The amendment to the Delaware Domestic Relations Act legalizing same-sex marriage goes into effect July 1. Under the law, the same rights, benefits, protections, and legal responsibilities apply to married same-sex couples and married opposite-sex couples.

In 2012, Delaware’s Civil Union Equality Act (CUEA) established that civil unions are to be treated as marriages under state law, so employers shouldn’t see much change as a result of the legalization of same-sex marriages. One exception is if your business provides marriage-related services (for instance, a facility that rents out rooms for wedding receptions). In that case, if you refuse to provide marriage-related services to same-sex couples, you could be subject to a discrimination claim under the Delaware Equal Accommodations Law.

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by Boyd Byers and Lindsey Smith

Significant revisions to the Kansas Wage Payment Act (KWPA) go into effect July 1, changes that give employers more latitude to make payroll deductions to recoup overpayments, loans, and property provided to employees.

Under old law, employers could withhold wages only in limited circumstances, such as (1) when specifically required by law (withholdings for payroll taxes or garnishments, for example), (2) for health care, (3) deposits into a retirement plan, and (4) when the employer had a signed authorization from the employee for a lawful purpose “accruing to the employee’s benefit.”

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by Rozlyn Fulgoni-Britton

Provisions of Indiana’s new background check law, which limits the information criminal history providers may give to employers, go into effect July 1.

Under the law, criminal history providers won’t be able to provide information related to the following:

• An infraction, arrest, or charge that didn’t result in a conviction;

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by Richard L. Rainey

North Carolina’s law overhauling the state’s unemployment system will take effect July 1, bringing about a small tax increase for many employers and a reduced maximum weekly benefit amount for claimants. It also will change the circumstances in which a claimant is disqualified from benefits.

During the economic recession, the state borrowed more than $2.5 billion from the federal government to cover unemployment payments. The North Carolina General Assembly enacted the new law to pay back the loan as quickly as possible.

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by Jay Surdukowski
Sulloway & Hollis, P.L.L.C.

On Thursday, June 6, the New Hampshire Senate approved a bill to protect the privacy of employees’ social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. But Republicans tacked on an amendment that may doom the bill in the house.

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Employers in Washington state should take note of a new law prohibiting them from requiring current or prospective employees to provide access to their social media accounts.

Washington is the eighth state to pass such a law, and the National Conference of State Legislatures says 33 states are considering similar bills this year. The federal government may soon follow suit. A bipartisan group of representatives recently introduced a similar bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Under the Washington state law, which goes into effect July 28, employers are prohibited from: read more…

Final rules from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on employment-based wellness programs raise the maximum reward that may be offered by certain wellness programs and expand nondiscrimination protections for sick employees.

The final rules under President Barack Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act were issued May 29 and will be effective for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2014.

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by Robert P. Tinnin, Jr.

New Mexico’s Fair Pay for Women Act (FPWA) goes into effect June 14, affecting all employers with at least four employees.

The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex “by paying wages to employees . . . at a rate less than the rate that the employer pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in the establishment for equal work on jobs[,] the performance of which requires equal skill, effort and responsibility and that are performed under similar working conditions.”

The law includes an exception for payments made under a seniority system, a merit system, or a “system that measures earnings by quality or quantity of production.” It prohibits retaliation in the form of discriminating against an employee for (1) asserting a claim under the FPWA, (2) assisting another person in doing so, or (3) “informing another person about employment rights or other rights provided by law.”

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The U.S. Senate is expected to consider President Barack Obama’s five nominations to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after its Memorial Day recess. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted on May 22 to approve the nominees, moving the confirmation process to the full Senate.

The nominees up for Senate confirmation are Republicans Harry I. Johnson, III, and Philip A. Miscimarra and Democrats Sharon Block, Richard Griffin, and current NLRB Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce, whose term will end August 27 unless confirmed again by the Senate. Block and Griffin have had seats on the Board since January 2012, when Obama made recess appointments to fill vacant seats.

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Nearly four months after an appeals court ruled that recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) made in 2012 were invalid, another appellate court has ruled a previous recess appointment unconstitutional.

The U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled May 16 in NLRB v. New Vista Nursing & Rehab. that President Barack Obama’s 2010 recess appointment of Craig Becker to the NLRB was invalid. Becker, a Democrat, served on the Board from April 5, 2010, through January 3, 2012.

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