Dear %%FirstName%% %%LastName%%:

Here’s what’s new this week on HR.BLR.com^®:

Recent/Upcoming Compliance Dates

• July 2, 2019: Under the amended Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act, New Jersey employers are prohibited from taking any adverse employment action against an employee who is a registered qualifying patient based solely on the employee’s status as a registrant.
• August 29, 2019: Legislative Bill 217 prohibits Nebraska employers from discharging or otherwise retaliating against employees who have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed specific wage or comparative compensation information. The new law applies to all Nebraska employers that have 15 or more employees for each working day in 20 or more calendar weeks during the current or preceding calendar year.
• September 1, 2019: Colorado employers with 11 or more employees are prohibited from stating in a job advertisement or on a job application that a person with a criminal history may not apply; and inquiring into, or requiring disclosure of, a job applicant’s criminal history on a job application form (CO Rev. Stat. Sec. 8-2-130).
• September 1, 2019: The Clarke-Figures Equal Pay Act prohibits Alabama employer from paying an employee at a wage rate lower than the rate paid to employees of another sex or race for equal work within the same establishment on jobs requiring equal skill, effort, education, experience, and responsibility that are performed under similar working conditions. Employers are also prohibited from refusing to interview, hire, promote, or employ a job applicant because the applicant does not provide his or her wage history.
• September 17, 2019: A new law prohibits Maine employers from using or inquiring about a job applicant’s compensation history (ME Rev. Stat. Tit. 26 Sec. 628-A). Evidence of unlawful employment discrimination under the Maine Human Rights Act will include an employer’s inquiring, directly or indirectly, about a job applicant’s compensation history (ME Rev. Stat. Tit. 5 Sec. 4577). Prohibited inquiries include seeking the compensation history from the applicant or the applicant’s current or former employer.
• September 29, 2019: Illinois employers are prohibited from pay differentials based on sex or race (African American) for the same or substantially similar work requiring substantially similar skill, effort, and responsibility.
• September 30, 2019: Deadline for employers to submit Component 2 of the EEO-1, pay data report. Employers required to make EEO-1 reports are to submit the data for 2017 and 2018 as part of their annual reports.

Be sure to check HR.BLR.com’s training section for all the latest training materials.