Workforce Bulletin

Election Day is Tuesday, November 5. During this election season, employers may question whether the law requires them to allow employees time off to vote, often referred to as “voting leave”, and if so, whether such leave is paid. Perhaps just as urgently, employers may need to manage workplace political talk and potential consequences.

The short answer about voting leave is the same lawyers often give: it depends! Most states and many local jurisdictions have their own laws addressing voting leave and related rights. This article is not a comprehensive, state-by-state guide, and employers should check applicable laws in their jurisdictions when in doubt. Instead, this overview is a reminder of potential issues and best practices to ensure a safe and legally sound workplace in the days before and after Election Day.

Voting Leave

State and local laws on voting leave impose varying obligations on employers. Employers should review the applicable state laws and regulations of every jurisdiction in which they have employees. To highlight a few:

• California: if an employee doesn’t have sufficient time outside of working hours to vote, the employee may take off enough working time that, when added to the voting time available outside of working hours, will enable the employee to vote. Up to two hours of working time off must be without loss of pay. The time off can be at the start or end of the working shift. If the employee knows in advance that time off will be necessary to vote, the employee must give the employer at least two working days’ notice. Note that the law requires employers to post a notice to employees advising them of their rights regarding voting leave.

In a recent decision affirming summary judgment in favor of defendant Human Resources Agency of New Britain, Inc. (the “Agency”), the Connecticut Appellate Court (decision.pdf) provided employers with useful guidance about managing disabled employees who are also qualified medical marijuana users, and appropriately requiring reasonable suspicion drug testing.

Background

In early 2018, the Agency hired Alyssa Bartolotta (“Bartolotta”) as a teaching assistant in its early childhood division.  As part of her onboarding, Bartolotta acknowledged receipt of an ...

On June 23, 2021, Governor Lamont signed Senate Bill 1202, a special session bill implementing the state budget for fiscal years 2022 and 2023.  Included in the 837-page bill is a requirement for employers to provide employees with two hours unpaid time off to vote on the day of a regular state election.  In the case of a special election for U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, state senator, or state representative, the new requirement to provide time off applies only to employees who are "electors" (meaning already registered to vote). Thus, non-registered voters are not entitled to ...

There has been a recent flurry of movement – both in the courts and in state legislatures – on the marijuana law front across several states.  As we previously reported, on February 22, 2021, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed three separate cannabis reform bills into law (NJ A21, NJ A 1897, and NJ A5342/NJ S3454), formally legalizing the use and possession of recreational marijuana in the Garden State.  The new laws contain express workplace-related provisions that impact New Jersey employers by establishing non-discrimination rules for recreational cannabis users or ...

On May 3, 2021, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced a significant easing of COVID-19-related capacity restrictions on businesses in their respective states. Governor Ned Lamont of Connecticut, who joined the other two governors in the announcement, had previously ordered a comparable lifting of capacity restrictions in his state.

Specifically, effective May 19, New Jersey and New York will remove most capacity limitations on businesses, which are currently based on a percentage of maximum capacity, and replace them with limitations ...

Our colleagues Denise Dadika and Vidaur Durazo of Epstein Becker Green have a new post on the Health Employment and Labor blog that will be of interest to our readers: "Changing Floors: Minimum Wage Increases for Health Leaders to Consider".

The following is an excerpt:

2021 is set to be a landmark year for the number of jurisdictions raising wage floors across the country. According to a National Employment Law Project report, as of January 1, 2021, 20 states and 32 municipalities raised their minimum wage. By the end of 2021, the report tracks that as many as 24 states and 50 ...

On March 4, 2021, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed House Bill 6515, an “Act Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” also known as the CROWN Act (the “Act”).  This legislation bans natural hair discrimination in the workplace by amending Connecticut’s anti-discrimination statute to define “race” as being “inclusive of ethnic traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles.”  (Conn. Gen. Stat. 46a-51(23)-(24)).   “Protective hairstyles” is defined to include, but not be ...

