Offering Practical Guidance to Employers
Effective August 1, 2025, Puerto Rico’s new Lactation/Breastfeeding Code significantly expands workplace protections for nursing employees. The law guarantees paid lactation breaks, requires dedicated spaces, and imposes penalties for noncompliance.
In a new article, Sara Colón-Acevedo, Karina Rodríguez, and Tatiana Leal-González break down what employers need to know to ensure compliance and avoid penalties. Read the full analysis here.
Rhode Island is the first state to expressly require employers to provide workplace accommodations for job applicants and employees who are experiencing menopause and menopause-related medical conditions. This requirement went into effect immediately upon the Governor’s signature on June 24, 2025.
The new protections for menopause-related conditions were passed as an amendment to the law that requires employers to provide accommodations for pregnancy-related conditions.
Rhode Island employers are required to engage in a timely, good-faith, interactive process to identify reasonable accommodations for employees who are experiencing menopause symptoms or related medical conditions. However, employers do not have to provide the requested accommodation if they can demonstrate that it would pose an undue hardship on their business.
The law includes a list of possible accommodations that an employer might be required to provide for an employee experiencing a pregnancy-related condition, including accommodations specifically related to pregnancy (e.g., “break time and private non-bathroom space for expressing breast milk”). However, the amendment did not add any new possible accommodations or otherwise identify accommodations specific to menopause. The law specifically mentions one menopause-related condition, “the need to manage the effects of vasomotor symptoms,” commonly known as hot flushes/flashes or night sweats.
The law also requires employers to post a notice in the workplace and provide notice to their employees.. Employers were already required to give this notice informing the employee of their right to be free from discrimination for their pregnancy or childbirth related condition, but that notice must now be updated to include menopause. Notice must be given to new employees on their first day and to any employee who notifies the employer of the employee’s pregnancy or menopause, within ten days of the employer being notified.
Rhode Island employers should review their policies and adapt their accommodation practices to the new requirements. As always, Jackson Lewis is here to help. Please reach out to a Jackson Lewis attorney if you have any questions about how this amendment impacts how you do business.
On June 10, 2025, the City of Pittsburgh enacted amendments to its Paid Sick Days Act (PSDA), which will take effect on January 1, 2026. Since March 2020, Pittsburgh has required employers with 15 or more employees to provide at least 40 hours of paid sick leave per year, while employers with fewer than 15 employees have been required to provide 24 hours per year.
Effective January 1, 2026, those minimum requirements will increase significantly. Employers with 15 or more employees will be required to provide at least 72 hours of paid sick leave per year, while employers with fewer than 15 employees must provide 48 hours per year.
The amendment also accelerates the rate at which employees accrue paid sick leave. Starting in 2026, employees working within Pittsburgh city limits—regardless of employer size—must accrue a minimum of one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, compared to the current rate of one hour per 35 hours worked.
These updates mark a substantial expansion of employee benefits under the PSDA. Employers should review and revise their sick leave policies to ensure compliance with the new requirements. For questions or assistance, please contact your Jackson Lewis attorney.
Takeaways:
On June 14th, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed into law, S.F. No. 17, which once again included amendments to Minnesota’s Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) law that went into effect in January 2024.
Requesting Documentation for Employee ESST Absences
Under the new amendments, when an employee uses ESST for an absence of 2 or more consecutive scheduled work days, an employer may require reasonable documentation that the absence was taken for a covered reason. Previously, an employer could require reasonable documentation only for an absence of 3 or more consecutive scheduled work days.
Requiring Notice for an Unforeseeable ESST Covered Absence
Further, the amendments provide if an employee takes ESST due to an unforeseeable need, an employer may require an employee to give notice of the need to use ESST as reasonably required by the employer. Prior to the recent amendment, an employer could require notice for an unforeseeable ESST absence as soon as practicable.
Clarifications in the ESST Law
Additionally, the amendments clarify that an employee is permitted to voluntarily seek a replacement worker to cover their ESST absences, and that employers may advance ESST to an employee based on the employee’s anticipated hours of work.
Seeking Replacement Workers for ESST Absences
The ESST law has always prohibited an employer from requiring employees, as a condition of using ESST, to seek or find a replacement worker to cover the hours of their absence. However, the recent amendment clarifies that an employee may choose to do so, provided they are voluntarily doing so.
