On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey by holding that the U.S. Constitution does not include a federally-protected right to obtain an abortion and that the question of whether to allow, prohibit, or limit abortion is for the states to determine through each of their political and legislative processes.

The California Employment Development Department, the agency responsible for administering the state’s Paid Family Leave (PFL) benefits program, recently announced a grant program to help small businesses offset the costs associated with employees taking paid family leave.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that it will terminate its temporary policy for expired List B documents on May 1, 2022. As you may recall, this temporary policy was put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting difficulties employees faced with identity document renewals, as required by Form I-9. Since most document-issuing authorities have reopened or now offer adequate alternatives to in-person renewals, DHS has decided to end this flexibility.

On April 4, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued a decision in Reuter v. City of Methuen, 489 Mass. 465, (2022), holding that employers are liable for three times the wages owed when they fail to pay wages timely pursuant to the Massachusetts Wage Act (Wage Act). According to the SJC, treble damages are mandated regardless of the length of the delay in payment, the intent of the employer, or whether the employer paid the employee prior to a complaint being filed.

On March 22, 2022, the New York City Commission on Human Rights (NYCCHR) issued a fact sheet providing guidance on New York City’s newly enacted salary transparency law, which we reported on in February. The new law makes it an unlawful discriminatory practice for New York City employers with four or more employees (including independent contractors) to advertise a job, promotion or transfer opportunity for a position located within New York City without including a “good faith” minimum and maximum salary .

In an effort to achieve greater pay equity, New York City is following a growing legislative trend by enacting a new salary transparency law. Last December, the New York City Council passed a bill, amending the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) by requiring New York City employers to include minimum and maximum salary information in job postings for positions located within New York City. The bill lapsed into law on January 15, 2022 and goes into effect on May 15, 2022.

Effective January 1, 2022, a new California law imposes criminal penalties on employers who intentionally withhold wages and tips from their employees. The law was passed on September 27, 2021, when California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into effect Assembly Bill 1003, making an employer’s intentional theft of wages - in an amount greater than nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) from any one employee, or two thousand three hundred fifty dollars ($2,350) in the aggregate from two or more employees, in any consecutive 12-month period - punishable as grand theft.

Recently, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed into law House Bill No. 6380, “An Act Concerning the Disclosure of Salary Range for a Vacant Position,” (the Act). The Act amends the state’s current pay equity laws by requiring Connecticut employers to disclose the wage range of vacant positions to applicants and current employees and by modifying the prohibition against sex-based compensation discrimination. The Act goes into effect on October 1, 2021.