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by Tara Z. Hall Several changes related to unemployment benefits in Iowa are set to take effect July 1. The changes are seen as beneficial to employers. Unemployment and incarceration An amendment to the Iowa Employment Security Act (IESA) adds a new subsection to the Iowa Code that provides that an employee will be disqualified […]
by Tara Hall and Rebecca Duffy Changes to Iowa’s workers’ compensation law—changes seen as mostly beneficial to employers—are set to take effect July 1. The employer-friendly changes to the state’s workers’ comp law include a new provision classifying shoulder injuries as scheduled-member injuries rather than body-as-a-whole injuries, which force an industrial disability analysis. Another change […]
by Steven L. Brenneman Most employers in Chicago and Cook County will be required to offer paid sick leave beginning July 1. The city of Chicago passed a sick leave ordinance last summer, and Cook County (where Chicago is located) passed a nearly identical law in October. The ordinances apply to all businesses that are […]
The saga of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the Republican plan to repeal and replace key portions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), has been a long and winding one so far. To recap: The original version of the AHCA was introduced in early March. After receiving lukewarm support and a discouraging report from […]
by Kevin C. McCormick On March 20, the Baltimore City Council voted 11-3 to approve a bill that would raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022. If ultimately enacted, the minimum wage would be the highest in Maryland. Under the proposed legislation, the minimum wage for employees working in the city […]
by Bob Kaiser, Daniel O’Toole, and Jeremy Brenner As anticipated, the Missouri Legislature has once again passed a right-to-work law. However, unlike the two prior right-to-work measures passed by the legislature but vetoed by former Governor Jay Nixon, the version passed on February 2 was signed into law by newly elected Governor Eric Greitens on […]
by Steven L. Brenneman The Illinois Freedom to Work Act, which will ban noncompetition agreements for low-wage private-sector employees, goes into effect on January 1. The law defines a “low-wage employee” as an employee who earns the greater of the applicable federal, state, or local minimum wage or $13 per hour. Therefore, the law initially […]
by Cathleen S. Yonahara Freeland Cooper & Foreman LLP California’s equal pay law will provide protections for race and ethnicity as well as gender as of January 1, 2017. Since 1949, California law has prohibited gender-based wage discrimination, and in 2015, that protection was expanded to require equal pay for men and women who perform […]
The minimum wage in California will rise to $10.50 an hour on January 1 for most employers thanks to a measure signed into law in April. Future incremental increases will put the state’s minimum wage at $15 an hour by January 2022 for employers with 26 or more employees. Smaller employers will have more time […]
by Lauren E.M. Russell Changes that will expand the Delaware Discrimination in Employment Act (DDEA) to include discrimination based on family responsibilities and reproductive health decisions are set to take effect on December 30. Under the revised law, it will be unlawful for a covered Delaware employer to discriminate against employees because of their family […]