The Rhode Island General Assembly was active during the 2024 legislative session, passing several bills that impact employers and their business practices. Here is a summary of the new laws Rhode Island employers may need to...more
Check out our April Elder Law and Special Needs newsletter! Our legal team explores important topics including beneficiary designations and the recent updates to the Medicaid divisor, which came into effect this month....more
There is a good deal of confusion regarding the proper treatment of domestic employees for wage hour purposes. Well, the New Jersey Legislature has sought to address some of these concerns in the New Jersey Domestic Workers’...more
On January 12, 2024, Governor Phil Murphy signed the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights (S723) into law, representing a landmark victory for labor rights groups across the state. The new law, effective July 2024, extends labor...more
The New Jersey Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights (S723/A822), one of three laws signed in early January relating to protecting immigrants and part of the Murphy administration’s larger effort to build a more inclusive state...more
There are many exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act and an interesting one, one that does not get a lot of attention or “play” is the domestic worker exemption. This exemption applies to someone who works for...more
On January 12, 2024, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed the New Jersey Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act (S-723/A-822) (the “Act”) into law. The new law not only supports domestic workers’ rights and expands their legal...more
Someone who works in the home of their employer as a nanny or in another domestic service role is exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) wage requirements, right? Not according to Blanco v. Samuel, a recent 11th...more
On January 12, 2024, Governor Phil Murphy signed the New Jersey Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act (S-723/A-822), establishing a broad range of rights and employment protections for domestic workers. Domestic workers were...more
On September 30, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed Senate Bill (SB) No. 686, legislation that would have extended California’s existing occupational safety and health laws and regulations to the domestic service...more
On February 16, 2023, California Assembly Member Wendy Carrillo, along with Senator Newman and Assembly Member Haney introduced Senate Bill (SB) 686, which, if passed, would increase the health and safety protections of...more
The Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) issued new rules last week regarding the statutory change to the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, which extends its protections to domestic workers. In a press release, the IDOL’s Acting...more
De conformidad con el artículo 306 del Código Sustantivo del Trabajo en Colombia los empleadores están obligados a pagar a sus empleados, incluyendo a los trabajadores del servicio doméstico, choferes de servicio familiar,...more
A new Chicago ordinance that took effect on Jan. 1 mandates that all employers of nannies, home care employees, and other domestic workers in Chicago must provide them with written contracts. These contracts must include the...more
New Yorkers who employ of domestic workers should note two recent amendments to the New York State Human Rights Law (“NYSHRL”) that went into effect on December 31, 2021, which together extend full protection of the NYSHRL to...more
On December 14, 2021, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors unanimously passed legislation providing domestic workers with paid sick leave – the first of its kind in the United States. The ordinance, called “Domestic Workers’...more
As 2021 quickly comes to a close, we look back at this year’s legislative session, which included several employment-related bills signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, including bills aimed at prohibiting quotas that interfere...more
Most employees in San Francisco (and throughout California) receive one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is now considering an ordinance that would broaden the...more
Our two prior blog posts, found here and here, covered the General Assembly’s Labor and Public Employees Committee’s final flurry of activity of approving and advancing bills out of committee. In addition to the bills that...more
Effective July 1, 2021, Virginia further expands the scope of the Virginia Human Rights Act (VHRA) to prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability. The state also enacted protections and benefits for domestic workers...more
In the recent decision of Commonwealth v. Mason, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that a nanny did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy while working inside the home of her employer. Thus, the employer’s decision...more
Over these last years, there have been a number of lawsuits by domestic employees against their employers and I have defended some of those. They present a unique kind of case as these domestic servants are usually on very...more
California law already prohibits employers from taking certain employment actions against an employee for refusing to work in some circumstances where there is a real or apparent safety hazard to the employee or other...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: When we think of California employers encountering complex issues during the COVID-19 pandemic, images of retail, service, and other types of businesses come to mind. ...more
Effective May 1, 2020, Philadelphia became the tenth jurisdiction to enact employment legislation to protect domestic workers. The Philadelphia Domestic Worker Bill of Rights (DWBR) requires companies and individuals who...more