In 2019, the Connecticut legislature passed sweeping changes to the state’s existing Family and Medical Leave Act, about which we previously reported here.  One of the most significant changes is that beginning in 2022, eligible employees will be entitled to paid family and medical leave.  Although the paid leave requirement does not take effect until next year, there are a number of 2021 deadlines about which employers should be aware.

Website and Mandatory Employer Registration

The 2019 amendments to the PFMLA created the Connecticut Paid Leave Authority (the ...

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Ned Lamont declared a public health and civil preparedness emergency in Connecticut.  In connection with this declaration, Governor Lamont has issued numerous Executive Orders throughout the pandemic.  The Executive Orders were set to expire on September 9, 2020, if they were not terminated earlier.

On September 1, 2020, Governor Lamont extended the existing public health and civil preparedness emergency until February 9, 2021. In addition, on September 8, 2020, Governor Lamont issued Executive Order 9A, which reissues and extends ...

The Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (“CHRO”) recently extended the deadline for employers to provide sexual harassment training for their employees, from October 1, 2020, to January 1, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CHRO announcement is available here.

The CHRO website states that this is a blanket extension, and employers do not need to make a request to obtain the extension. Previously, the CHRO announced a 90-day extension for employers, under limited circumstances, which required employers to make a written request to the CHRO seeking an ...

On May 28, 2019, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed Public Act 19-4, An Act Increasing the Minimum Fair Wage (the “Act”), which gradually increases the minimum wage in Connecticut over the next several years.  The first increase took place on October 1, 2019, when the minimum wage increased to $11.00 per hour. The next increase will take effect on September 1, 2020, when Connecticut’s minimum wage will increase to $12.00 per hour.

Additional increases will take place on an annual basis:

• $13.00 per hour on August 1, 2021
• $14.00 per hour on July 1, 2022
• $15.00 per hour on June 1 ...

On July 24, 2020, Connecticut Governor Lamont issued Executive Order JJJ (“E.O. JJJ”), which creates a presumption that employees who contracted COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic contracted it at work and are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits.

Pursuant to E.O. JJJ, there shall be a “rebuttable presumption” that an employee, who makes a claim for benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act, and who missed one or more days of work between March 10, 2020 and May 20, 2020, inclusive, due to a diagnosis of COVID-19 or symptoms that were diagnosed as ...

As employers begin to develop and implement plans for reopening and staff return to the workplace, they should be mindful of industry-specific requirements and guidance, which may apply where they operate.  Following are some examples that typify the sorts of industry-related requirements various states and municipalities have implemented:

• Connecticut’s reopening requirements for hotels and restaurants overlap, but are not identical. For example, both hotels and indoor sections of restaurants may welcome guests at up to 50 percent capacity, and both require that ...

On June 7, 2020, Governor Lamont issued Sector Rules that Connecticut businesses must follow in order to open during Phase 2 of the state’s reopening plan.

Phase 2 (which began on June 17, 2020) includes the following sectors:

• Amusement parks
• Hotels/lodging
• Restaurants (indoor)
• Museums, zoos and aquariums
• Indoor recreation (e.g. bowling, movie theaters etc.)
• Libraries
• Outdoor events
• Personal services (e.g. nail salons, tattoo parlors, etc.)
• Sports and fitness facilities (e.g. gyms, fitness centers, pools, etc.)
• Film, television and digital media production

Introduction

On April 30, 2020, Governor Ned Lamont released a four-stage plan to reopen business in Connecticut when the following conditions were met: (1) sustained 14-day decline in hospitalizations; (2) adequate testing capacity; (3) contact tracing system in place; and (4) sufficient personal protection equipment (“PPE”).  Governor Lamont identified May 20 as the tentative reopening date.

Meanwhile, on May 9, the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (“DECD”) issued detailed rules for the business sectors that are permitted to reopen as ...

Effective April 17, 2020, the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) significantly revised its recently issued Safe Workplace Rules for Essential Employers (the “Rules”).  Specifically, the Rules have been updated to include a requirement that all employees of essential businesses wear masks while working.  The DECD’s original rules did not contain any provision regarding masks.  Now, the DECD has significantly modified the mask requirements as follows:

• Employees of essential businesses are required to wear a “mask or other cloth ...