Advancing ESST to Employees
The ESST law permits an employer to advance ESST to an employee before they have accrued the time. Newly added language to Minn. Stat. § 181.9448, subd. 1(j), expressly states, “an employer is permitted to advance earned sick and safe time to an employee based on the number of hours the employee is anticipated to work for the remaining portion of an accrual year. If the advanced amount is less than the amount the employee would have accrued based on the actual hours worked, the employer must provide additional earned sick and safe time to make up the difference.”
Steps to Take
Minnesota employers should understand their obligations and update their policies to reflect the recent changes. If you have any questions related to compliance with Minnesota’s Earned Sick and Safe Time law, please contact the Jackson Lewis attorney with whom you regularly work.
Effective Jan. 1, 2026, Granite State employers with at least 20 employees must provide employees with up to 25 hours of unpaid leave to attend medical appointments associated with childbirth, postpartum care, and their infant’s medical appointments within the first year of the child’s birth or adoption.
This new leave obligation appears in a broader piece of legislation, HB 2, an act “relative to state fees, funds, revenues, and expenditures,” which was signed into law on June 27, 2025.
Subject to the 25-hour limit, covered employers may not deny employees’ leave requests to attend their “own medical appointments for childbirth, postpartum care, or the employee’s child’s pediatric medical appointments within the first year of the child’s birth or adoption.” The law allows an employee to substitute any accrued vacation time or other appropriate paid leave for unpaid childbirth-related leave.
Employees must provide reasonable notice to the employer prior to the leave and make a reasonable effort to schedule the leave so as not to unduly disrupt the employer’s operations.
Covered employers may ask the employee for documentation to ensure leave is used for a covered purpose. The law, however, does not indicate what type of documentation is sufficient to verify the use of the leave.
Upon return from a covered appointment, the employer must return the employee to the employee’s original job. The law does not address any minimum or maximum increments for use of the leave.
If the parents of a child are employees of the same employer, they collectively may take a total of 25 hours of childbirth-related leave in their child’s first year.
The new law will appear as NH RSA 275:37-f (“Leave of Absence to Attend Medical Appointments for Childbirth, Postpartum Care, and Infant Pediatric Medical Appointments”).
Covered employers should ensure their leave policies comply with this new law. If you have questions, please contact a Jackson Lewis attorney.
On May 27, 2025, Philadelphia enacted the Protect Our Workers, Enforce Rights Act (“POWER Act”), amending Title 9 of The Philadelphia Code as it pertains to the following sections: “Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces,” “Wage Theft Complaints,” “Protections for Domestic Workers,” “Protecting Victims of Retaliation,” and “Enforcement of Worker Protection Ordinances.”
Amendments to Chapter 9-4100 Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces
The definition of who may file a wage theft complaint has been broadened. Now, any “employee” (including independent contractors misclassified as such) who performs work in Philadelphia is explicitly authorized to file a complaint for unpaid wages, regardless of immigration status. Additionally, the Office of Worker Protections (OWP), as opposed to just the offices the Mayor designates, may now initiate investigations based on information, even if a formal complaint has not yet been filed—allowing the City to proactively enforce the law in high-risk industries.
The POWER Act also changes the calculation for Paid Sick Time (PSL) for tipped employees (i.e., employees who customarily and regularly receive more than fifty dollars ($50) a month in tips from the same employment). Paid sick time means time that is compensated at the same hourly rate and with the same benefits, including health care benefits, as the employee normally earns from the employee’s employment at the time the employee uses the paid sick time and is provided by an employer to an employee. Under the Act’s new calculation method for tipped employees, the hourly rate of pay shall be the numerical average of the hourly wage for “Bartenders,” Waiters & Waitresses,” and “Dining Room & Cafeteria Attendants & Bartender Helpers,” as published by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.
Amendments to Chapter 9-4300 Wage Theft Complaints
The original chapter—enacted in 2020—established protections for domestic workers, including mandatory contracts, rest breaks, and anti-retaliation provisions. The POWER Act strengthens those rights by incorporating them into the city’s broader labor enforcement framework. As with the amendments to the wage theft portions of the law, the Act empowers the OWP to actively investigate complaints and impose penalties against employers who violate domestic workers’ rights.
