Last week, Governor JB Pritzker signed into law several bills that significantly amend the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA). As a result of these amendments, Illinois employers should expect an uptick in discrimination cases proceeding through state courts and agencies.

Longer Statute of Limitations Period

Bradford J. Kelley and Michael J. Lotito discuss key steps to consider when business leaders work with their teams and HR departments to develop political speech policies and enforcement strategies.

Chief Executive

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Judy Iriye, Kate Pitzak and Chase Parongao discuss Hawaii’s Captive Audience Prohibition Act (SB 2715), which restricts employers from requiring employees to attend employer-sponsored meetings.

SHRM

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Javier Thibault weighs in on the Spanish parliament’s recent labor reform agreement and its effects on the recovery and the labor market. 

Confilegal

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As many states are raising the minimum wage for state employees, Shannon Meade explains that minimum wage increases will differ based on where the employees are located.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Michael Lotito weighs in on a New York measure that would establish a policy-making council that would set rules on pay, safety and working conditions "as reasonably necessary" to protect worker welfare.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Diana Dickinson and Montgomery Paek write about how employers can protect themselves against employment law class actions and discuss a few issues in Nevada that have sparked significant class action litigation and appellate review.

Clark County Bar Association

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Shannon Meade talks about how the pandemic has upended the labor market, pushing employees to realize the benefits of higher pay and forcing employers to offer better pay and flexibility.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Lisa (Lee) Schreter weighs in on employers paying employees in cryptocurrencies and the legal questions that may raise.

Bloomberg Law

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As a result of subcontracting reform, Jorge Sales Boyoli explains that some companies want to distribute profits under conservative criteria and plan to compensate by distributing an additional bonus. 

El Diario Mexico

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Jorge Sales Boyoli weighs in on a reform that was almost passed in Mexico, which “violates the most sacred thing that a worker has: his salary.” 

El Heraldo de Mexico

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Jeanine Conley Daves discusses the fact that women still, in the year 2022, are rarely compensated on par with their male counterparts and suggests solutions for workplace parity.

Philadelphia Business Journal

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Jorge Sales Boyoli talks about the outsourcing law came into force last year, who will receive profits and the new challenges that have come with it. 

El Heraldo de México

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Jorge Sales Boyoli discusses the Participation of Workers in the Utilities (PTU) in Mexico and how it is affecting employers and employees this year.

El Heraldo de Aguascalientes

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William Foster and Katie Towery share the changes in the legal landscape and how it could result in manufacturers’ increased liability for workplace accidents. 

Industry Today

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Rhonda Levy and George Vassos discuss a recent British Columbia Supreme Court case that directed an employee’s CERB payment to be deducted from wrongful dismissal damage awards.

Human Resources Director Canada

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Eli Freedberg explains that there are lots of gray areas for employers in a New York City law that requires them to post pay ranges in their job ads.

Bloomberg Law

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Eli Freedberg discusses New York’s controversial new pay transparency law.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Lee Schreter and Justin Brown suggest four practical recommendations for companies that opt to issue crypto outright in connection with employees’ wages.

The Fashion Law

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Devjani Mishra, Barry Hartstein and Michael Lotito provide insight into the findings of Littler’s Annual Employer Survey and several workplace issues and the fast-changing regulations facing employers. (Subscription required.)

Human Resource Executive

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Rhonda Levy and George Vassos explain Ontario’s Election Act, under which every employee who is qualified to vote is entitled to three consecutive hours to vote while the polls are open.

Human Resources Director Canada

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Iván López García de la Riva discusses Spain’s plan to raise severance payments in certain situations. 

CincoDías

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Lee Schreter comments on why raising the overtime salary threshold might not be a good idea with a recession on the way.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Lee Schreter comments on the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed overtime rule, which is tentatively slated to be released in October, and the Fair Labor Standards Act’s independent contractor rule.

SHRM Online

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Shannon Meade talks about states implementing minimum wage increases, increases in employers’ total compensation packages and the trend in “unretirements.”

