After years of stymied progress, many HR & labor bills pass

The shift in the Senate’s majority party to the Democrats yielded some significant changes to the state’s labor and human resources laws. Cities need to be aware of new laws concerning sexual harassment, gender discrimination, hiring individuals with criminal backgrounds, and first responder workers’ compensation changes.

In the wake of the #MeToo movement, several bills passed that expand protections for victims of sexual harassment and sexual assault. These bills include policies that prevent employers from requiring employees to sign non-disclosure agreements as a condition of employment (HB 5996); prohibit employers from discriminating against job applicants or employees because they are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking (SB 2661); and renders unenforceable some provisions of non-disclosure agreements related to sexual harassment or sexual assault (SB 6068).

A significant change also came to the state’s Equal Pay Act. HB 1506 modifies the Act to provide a greater prohibition for employers from pay discrimination based on gender. The bill further created a prohibition on limiting career advancement opportunities for employees based on gender and provides that an employer may not impede or limit employee discussion of wages.

Hotly debated last year, HB 1298 passed the Legislature this year. Informally referred to as the “Ban the Box” bill, the new law prohibits employers from asking job applicants about a criminal record until after the applicant is deemed otherwise qualified for the position. An employer is further prohibited from systematically excluding individuals with criminal records prior to an initial determination of qualification, such as including a statement of “no felons” in job announcements. Some functions of local government are exempt from these requirements such as law enforcement agencies; individuals working with at-risk populations, such as children or vulnerable adults; and employers seeking volunteers.

A top priority for some first-responder advocates, SB 6214, passed this year—providing first-responders a workers’ compensation presumption for posttraumatic stress disease (PTSD) as an occupational disease. Existing statutes allowed narrow coverage for PTSD as an injury claim. SB 6214 will provide expanded coverage for law enforcement officers, firefighters, and some EMTs. AWC will continue to provide outreach and education to cities on the impacts of this bill.

AWC’s next steps

AWC will:

• Continue to work with stakeholders on workers’ compensation and presumptive policy issues;
• Engage in Paid Family and Medical Leave rulemaking; and
• Provide outreach and education for cities on new laws related to labor and human resources.