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Quick Hits
- New state laws on paid leaves, discrimination protections, child labor, medical marijuana, and workplace safety are set to take effect on January 1, 2025.
- Employers may want to take note of these new laws and compliance obligations.
California
California has several laws set to take effect on January 1, 2025, including laws expanding protections against unlawful discrimination; prohibiting mandatory workplace meetings to discuss political or religious matters, including union organizing; and allowing employers to obtain temporary restraining orders (TROs) against individuals who subject employees to unreasonable harassment. More information can be found here.
Connecticut
Paid Sick Leave—House Bill (HB) 5005
On May 28, 2024, Governor Ned Lamont signed legislation (HB5005) to expand the state’s paid sick leave law to cover all employees except seasonal employees who work 120 days or fewer in a year. On January 1, 2025, the sick leave law will apply to employers with twenty-five or more employees working in the state of Connecticut. Under HB5005, paid sick leave requirements will then expand on January 1, 2026, to employers with eleven or fewer employees and then on January 1, 2027, to employers with one or more employees. The Connecticut Department of Labor has published guidance for employers and employees on the new sick leave requirements.
Delaware
Paid Leave Payroll Contributions Start
Effective January 1, 2025, covered employers must start contributing payroll deductions to fund the Delaware Paid Family and Medical Leave program, which was established in 2022. The first due date is April 30, 2025.
Illinois
Caregiver Protections—House Bill (HB) 2161
HB2161, signed by Governor JB Pritzker on August 9, 2024, will make it unlawful for employers to discriminate against or harass employees based on their family caregiving responsibilities. The legislation adds “family responsibilities” as a protected class under the Illinois Human Rights Act, making it unlawful to refuse to hire, deny a promotion, or discharge an employee based on the employee’s “actual or perceived” responsibility to provide “personal care” to a family member. The changes will take effect on January 1, 2025.
Reproductive Health Decisions—House Bill (HB) 4867
HB4867 will prohibit Illinois employers from discriminating against employees for actual or perceived “reproductive health decisions,” amending the Illinois Human Rights Act. The law, which was signed into law on August 7, 2024, defines “reproductive health decisions” broadly as “a person’s decisions regarding the person’s use of: contraception, fertility or sterilization care; assisted reproductive technologies; miscarriage management care; healthcare related to the continuation or termination of pregnancy; or prenatal, intranatal, or postnatal care.” The changes take effect January 1, 2025.
Child Labor—Senate Bill (SB) 3646
On July 30, 2024, Illinois enacted SB3646 to repeal and replace the existing child labor law. The new law introduces changes to the hours minors are allowed to work, specifies additional prohibited occupations for minors, and adds a provision prohibiting discrimination and retaliation. These changes take effect on January 1, 2025.
Ban on Mandatory Workplace Meetings—Senate Bill (SB) 3649
In July 2024, Illinois enacted SB3649, known as the “Worker Freedom of Speech Act,” which will prohibit employers from holding mandatory meetings concerning religious or political matters, including discussions on union representation. The law will take effect on January 1, 2025.
Pay Transparency—House Bill (HB) 3129
HB3129 amends the Illinois Equal Pay Act of 2003 to require employers with at least fifteen employees to include “pay scale and benefits” in job postings beginning January 1, 2025. The law, which Governor Pritzker signed in August 2023, defines “pay scale and benefits” broadly as “the wage or salary, or wage or salary range, and a general description of the benefits and other compensation … that the employer reasonably expects in good faith to offer for the position.”
Workplace Privacy—Senate Bill (SB) 0508
Governor Pritzker signed into law SB0508 on August 9, 2024, which will create several employment protections for individuals when employers use the federal E-Verify system beginning on January 1, 2025. Employers that continue to use federal E-Verify must incorporate new requirements into their employment verification practices so that they do not impose work authorization requirements greater than those required under federal law.
Kentucky
Medical Marijuana—Senate Bill (SB) 47
Governor Andy Beshear signed into law SB47, legalizing marijuana or cannabis use for medical purposes. The program will take effect on January 1, 2025, and allow individuals with certain qualifying medical conditions and physician authorization to apply for an approved state medical marijuana patient identification card.
Louisiana
Medical Marijuana—House Bill (HB) 376 and Senate Bill (SB) 228
Effective January 1, 2025, HB 376 and SB 228, signed into law in June 2024 and May 2024, respectively, extend the provisions of Louisiana’s marijuana program until July 1, 2030.
Maine
Payroll Deductions Start—Paid Family and Medical Leave Program
Payroll deductions for Maine’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Program (MPFML) will start on January 1, 2025. The program will require employers with fifteen or more employees to contribute 1 percent of wages and may deduct up to half of this contribution from employees’ wages. Employers with fewer than fifteen employees will be required to contribute 0.5 percent of wages and may deduct the entire amount from employees’ wages. The MPFML program, signed into law as part of the state budget by Governor Janet Mills in July 2023, will entitle qualified, eligible employees to up to twelve weeks of paid family, military, medical, or safe leave, beginning on May 1, 2026.
