The Department of Labor (DOL) has published a final rule revising its tipped employee regulations. The final rule was scheduled to take effect March 1, 2021, but the DOL has since pushed back the effective date to April 30, 2021.

The city of Santa Rosa (CA) has approved an emergency ordinance that temporarily reinstates a requirement for employers to provide paid sick leave to employees for reasons related to COVID-19. This leave requirement is in effect from February 2, 2021 through March 31, 2021.

In March 2020, the State of New York enacted legislation (Senate Bill 8091) that provides paid or unpaid leave to employees subject to a quarantine or isolation order as a result of COVID-19. On February 2021, the state provided situational guidance for employees subject to multiple quarantine or isolation orders, for when an employee tests positive following their quarantine, and for when an employer mandates that an employee stay home due to potential exposure.

New Orleans has enacted an ordinance (Calendar Number 33,184) that expressly prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their protected cultural hairstyles.

Kentucky has enacted legislation (House Bill 1) that would require employers to create and post a plan for COVID-19 if they wish to provide in-person services. House Bill 1 was set to take effect immediately after the legislature overrode a veto by the governor, but a court temporarily blocked the implementation of the law while a legal challenge from the governor is heard.

Arizona has enacted legislation (House Bill 2045) that makes clear that discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related conditions is prohibited by state law.

Over the years, employees have filed complaints alleging their employers violated existing nondiscrimination laws by prohibiting them from wearing certain hairstyles. Courts have generally been split on whether restricting certain hairstyles violates laws prohibiting racial discrimination. In response to these cases, several jurisdictions have passed laws that expressly prohibit hairstyle discrimination. Below is a list of locations where these laws have been enacted along with guidelines for workplace grooming and appearance standards.

When an employee is injured in the workplace it can negatively affect many aspects of your business. There are the direct costs of workers’ compensation, damage to equipment and product, and lost productivity. There are also much larger indirect costs including time required to hire and train a new employee, reduced employee morale, and potential negative public relations.

Embracing diversity is a cornerstone of success, leading us to explore how different opinions, perspectives and points of view shape our business. Recently, we asked you to join us on a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion journey through a valuable Speaker Series (which you can watch here) and are now excited to announce our latest resource: The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Toolkit. This toolkit is designed to provide you guidance for diversity awareness, overlay tools to evaluate your organizational strategy and connect you to trusted resources in order to support advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at your company. Reach out to your HR Business Partner for a copy or to have more in-depth discussions on building a diverse and inclusive culture.