The Connecticut Department of Labor issued guidance entitled “Frequently Asked Questions About Coronavirus (COVID-19) For Workers and Employers” (last updated on March 20, 2020 (the “Guidance”).  The Guidance provides no new legal requirements or amendments to existing laws, but instead, analyzes issues raised by the COVID-19 pandemic under existing laws in the areas of unemployment insurance, paid sick leave, wage and hour law and the Connecticut Family and Medical Leave Act (“CTFMLA”).

Unemployment Insurance Benefits for Shut Downs and Quarantines

The ...

This Employment Law This Week^® Monthly Rundown discusses the most important developments for employers in July 2019. Both the video and the extended audio podcast are now available.

This episode includes:

• State Legislation Heats Up
• NLRB Overturns Another Long-Standing Precedent
• SCOTUS October Term 2018 Wraps Up
• Tip of the Week: How inclusion and trust can increase innovation in the workplace

See below to watch the full episode - click here for story details, the video, and the extended audio podcast.

Stay tuned: Sign-up for email notifications and subscribe to the ...

Our colleagues Frances L. Kenajian and Nathaniel M. Glasser at Epstein Becker Green has a post on the Technology Employment Law Blog that will be of interest to our readers in the retail industry: "Summer Networking Events: Workplace Harassment Can Happen Outside the Workplace."

Following is an excerpt:

Under federal law, as well as the law of many states, cities, and municipalities, sexual harassment is considered a type of prohibited gender discrimination. New York City and New York State now require employers to provide their employees with anti-sexual ...

With warmer weather quickly approaching, many employers are beginning to schedule happy hours, parties, softball games, and other off-site events that employees (and interns) look forward to attending. However, at offsite work events, employees might forget—or might not realize in the first place—that they are still in a workplace setting. This could result in unwelcome behavior, such as sexual harassment, which could leave an employer open to liability.

Under federal law, as well as the law of many states, cities, and municipalities, sexual harassment is considered a type ...

[Update: The measure was signed into law by Governor Mills on April 12, 2019.]

On April 2, 2019, the Maine Legislature celebrated Equal Pay Day by passing two significant amendments (“Amendments”) to the Maine Equal Pay Act. If, as expected, Governor Janet Mills signs the measure, certain salary history inquiries and employer policies prohibiting employee wage discussions will be deemed “evidence of discrimination.”  While the Amendments do not directly “prohibit” such inquiries and policies, in effect, they operate as a ban on such conduct.

Specifically, the ...

Our colleague Tzvia Feiertag at Epstein Becker Green has a post on the Health Employment and Labor Blog that will be of interest to our readers in the financial services industry: “NJ Employers and Out-of-State Employers with NJ Residents Prepare: State Updates Website on Employer Reporting for New Jersey Health Insurance Mandate.”

Following is an excerpt:

As employers are wrapping up their reporting under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) for the 2018 tax year (filings of Forms 1094-B/C and 1095-C/B with the IRS are due by April 1, 2019, if filing electronically), they ...

In a potentially significant decision following the New Jersey Supreme Court’s ruling in Hargrove v. Sleepy’s, LLC, 220 N.J. 289 (2015), a New Jersey appellate panel held, in Garden State Fireworks, Inc. v. New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (“Sleepy’s”), Docket No. A-1581-15T2, 2017 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 2468 (App. Div. Sept. 29, 2017), that part C of the “ABC” test does not require an individual to operate an independent business engaged in the same services as that provided to the putative employer to be considered an independent ...

Equal pay for equal work has been required for many years, but, as of late, this rather static requirement has become the focal point of regulators, state and local governments, and activists. In order to achieve equality in compensation, the efforts are becoming increasingly creative with new pushes for transparency, privacy, and/or disclosures. Financial services firms are often the target and should not only be aware of these innovative measures and requirements but also consider what proactive actions to put in place.

Eliminating Pay Secrecy

The National Labor Relations ...