Photo of Meghan O. Offer

Over the past few years, 31 states have legalized some form of medical or recreational marijuana use and this wave of legalization continues to grow. Since there has been no consistent approach taken related to the intersection of legalized use and employment, employers must stay vigilant about recent developments in each location in which they operate.

To assist in navigating these waters, below is a summary of the recent enactments in Illinois and Nevada, as well as an update as to newly published judicial interpretations of the medical marijuana laws in New Jersey and Michigan.
Continue Reading New marijuana laws and court cases continue to provide inconsistent guidance for employers: a summary of recent developments in Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey and Michigan

On December 17, 2015, the New Jersey Senate passed legislation that would require New Jersey employers of any size to provide employees with paid sick leave. The bill was received by the Assembly on December 21, 2015, and referred to the Assembly Human Services Committee. If passed by the House and signed by the Governor, the bill would take effect 120 days after its enactment.

Leave Amount and Accrual

The bill requires small employers (10 employees or less) to provide up to forty (40) hours of paid sick leave and large employers (employers with more than 10 employees) to provide up to seventy-two (72) hours of sick leave. Employees would accrue paid sick leave at a rate of one (1) hour for every thirty (30) hours worked. In lieu of the accrual periods, employers may provide employees with a full complement of earned sick leave on the first day of each benefit year.  
Continue Reading New Jersey Poised to Become Latest State to Require Paid Sick Leave

As previously reported, New Jersey’s version of the “ban the box” law, entitled “Opportunity to Compete Act” (the Act), goes into effect March 1, 2015. The Act limits covered employers’ ability to inquire into a job applicant’s criminal record.

In less than a week, public and private employers that have 15 or more employees hired

As we prepare to ring in the New Year, employers should be aware that their obligations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), federal legislation regulating the collection, dissemination, and use of consumer information from consumer reporting agencies, including certain employee background checks, will change effective January 1, 2013.  Notably, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), which began administering the FCRA earlier this year, will require that employers and credit reporting agencies use the revised versions of three (3) of the forms distributed during the background check process covered by the FCRA (these forms can be found at Appendices K, M and N to 12 C.F.R. part 1022).  While two of these forms (“Notice to Users of Consumer Reports: Obligations of Users Under the FCRA” and “Notice to Furnishers of Information: Obligations of Furnishers”) are distributed by credit reporting agencies, the third form “A Summary of Your Rights Under the FCRA”, must be provided by employers both to employee applicants and existing employees when conducting investigative consumer reports or sending pre-adverse action notices.Continue Reading The New Year Rings In New Changes Under the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act

Once again, highlighting the potential risk to employers of using employee selection tests to filter applicants, the Third Circuit recently enforced an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) subpoena directed to test-maker Kronos, Inc., in a disability discrimination case. EEOC v. Kronos Incorporated, Civ. Act. No. 11-2834 (September 14, 2012, Third Circuit). The involved employer acknowledged that the Customer Service Assessment test created and administered by Kronos had factored into the decision to deny employment to the applicant.Continue Reading Third Circuit Enforces EEOC Subpoena Seeking Test-Maker’s Files on Employee Selection Tests Used by Employer

To prevent job applicants with criminal records from automatic hiring rejection, cities and states are considering and already adopting so-called “Ban the Box” laws and ordinances. Among the states that have adopted such a law are Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New Mexico, and the cities of Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago and Philadelphia. Among the states mulling such legislation are Rhode Island and Nebraska, and the city of Pittsburgh.

This Alert lauds the policy considerations behind “Ban the Box” type of legislation but points out how it can unintentionally create impossible-hiring decisions and pose huge legal risks for employers.

“Ban the Box” legislation, as discussed in the “Philadelphia Joins the Movement To Ban Inquiries into Arrests and Convictions on Employment Applications,” restricts and, in Philadelphia and other locales, limits covered employers from asking about an applicant’s criminal record during the hiring process. The laws in Connecticut, Hawaii, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Massachusetts, and the bill proposed in Rhode Island, forbid covered employers from asking an applicant about a conviction until after assessment of his or her qualifications for the job. Though the laws in Connecticut, Minnesota and New Mexico apply only to public (meaning government) employers, there is mounting support to amend them to cover private employers, as in Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia.Continue Reading The Dangers to U.S. & Worldwide Employers from ‘Ban the Box’ Legislation

On April 13, 2011, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter signed a new city ordinance that bans Philadelphia employers from asking applicants about their convictions during the initial phases of the hiring process and precludes them from ever asking about arrests which failed to result in a conviction. Due to become effective on July 12, 2011, the

EEOC Publishes Long-Awaited Regulations Under the ADA Amendments Act

More than two years after the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act (“ADAAA”) became effective, the EEOC has issued Final Rules and Regulations (“Regulations”) that were published in the March 25, 2011 Federal Register. The Regulations, which become effective May 24, 2011, further demonstrate the ADAAA’s objective

Provided that the bill is signed into law by Governor Corzine, New Jersey employees will be entitled effective July 1, 2009 to collect up to six weeks of paid family temporary disability leave benefits during any 12-month period (42 days for “intermittent leave”) when caring for children, spouses, domestic or civil union partners, or parents