We rang in the new year waiting and watching for the issuance of the EEOC’s final regulations implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) received the text of the final regulations for review on December 27.  Assuming that the EEOC’s final regulations clear this review, we expect the regulations to be published in the Federal Register soon.  

The PWFA was enacted almost exactly a year ago, on Dec. 29, 2022 and went into effect on June 27, 2023.  The Act requires employers with at least 15 employees provide reasonable accommodations, absent undue hardship, to qualified employees and applicants with known limitations related to, affected by, or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. The Act required the EEOC to issue the regulations by December 29, 2023. The proposed regulations were published for public comment in the Federal Register on August 11, 2023. Over 100,000 public comments, including those from Jackson Lewis P.C., were submitted to the EEOC.

We are continuing to monitor and will report back when the final regulations are published. 

For Illinois employers, the new year brings a variety of new paid leave laws, the most recent being the Cook County Paid Leave Ordinance passed by the Cook County Board of Commissioners on Dec. 14, 2023.

The Cook County Paid Leave Ordinance supersedes the preexisting Cook County Earned Sick Leave Ordinance and requires employers to offer paid leave that can be used for any reason to most Cook County employees. Effective Dec. 31, 2023, the new Ordinance entitles covered employees to earn and use up to 40 hours of paid leave annually.

Learn more here.

On January 1, 2024, California’s Senate Bill (SB) 616 takes effect, increasing the amount of paid sick leave employers are required to provide to California employees. In the new year, employers will be required to provide 40 hours of sick leave.  Several cities in California also have their own paid sick leave ordinances, and employers will need to determine which aspects of state and local ordinances apply to their employees.

Learn more here.

The Chicago City Council has passed an amendment to the Chicago Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance to delay its effective date to July 1, 2024, in addition to other changes.

Learn more about the amendment here.

Employers in Minnesota are not the only ones gearing up for Minnesota’s earned sick and safe time (ESST) law to take effect on January 1, 2024. Cities in Minnesota are also making changes to their respective earned sick and safe time ordinances. Saint Paul’s City Council unanimously adopted amendments to its Earned Sick and Safe Time Ordinance to align its legislative code with Minnesota’s ESST law. The amendments, Ordinance 23-48, will go in effect on January 1, 2024.

Learn more here.

In October, California passed Senate Bill (SB) 616, which increases the amount of paid sick leave employers are required to provide to California employees.

The Labor Commissioner recently published an updated Frequently Asked Questions page to cover changes made by SB 616. Click here for information of note from the FAQs.

The U.S. Supreme Court vacated a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit holding a self-appointed “tester” has standing to sue under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). Acheson Hotels, LLC v. LauferNo. 22-429. However, the Court declined to address the merits of whether the tester had a sufficient concrete and particularized injury to establish standing, holding the case had become moot and leaving in place a deep circuit split on the standing issue.

Read more here.

The Anaheim Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance takes effect January 1, 2024, though it had a rocky path to passage.

It started with a more expansive ordinance proposed in May, which was sent to the voters in October and failed.

Meanwhile, the City Council passed an ordinance focused on the safety of hotel workers over the summer that will take effect next year.

Learn more here.

Employers with employees working in Chicago are required by a new law to provide employees paid sick leave and a new, separate bank of leave that employees can use for any reason at all. The Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance significantly amends the City’s current Paid Sick Leave Ordinance and will take effect on December 31, 2023.

Read more here.

Get ready to ring in the new year with new and expanded employer leave obligations. Chicago’s new Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance will take effect on December 31, 2023 and the following laws go into effect on January 1, 2024.

Other new leave and accommodation laws are on the horizon in 2024 and beyond.

These laws are included in our leave law map database that provides subscribers with a detailed explanation of state and local leave laws around the country. The Leave and Accommodation Suite is developed and updated continually by our Disability, Leave & Health Management attorneys.  Jackson Lewis attorneys are available to assist employers in updating their leave policies and administering their leave programs to comply with the myriad of state laws.  Please contact your Jackson Lewis lawyer with any questions.