Oregon has become the first state in the nation to regulate employer scheduling practices in the food service, hospitality, and retail industries. The new law, Senate Bill 828, will take effect on July 1, 2018.

Effective immediately, Oregon’s overtime law has been clarified to provide relief to non-union employers operating mills, factories or other manufacturing facilities. It has also been revised, effective January 1, 2018, to limit the number of weekly hours employees in such establishments may work. 

Putting an end to an employer’s previous conundrum of determining what constitutes “recently” separated when evaluating a former employee’s request to review his or her personnel file, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that terminated employees are not entitled to inspect their personnel files. 

With the passage of the Healthy Starts Act, Washington has expanded the rights of pregnant employees to receive reasonable accommodations in the workplace.  

According to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the mortgage underwriters in the matter of McKeen-Chaplin v. Provident Savings Bank do not qualify for the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (“FLSA”) administrative exemption and must be paid overtime. The Court’s ruling serves as a reminder of the importance of an employee’s primary duties in determining the application of an exemption.  

In an effort to reduce pay gaps between genders, Delaware has enacted a pay history inquiry ban that prohibits employers from screening job applicants based on their salary history and asking a current or former employer about an applicant’s compensation history.