorado Job Application Fairness Act (JAFA) will bar Colorado employers from requesting, or requiring, that job applicants provide information related to “age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution” on initial employment applications …

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USA: Nevada law requires employers to provide leave for ‘sexual assault’

Currently Nevada law entitles employees with 90+ days service who are victims of domestic violence to protected leave and reasonable accommodations that do not impose any undue hardship upon the employer …

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USA: Alaska minimum wage and overtime deductions for ‘board and lodging’

According to the revised minimum wage regulation, Alaskan employers may now make deductions from the State minimum wage if ‘board and lodging’ facilities are customarily furnished, the cost to the employee is reasonable and without profit to the employer, and the employer provides prior written notice to the employee …

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USA: Ban on non-compete agreements

If New York State Governor Hochul signs into law the Bill passed by the State Assembly on 20th June, New York will join California, Oklahoma and North Dakota which have such measures already in place …

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USA: Colorado law adds additional uses of accrued paid sick leave

SB 23-017 has expanded the Colorado Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (HFWA)’s existing leave provisions …

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USA: The New York State ‘Freelance Isn’t Free Act’

This new law to protect freelance workers has now been passed by the State Assembly and Senate …

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USA: Gun laws struggle with the growing danger to employees

The increasing number of guns in private hands, the thousands of unregistered firearms being manufactured and the uncontrolled access of concealed handguns to the workplace is a major area of concern to US employers …

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USA: Connecticut expands use of sick leave to include mental health

The existing Connecticut paid sick and safe leave law allows ‘service workers’ to earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours per year …

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USA: The crisis passes – but how long can the fault lines hold?

The US Administration was able to swing a deal to side-step the public sector borrowing requirement crisis at the beginning of June …

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USA: Making job opportunities more transparent

Senate Bill 23-105 has just been passed by both houses of the Colorado General Assembly to modify the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act …

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USA: Temporary protected status (TPS) designations resumed

The US Secretary of Homeland Security has announced that the terminations of TPS for El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua that last took place in 2018 has been reversed …

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USA: Washington State My Health, My Data Act

This law, which will be effective on 31st March 2024, represents yet another privacy law at a State level that HR professionals need to be aware about, but not generally called to apply in practice …

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