Finding it wholly inconsistent with the statute and the regulation it purports to interpret, the Ninth Circuit, in Marsh v. J. Alexander’s, LLC, held invalid the United States Department of Labor’s “80/20” tip credit rule, or “20% Rule,” which limits the availability of the tip credit when tipped employees spend more than 20% of their time performing non-tip generating duties.

California became the first state to explicitly affirm the rights of immigrant workers through the passage of a provision that imposes an affirmative obligation on California employers to provide employees notification that the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has determined they are lacking work authorization. 

California continues its expansion of equal pay protections with the enactment of Assembly Bill 168, which prohibits employers from seeking, considering, and relying on an applicant’s salary history when determining whether to offer employment to an applicant or what salary to offer. 

December 1, 2017 is the proposed deadline for affected employers to electronically submit injury and illness records to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA may still change the requirements in the final rule; however, affected employers should prepare to meet the proposed deadline. OSHA has set up a website, called the Injury Tracking Application (ITA), for affected employers to electronically submit their data.

Effective January 1, 2018, Vermont employers will be required to provide reasonable accommodations to employees for their pregnancy related conditions.  

Governor Jerry Brown signed the New Parent Leave Act into law, which requires employers with 20 or more employees to provide up to 12 weeks of job-protected parental leave to bond with a new child within one year of the child’s birth, adoption, or foster care placement.

Beginning January 1, 2018, an employee who has been employed with his/her employer for at least 90 days and is a victim of an act of domestic violence or whose family or household member is a victim of an act of domestic violence, will be entitled to leave and reasonable accommodations. 

The Pregnant Women in the Workplace Act, which took effect on October 1, 2017, amends the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act (CFEPA) to significantly enhance existing anti-discrimination protections for pregnant employees.