Year in Review: 2014 State and Local Employment Laws

Unlike Congress, which has generally been unable to pass legislation this year, states, cities, counties and other localities have been busy picking up the slack by introducing bills and enacting laws affecting the employment relationship. Many of these laws favor employees and require employers to create new policies, procedures and other employment documentation, or at the very least, alter existing policies, procedures and documents.

Although legislation on the federal level has been introduced on several of the topics addressed below, states and other local jurisdictions have taken the lead in actually passing such laws. This article focuses on those pertaining to the criminal backgrounds of employees and applicants, paid and unpaid sick leave, the permissibility of credit checks as part of an employer’s background screening process and required accommodations for pregnant workers.