HR Dive

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Paul Piccigallo talks about considerations for employers when raising minimum wage in the midst of rising inflation.

SHRM Online

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David Carvalho Martins answers questions about the payment of remuneration – or benefits – in cryptocurrencies. 

Human Resources Portugal

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Melissa Cee and Erin Webber discuss hiring the sixth shareholder at Littler – Noah Garber – since July as part of Littler’s new talent strategy that the firm began developing last year. 

The Recorder

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Michael Lotito talks about the fifth-annual Labor Day Report from Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute, which examined the state of the labor market and several impending worker-friendly changes to state and federal workplace policy.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Denise Visconti offers tips to help employers navigate California’s SB 1162, which will require employers to disclose median and mean hourly rates and pay information on contractors, starting in May 2023.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Michael Lotito weighs in on the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division’s key proposals and nominations.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Claire Deason weighs in on whether employers are obligated to pay for remote employees' commutes into work, business expenses and paid sick time.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Sebastian Chilco and Wendy Buckingham discuss a new San Francisco law that aims to increase income and employment security for private-sector employees when they perform military service.

SHRM Online

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Teresa Trigueros talks about formulas companies can use to balance wage increases, as long as they do not cross certain insurmountable limits or requirements that are conventionally or legally established.

El Pais

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Joy Rosenquist offers employers tips to manage compliance challenges that may arise from California’s new regulations that are designed to increase pay transparency.

WorldatWork

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The state of epidemic emergency in Poland will be lifted on July 1, 2023, and Paweł Sych explains how this will affect workers and employers.

interia biznes

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While significant bills impacting Connecticut employers were signed into law, proposed employer mandates on pay transparency, paid sick leave, and predictive scheduling failed to gain the necessary votes for passage in 2023. Here are some of the year’s notable legislative developments.

What Passed . . .

Effective October 1, 2023, unless otherwise noted:

The First Special Session of the 131^st Maine Legislature included debate about more than 2,000 bills. Many that were adopted will impact employers in the Pine Tree State. Below is a brief summary of important employment law changes enacted this session. 

An Act to Create the Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave Benefits Program

The budget signed by Maine Governor Janet Mills on July 11, 2023, included funding for one of the broadest and most generous paid family and medical leave programs in the country.

Sara Olabarría explains how courts determine whether stress is the cause of a work accident. 

El País

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On August 8, 2023, the Governor of Puerto Rico signed into law Act No. 85-2023, effective immediately. The statute amends Puerto Rico’s Workers’ Compensation Act by further incentivizing safe workplaces.

Johane Severin says a few of New York’s new employment laws serve to protect the public from losing rights and protecting people who don’t have the same access to resources as others have.

International Employment Lawyer

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Jeff Nowak discusses the problems that negative favoritism in a department can cause if it is not corrected.

SHRM Online

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With 2023 in the rearview mirror, Connecticut employers may want to confirm they have implemented the necessary changes to address legislative developments that became effective January 1, 2024.

Connecticut Minimum Wage

Alex MacDonald explains the key questions in the first test of a National Labor Relations Board ruling that threatens to make employers pay more to workers whose rights they violate.

Law360 Employment Authority

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James A. Paretti Jr. says the DOL’s new overtime rule is likely to face a legal challenge, so employers should start reviewing their workforces but stop short of implementing changes right away.

Law360 Employment Authority

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Stephen T. Melnick discusses the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA)’s revised workers’ compensation notice for employees, which Massachusetts employers will start using Sept. 16, 2024.

SHRM

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On January 8, 2021, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) issued its final rule modifying the calculation of withdrawal liability by multiemployer pension plans.  This final rule amends the agency’s regulations on allocating unfunded vested benefits to withdrawing employers (29 C.F.R. § 4211) and notice, collection, and redetermination of withdrawal liability (29 C.F.R. § 4219).

House Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) recently introduced legislation that seeks to provide aid to multiemployer pension plans (MEPs) facing insolvency. Entitled the Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act (EPPRA), the bill would fund this aid directly from the U.S. Treasury.