Last year was a relatively quiet one when it came to key pieces of employment law (for the full summary of what happened, see the foot of this article).
But what’s on the agenda at the state and federal level that HR professionals will need to be aware of?
Here’s our round-up of what you need to be looking out for in 2024 from an employment law perspective.
In the US, Illinois has become the third state to pass a mandatory paid time off law called the “Paid Leave for All Workers Act”, which grants employees a minimum of 40 hours of paid time off per year for any reason.
Only Nevada and Maine provide similarly sweeping mandatory paid leave.
This new law, which would be effective from 1 January 2024, will have a major impact on the landscape of paid leave in Illinois.
SB 723: Broadening re-hiring rights for laid-off employees
Current law requires employers to offer re-employment to qualified former employees as positions become available, so long as the former employees were: (1) employed for at least six months in the year preceding January 1, 2020; and (2) were laid-off for a reason related to the pandemic. SB 723 broadens the pool of covered employees by amending the first prong, applying it to any employee who was ever employed for at least six months, within any timeframe, and laid off on or after March 4, 2020.
AB 518: Paid Family Leave benefits:
AB 518 broadens the definition of a “family member” so that employees will be eligible for wage replacement benefit payments when they take time off work to care for a seriously ill “designated person.” To become effective from 1st July 2024.
SB 848: Leave for reproductive loss
SB 848 entitles employees to five days of leave for loss related to reproduction or adoption. The bill makes it unlawful for an employer to refuse an employee’s request for up to five days of leave following a reproductive loss event including but not limited to: miscarriage, unsuccessful assisted reproduction like IVF, or failed adoption.
SB 699 and AB 1076: Non-compete agreements
SB 699 (signed into law on September 1, 2023), effective January 1, 2024. This prohibits employers from entering into or enforcing non-compete agreements of any kind regardless of the employee’s work location or when and where the agreement was entered into. If forced to sign a non-compete agreements, employees can seek injunctive relief or damages.
SB 700: Protection for prior marijuana use
This bill makes it unlawful for an employer to request information about an applicant’s prior cannabis use. SB 700 also specifies that the law against discrimination based on marijuana use applies to information an employer may obtain about prior cannabis use from a person’s criminal history, unless otherwise permitted by law.
SB 553: Workplace violence protection
California became the first state in the country to require employers to develop, implement and maintain an “effective” workplace violence prevention plan, train employees, and create and maintain extensive records regarding workplace violence, beginning July 1, 2024.
SB: 616: Paid Sick Leave Expansion
SB 616 amends the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 to increase the amount of paid sick time employees can receive each year from three to five days (or 40 hours) for full-time employees. The law also increases the accrual threshold from six days (or 48 hours) to 10 days (or 80 hours).
Federal PUMP Act:
The 2023 federal omnibus spending act also included the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (“PUMP” Act). This law expanded the existing lactation accommodations for nursing mothers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The city of Chicago widened the definition of harassment and introduced new requirements for annual training and written anti-harassment policies containing prescribed information.
New York State updated its model sexual harassment policy, which employers must adopt or exceed.
Both the US and EU began preparing a voluntary code of conduct for AI.
In New York City (effective from July of this year) it became unlawful for an employer or an employment agency to use automated employment decision tools (AEDT) to screen candidates for recruitment or promotion unless a bias audit has been conducted first.
California:
New York:
Washington:
Rhode Island:
Illinois:
New Jersey:
