The new year is officially here, which means new employment laws have taken effect.
The Online Privacy Act
One such law that took effect on January 1st in Tennessee was the Employee Online Privacy Act, which prohibits employers from requiring employees or job applicants to provide them with access to their personal online accounts. Under the Employee Online Privacy Act, employers can not force a job applicant to disclose their social media login credentials, nor they can they force job applicants to “friend” them on Facebook (or perform a similar contact-adding service). Tennessee now joins the ranks of over a dozen other states that support and follow the Employee Online Privacy Act.
It’s not uncommon for employers to ask job applicants to add them as a friend on their personal Facebook account. This type of practice may seem harmless, but the employer can use social media to perform their own investigative work on the applicant’s background. This is now illegal, however, in states that follow the Employee Online Privacy Act.
You can read more about Tennessee’s Online Privacy Act (Senate Bill 1808) by visiting http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/108/Bill/SB1808.pdf.
The Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014
The Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 took effect in California on January 1st. This law requires all employers within the state of California to provide paid sick leave to full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees. As long as the employee has worked a minimum of 30 days from the date of employment, he or she is entitled to paid sick leave under the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014
So, how much pay can a sick Californian worker expect to receive under this new law? Employees who are unable to work due to an illness are entitled to their regular hourly wage (includes commission). The employer must also pay this amount no later than the following pay period after the sick day was taken.
California’s Child Labor Protection Act of 2014 (CLPA)
California’s Child Labor Protection Act of 2014 (CLPA) also went into effect on the New Year. This law the aims to toughen the penalties for anyone who is fired, threatened, demoted, suspended, or otherwise retaliated against because he or he filed a complaint regarding the illegal employment of a minor. Employers should familiarize themselves with their respective state’s laws and the federal laws regarding the hiring of minors to protect themselves from legal action.
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