Amendments to Chapter 9-4500 Protections for Domestic Workers
The OWP also aligns domestic workers’ sick leave rights with the city’s paid sick leave (“PSL”) ordinance, ensuring they now accrue and use paid time off, with a centralized portable benefits system to be developed, regardless of how many employers they work for. The Act further clarifies that live-in domestic workers are fully entitled to these PSL benefits, including protections against retaliation, wage theft, and coercion. Finally, employers must provide written contracts outlining leave time.
Enhanced Anti-Retaliation Provisions
The POWER Act reinforces protections against retaliation for workers who assert their rights under Title 9. Additionally, the Act prohibits employers from retaliating against employees for exercising their rights to use sick time and specifies that employers may not consider paid sick leave covered absences as part of any absence control or disciplinary action. It also places a rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation on any employer in certain circumstances.
Notice & Retention of Employer Records Obligations:
Employers are required to provide a written notice of rights to employees, including leave entitlements. Employers must also create and maintain contemporaneous records for a period of three years regarding the hours worked by an employee, including dates, and hours of sick time taken by an employee and payments made to an employee for the sick time.
Penalties:
If the OWP determines that an employer has violated the Act, the agency can seek civil penalties. The OWP also provides for the recovery of liquidated damages and other consequences for repeated violations.
Employers are reminded to review their policies for compliance with these latest legislative updates. Please contact a Jackson Lewis attorney if you have any questions about these developments or how they impact your current policies and practices.
On May 19, 2025, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed House File 248, which requires employers to treat adoptive parents the same as biological parents under certain circumstances. Specifically, if an employee adopts a child up to six years of age, an employer must treat the employee “in the same manner as an employee who is the biological parent of a newborn child for purposes of employment policies, benefits, and protections for the first year of the adoption.”
The law defines adoption as the “permanent placement in this state of a child by the Department of Health and Human Services, by a licensed agency under chapter 238 [child-placing agencies], by an agency that meets the provisions of the interstate compact in section 232.158, or by a person making an independent placement according to the provisions of chapter 600.”
The law does not require employers to provide disability leave to an employee without a qualifying disability under an employer’s disability policies. However, Iowa employers should review any policies or benefits geared toward new parents to ensure compliance with the law.
The law will take effect on July 1, 2025, as Iowa Code § 91A.5B and it will be enforced by the Iowa Department of Inspections Appeals and Licensing.
Washington has amended its Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program by making several key changes.
In a significant departure from the former landscape, the amendments extend job restoration rights to employees of smaller employers than previously. Before amendment, the law did not provide for job restoration rights to employees who work for an employer with fewer than 50 employees in Washington. That number is now reduced to 25 employees from January 1 to December 31, 2026; to 15 employees from January 1 to December 31, 2027; and to eight employees from January 1 to December 21, 2028. This job restoration right will apply to any employee who has worked for an employer for at least 180 calendar days before taking leave.
The amendment also allows employers to prevent stacking of certain employment protection rights by extending employment protection in the PFML program to periods of unpaid leave protected by the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act, so long as the employer provides certain notices to the employee, and providing that employment protection expires after certain periods.
Additionally, there is an expansion to health care coverage protection during any period in which an employee receives PFML benefits and is also entitled to employment protection.
Finally, small employers will have access to grants to offset the costs of employees’ use of leave in PFML.
The amendments become effective January 1, 2026.
Vermont Governor Phil Scott has signed legislation extending the protections of the state’s unpaid family leave law. The expansion extends safe leave, bereavement leave, and qualifying exigency leave to employees of employers with ten or more employees. The law also broadens the definition of “family member” found in the law. The amendments will become effective on July 1, 2025.
Vermont’s existing family leave law allowed for covered employees to take up to 12 weeks of leave related to their own serious illness or that of their child, stepchild, ward, foster child, party to a civil union, parent, spouse, or parent of the worker’s spouse. The expansion of the definition of “family member” extends this benefit to qualifying events related to the employee’s spouse or civil union or domestic partner, biological, adopted, or foster child, stepchild or legal ward, a child of the employee’s spouse or domestic partner, a legal guardian of the employee or the employee’s spouse, or a person to whom the employee stands (or stands for the employee) in loco parentis or stood in loco parentis prior to the person turning 18, regardless of legal documentation. The law also covers any individual for whom the employee provides caregiving responsibilities similar to those of a parent-child relationship as well as grandparents, grandchildren, or siblings of the employee or the employee’s spouse.
