October is just around the corner, and while the leaves will change as they do, so too will the labor and employment legal landscape. Below are a few of the laws set to take effect across the country this upcoming month.
- Michigan (effective October 1)
Expansion of Paid Sick Leave Law. While the law became effective for most Michigan employers earlier this year, October marks the law’s full expansion even to employers with 10 or fewer employees. To comply with the law, employers can either front load sick time or allow for accrual of the time (at a rate of 1 hour per 30 hours worked). Small employers may cap the sick time at 40 hours, while larger employers must provide a minimum of 72 hours. - Montana (effective October 1)
Volunteer Emergency Services Provider Protections. Under this law, Montana employers are prohibited from terminating certain volunteer employees, such as volunteer firefighters or medical technicians, who are absent from or late to work due to this volunteer work. Before the full protections of this law apply, employees must provide the employer written notification of their status as a volunteer and also complete a probationary period. Time taken off by employees under this law may be unpaid. - Massachusetts (effective October 29)
New Pay Transparency Requirements. All employers with 25+ employees will be required to disclose wage ranges in job postings and to employees and applicants upon request. Additionally, employers will be required to provide wage ranges to employees who are offered a promotion or transfer to a position with different job responsibilities.
These are just a few of the laws set to go into effect before year’s end. Now is a great time to review your employee handbook to ensure compliance with all recent and upcoming laws going into the new year.