The Mayor of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter, signed an ordinance that soon will prohibit employers from requiring job applicants to disclose their criminal backgrounds until after the first employment interview. Under the new chapter entitled “Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards”, employers are able to perform a background check or request the disclosure of an applicant’s criminal Read more
Foodborne illness is a serious concern especially for the restaurant and food service industry. Although foodborne illnesses can be extremely harmful, many people who contract such an illness do not seek medical attention. Therefore they are not tested and cases of foodborne illness go undiagnosed. It happens quickly; microbes or toxins are swallowed and enter Read more
Three more states, Illinois, Hawaii, and Delaware, have passed new laws that recognize civil unions. These new laws extend all the same legal rights, benefits, protections, and responsibilities of spouses in a marriage to partners of a civil union. Many of those benefits and protections arise under labor and employment laws. Therefore, Illinois, Hawaii, and Delaware Read more
British Columbia and Quebec will both see increases their minimum wage rates beginning May 1, 2011. British Columbia (BC), which went from having Canada’s highest minimum wage in 2001 to having the lowest minimum wage by 2009, will finally see a gradual increase in its minimum wage rate starting May 1, 2011, when it will Read more
Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates state laws, such as California AB 1825, and the federal Title VII Civil Rights Act of 1964. Laws that prohibit sexual harassment are designed to protect the employee, employer, co-workers and customers. The victim or harasser can be male or female and can be of Read more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that it is taking the first step towards conducting surveys regarding the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Given changes in current economic conditions, the surveys are designed to update and expand the DOL’s knowledge about FMLA leave-taking and close current data gaps remaining from previously conducted Read more
District of Columbia’s new “The Right to Breastfeed” poster must be posted by all employers, public and private. Specifically, DC’s Final Rule (§ 4-518.2) requires that employers conspicuously post and maintain in the workplace a notice containing the Office of Human Rights’ information regarding employers’ and employee’s rights and obligations under the employment guidelines adopted Read more
Cal/OSHA, the nation’s leading state agency in workplace safety and health, has implemented updates to its heat safety standard. The amendments strengthen the landmark heat illness prevention standard which was the first of its kind, implemented in 2006. The amendments to the standard, which were effective in late 2010, are now being enforced in 2011. Read more
The U.S. Equal employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) much-anticipated final regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) were published in the Federal Register on March 25, 2011. The new regulations significantly expand the way the term “disability” is interpreted under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), making it easier for individuals to Read more
A controversial legislative bill limiting California employers’ ability to utilize consumer credit reports for relevant employment purposes passed the Assembly on March 22, 2011. The bill, AB 22, prohibits an employer, with the exception of certain financial institutions, from obtaining a consumer credit report for employment purposes unless the information falls under the following: a) Read more
