The federal government recently released its unified federal regulatory agenda–the document that outlines regulatory and deregulatory actions agencies expect to take in coming months. Issues involving labor and employment featured prominently on the list.
Each year, Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute provides its “July is the New January” report on labor and employment laws that become effective in the middle of the year.
On June 1, 2020, the Seattle City Council unanimously passed an ordinance temporarily requiring certain companies that rely on “gig economy” workers to provide paid sick and safe time to those workers for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency.
The tsunami of new employment laws and regulations in the last two months has challenged employers and human resources professionals, created a host of new employee rights, and caused many bouts of compliance head-scratching.
Earlier this year, Governor Murphy signed a package of legislation aimed at tightening worker misclassification enforcement in New Jersey. One of these new measures, Assembly Bill 5843, established a new posting requirement for employers.
Wrapped up in the pending NYC Essential Workers Bill of Rights is legislation that would expand the city’s Earned Sick and Safe Time Act to cover many workers currently classified as independent contractors.
On April 22, 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a decision affecting the classification of independent contractors for purposes of the state Unemployment Compensation Law (UCL).
