Workforce Bulletin

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday: This week, we’re focused on California’s array of new and amended laws, including non-competes, employee cannabis usage, minimum wage, and protected time off:

New laws are changing the workplace in California, with looming deadlines for employers to meet. However, what happens in California tends not to stay in California. So, how can employers in California and beyond prepare?

Epstein Becker Green’s David Jacobs and Chelsea Hadaway provide a rundown of some of the new and amended California laws and the preemptive steps ...

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday:  This week, we shed light on the growing issues surrounding electronic employee monitoring, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC’s) disavowal of comments by a former General Counsel (GC) regarding abortion travel benefits, and California’s latest marijuana employment protection law.

On October 8, 2021, the New York State Department of Labor (“NYSDOL”) issued guidance in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs” or the “Guidance”) to assist employers in navigating the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (“MRTA” or the “Act”) and in understanding what they can and cannot do. As we previously reported, the MTRA, enacted on March 31, 2021, legalized recreational cannabis in the State. Of particular importance to employers, the Act amended New York Labor Law Section 201-D (“Section 201-D”) to create new legal protections for ...

As we wrote in our last Marijuana Legalization Rundown, state legislatures across the country have been busy enacting cannabis legalization laws this year.  Along with those laws has come a number of recent court decisions interpreting the application of cannabis legalization laws.  This post summarizes some of the significant decisions issued this year.

California     

On April 28, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted summary judgment to the defendant employer on claims brought under the Fair Employment and Housing Act ...

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 ...

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday:  This week, we look at new Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) COVID-19 vaccine guidance as well as vaccination protocols for multinational workforces.

Employers Adjust to New EEOC Guidance on COVID-19 Vaccines

The EEOC recently updated and expanded its guidance on COVID-19 vaccines and the workplace to cover incentives, accommodations, and mandatory vaccination policies. Attorneys Avi Bernstein and Lauri F. Rasnick explain how the new EEOC guidance impacts employers’ vaccination policies. Read more.

On February 22, 2021, Governor Murphy signed three separate cannabis reform bills into law that formally legalize the use and possession of recreational marijuana in the Garden state: (1) the “New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act” (the “Cannabis Act”) (NJ A21), which legalizes the recreational use and possession of cannabis or cannabis products (collectively “cannabis items”) for adults; (2) a  decriminalization law (NJ A1897), which legalizes the possession of up to six ounces of cannabis and provides for ...