Minnesota
Earned Sick and Safe Time Modifications—House File (HF) 5247 / Senate File (SF) 5234
Governor Tim Walz signed an omnibus bill on May 19, 2024, that made several modifications to the state’s earned sick and safe time (ESST) program. Taking effect on January 1, 2025, ESST requirements must now apply to other paid time off.
Pay Transparency—Senate File (SF) 3852
Effective January 1, 2025, employers with thirty or more employees in Minnesota will be required to provide salary ranges and general descriptions of benefits in job postings. The requirements are part of several employment-related requirements included in an omnibus labor and industry policy bill, SF 3852, signed into law by Governor Walz on May 17, 2024.
New Hampshire
Guns at Work—House Bill (HB) 1336
Governor Chris Sununu signed HB1336 into law on July 12, 2024, allowing workers in the state to store guns and ammunition in their vehicles. Under HB 1336, which takes effect on January 1, 2025, will prohibit certain employers that receive public funds from restricting employees from storing lawful firearms or ammunition in locked vehicles, out of view, in employer parking lots. HB 1336 will further institute privacy protections for employees, prohibiting all employers from asking employees whether they have firearms or ammunition in their vehicles and searching their vehicles for firearms or ammunition.
New York
Paid Leave for Prenatal Care—Senate Bill (S) 8305C
On April 20, 2024, New York Kathy Hochul signed several pieces of legislation as part of the state budget, including requirements for paid lactation breaks, which went into effect in June 2024, and paid prenatal care, which will take effect on January 1, 2025. S8305C will require employers to provide up to twenty hours of paid leave “for the health care services received by an employee during their pregnancy or related to such pregnancy, including physical examinations, medical procedures, monitoring and testing, and discussions with a health care provider related to the pregnancy.” The New York Department of Labor has issued guidance for employers, clarifying that, among other things, paid prenatal leave under the law is a “stand-alone benefit” separate from other leave policies and laws.
Equal Rights Amendment—Proposition 1
In November 2024, New York voters approved the Equal Rights Amendment, or Proposition 1, expanding the state’s constitutional protections against discrimination, effective January 1, 2025. The New York State Constitution will include protections against discrimination “by any other person or by any firm, corporation, or institution, or by the state or any agency” based on “race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed, religion, or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.”
Oregon
Warehouse Worker Protections—House Bill (HB) 4127
On March 27, 2024, Governor Tina Kotek signed into law HB 4127, which will impose notice and recordkeeping requirements on covered employers of certain warehouse workers when using quotas to measure worker productivity. The law takes effect on January 1, 2025.
Pennsylvania
Noncompete Laws—House Bill (HB) 1633
On July 17, 2024, Governor Josh Shapiro signed into law HB1633, also known as the “Fair Contracting for Health Care Practitioners Act,” which will prohibit enforcement of “noncompete covenant[s]” with time periods of more than one year entered into by healthcare practitioners and employers as well as impose certain notification requirements on healthcare employers, beginning January 1, 2025.
Rhode Island
Temporary Caregiver Insurance—House Bill (H) 7171
H7171, signed into law by Governor Daniel McKee on June 25, 2024, will increase the state’s Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TCI) benefits from six weeks to seven weeks in a benefit year starting on January 1, 2025. Under the law, TCI benefits will increase again to eight weeks on January 1, 2026. TCI provides job-protected leave and partial wage replacement to employees to bond with a newborn child or a child newly placed for adoption or foster care, or to care for a family member who has a serious health condition.
Veterans’ Benefits Poster—Senate Bill (S) 2128
Beginning January 1, 2025, employers in Rhode Island with more than fifty full-time employees will be required to display a poster with information on veterans’ benefits and services. Governor McKee signed S2128 on June 17, 2024.
Washington
State of Emergency—Senate Bill (SB) 5793
On March 28, 2024, Governor Jay Inslee signed SB5793, amending Washington’s statewide paid sick leave law to allow employees to take paid sick leave during a declared public emergency when the “employee’s child’s school or place of care” is closed for either a “health-related reason” or public emergency. The amendments will be effective on January 1, 2025.
Paid Sick Leave—Senate Bill (SB) 5793
SB5793 further expands the definition of covered family members for paid sick leave to include any person who regularly resides in the employee’s home or whose relationship creates an expectation of care. This change is meant to align the paid sick leave law with recent updates to Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave law. The amendment further defines “family member” to include a child’s spouse.
A number of states and major localities also updated their minimum wage rates. More information can be found in our article, “2025 State and Major Locality Minimum Wage Updates.”
Ogletree Deakins will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the Background Checks, Drug Testing, Employment Law, Leaves of Absence, Multistate Compliance, Pay Equity, State Developments, Wage and Hour, and Workplace Safety and Health blogs.
In addition, the Ogletree Deakins Client Portal provides subscribers with timely updates on state laws. Premium-level subscribers have access to updated policy templates. Snapshot and Updates are complimentary for all registered client users. For more information on the Client Portal or a Client Portal subscription, please reach out to clientportal@ogletree.com.
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