State Laws

Augusta, ME – A new law in Maine makes more jobs open to workers as young as 14 and aligns the state’s provisions with federal safety regulations to protect those workers.

Seattle – Seattle voters on Nov. 8 approved a measure intended to make working conditions safer for the roughly 7,500 workers in the city’s hotel industry, including housekeepers, room service servers and other employees.

Sacramento, CA – Regulations intended to protect California’s health care workers from workplace violence have been unanimously approved by the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board.

New York – A paid sick leave law that went into effect in April 2014 in New York City is a “non-event” that has not been misused by workers or proven costly to employers, according to a report from researchers at the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Murphy Institute at the City University of New York.

Oklahoma City – Jonnie Yvonne Vasquez occasionally needed to lift shoe boxes as part of her job at a department store in Oklahoma.One day, as she lifted boxes, Vasquez injured her neck and shoulder. Soon after, she filed claims for benefits. But her employer had opted out of traditional workers’ compensation, as it was entitled to do by state law, and denied Vasquez’s claims for treatment.

Albany, NY – New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) has signed legislation that will elevate assaults on the state’s utility workers, transit station and terminal cleaners, and process servers – formerly misdemeanors – to Class D felonies.

Indianapolis – A recent spike in targeted attacks against public safety officers, including one in his home state, has prompted an Indiana lawmaker to take action.

Sacramento, CA – Lawmakers in the California Assembly on May 19 approved a bill intended to improve protections for health care workers and patients exposed to toxic fumes in surgical settings.

Boston – Hospitals and other health care facilities in Massachusetts would be required to develop and implement workplace violence prevention programs to protect their workers as part of legislation advancing through the state House and Senate.

An Oklahoma law allowing employers the option to “opt out” of traditional workers’ compensation was ruled unconstitutional. But the fight is far from over, and a decision in the state’s Supreme Court could set a precedent for the rest of the nation.