Last year, here and here, I discussed legislation that would prohibit Philadelphia employers from asking job applicants about certain arrests and making any personnel decisions based on records of an arrest that does not result in a conviction. That legislation is now the law. That law is the Philadelphia Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards Act.
Let’s practice…
On June 29, The Employer Handbook reported here that Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter vetoed the “Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces” bill. This bill would have required businesses to provide paid sick leave to employees who work a minimum number of hours in Philadelphia County.
Ah, but the times, they are a-becoming quite different. Right Connecticut and Seattle?
With so many employment laws out there, it’s not easy to keep track of what those laws say — let alone under which of them your business may be covered.
Well, who loves ya! After the jump, it’s employment laws by the numbers — number of employees that is — that your business must employ to be covered under certain specific federal employment laws. (I’ll even throw in a few extra state statutes for my PA/NJ/DE readers).
GREAT BIG DISCLAIMER: What you’ll find after the jump are the numerosity requirements for various federal laws. There are a slew of other legal hoops through which your business may need to jump. Be smart. Discuss them with an attorney.
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As I was getting my shoes shined yesterday, something caught my eye.
According to this article in the Metro Newspaper from Alexandra Wigglesworth, Philadelphia’s First Judicial District plans to use Facebook, Twitter, and text messaging to send out reminders about court dates.
The court’s shift towards embracing social media is consistent with a recent survey which shows that over half of employers believe that using social media for business purposes is a good thing.
Philadelphia Police Department has enacted a social media policy. You can view it here.
A couple of noteworthy points about this policy:
Yesterday afternoon, in a letter to City Council, Mayor Michael Nutter vetoed the “Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces” bill. This bill, discussed in a previous blog post, would have required businesses to provide paid sick leave to employees who work a minimum number of hours in Philadelphia County.
On June 16, City Council passed a watered-down version of the bill by a razor-thin 9-8 vote.
Here is a copy of the amended bill.
Back on March 22, I reported that City Council would vote on the “Fair Criminal Screening Standards” bill, a measure that would forbid city employers from discriminating or retaliating against job candidates with criminal convictions. City Council has since approved the bill and Mayor Nutter has signed it.
For more details about this bill and the effect it will have on employers, check out my March 22 post and this e-Alert from Marjorie Obod and Katharine Hartman of Dilworth Paxson LLP.
One thing is clear, Philadelphia employers better act hella-fast to update their employment applications, as this new law will take effect 90 days from when Mayor Nutter signed the bill. So what are you waiting for? (Yes, you have time to watch both the CGI and Alient Ant Farm cover of “Smooth Criminal”)
Two Philadelphia posts in a single week. That’s called keeping it real.
For local employers, keeping it real may mean moving out of the city, as the cost of doing business in Philadelphia could be on the rise.
Check out this post I did for The Legal Intelligencer about a bill that City Council is currently considering that would require businesses to provide paid sick leave to employees who work a minimum number of hours in Philadelphia County.
For now, yes.
However, a bill presently pending in City Council could change that very quickly. I’ll break down the bill and the impact it will have on local employers after the jump.
The Employer Handbook Blog