The amendment introduces to Vermont law a new entitlement to “safe leave.” Safe leave refers to a leave of absence from employment because the employee or employee’s family member is a victim or alleged victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking and the employee is using the leave to seek or obtain medical care, counseling, or social or legal services, to recover from injuries, to participate in safety planning, to relocate or secure safe housing, to respond to a fatality or near fatality related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, or to meet with a state’s attorney or law enforcement officer. The law allows covered Vermont employees to utilize their 12 weeks of family leave for any of these events.
Qualifying exigency leave will be available to employees when the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is on covered active duty or called to covered active-duty status in the U.S. military including the National Guard and Reserves. Qualifying exigency leave allows for employees to access the 12 weeks of leave available under the act.
In addition to safe and qualifying exigency leave, the law introduces a bereavement leave entitlement to the act. While bereavement leave counts against an employee’s overall 12-week entitlement, Vermont employees taking bereavement leave under the act will be limited to taking leave for not more than five workdays taken consecutively within one year of the family member’s death. Bereavement leave will be available due to the death of the individual’s “family member” as defined in the new law and includes leave taken in relation to the administration or settlement of the deceased family member’s estate.
If you have any questions about the amendments to the Vermont Family Leave law please contact a Jackson Lewis attorney.
On June 4, 2025, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen signed LB415, which amends the Nebraska Healthy Workplaces and Families Act (“HWFA”). Initially passed via ballot initiative in November 2024, the HWFA mandates paid sick leave for most employers and employees in the state—40 hours per year for employers with between 11 and 19 employees, and 56 hours per year for employers with 20 or more employees.
LB415 was an effort by the Nebraska Unicameral to provide some clarity to certain portions of the HWFA, though many issues relating to enforcement and compliance are still uncertain. Some of the key changes to the HWFA are outlined below.
Changes to the Scope of Coverage: As originally written, the HWFA excluded individuals who work in Nebraska for fewer than 80 hours in a calendar year, as well as employees who are subject to the federal Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. As amended, the law will also exclude individual owner-operators, independent contractors, individuals who are employed in agricultural employment of a seasonal or other temporary nature, and individuals under 16 years of age.
Rather than accruing paid sick time from the commencement of employment, covered employees will begin accruing paid sick time after 80 hours of consecutive employment in Nebraska.
The amendments also slightly limit employer coverage under the HWFA. As amended, the definition of “employer” excludes employers with 10 or fewer employees.
Existing Policies: LB415 provides that employers with paid leave policies that meet or exceed the requirements of the HWFA (meaning the 40 hours per year for small employers and 56 hours per year for large employers) are not required to allow employees to carryover unused sick leave benefits beyond the limits of the employer’s current policy.
Most significantly, it also appears that employers with such existing leave policies already in place are relieved of other problematic provisions of the original HWFA (regarding notice, finding replacements, documentation, etc.).
Enforcement: The HWFA no longer includes a private cause of action. Instead, the Nebraska Department of Labor is responsible for enforcement of the law. The Nebraska Department of Labor still has the authority to issue administrative penalties for violations of the law, up to $500 for a first violation and up to $5,000 for any subsequent violation.
The Nebraska Department of Labor is in the process of updating its guidance on the HWFA.
Sick Pay Calculations: LB415 clarifies how employers should calculate paid sick time for certain workers with non-traditional compensation structures. Employees who are paid on a commission, piece-rate, milage, or fee-per-service basis should receive paid sick time based on an hourly rate using the average weekly rate calculation based on the state workers’ compensation statute.
Other Clarifications: LB415 also clarifies that employers are not required to pay out unused sick time upon separation from employment.
Under LB415, paid sick time provided to employees on or after January 1, 2025, and before October 1, 2025, is counted toward an employer’s paid sick time obligations for calendar year 2025.
Effective Date and Written Notice: LB415 will still take effect on October 1, 2025. Certain employers must provide written notice of the HWFA to employees by September 15, 2025, or at the commencement of employment, whichever is later.
