Every new year brings change. This upcoming year will be no exception, and employers should be aware of several new employment laws taking effect in 2023. For readers of AffinEco’s Q4 newsletter, we have highlighted several of these new laws for the states in which we operate.
Connecticut
- Minimum Wage
Effective June 1, 2023, Connecticut’s minimum wage will increase to $15.00.
- Increased Penalties for Prevailing Wage Violations
Connecticut Public Act 22-17 authorized greater penalties for prevailing wage violations. As of July 1, 2023, a contractor or subcontractor may be fined $5,000 per violation. The new law also requires that the Connecticut Commissioner of Labor keep a list of any contractor or subcontractor that violates prevailing wage law or enters a settlement agreement for back wages subject to prevailing wage law. A listed contractor or subcontractor that enters a settlement agreement exceeding $50,000 will be referred for debarment.
Massachusetts
- Minimum Wage
Massachusetts’s minimum wage will increase to $15.00 per hour effective Jan. 1, 2023.
- Paid Family and Medical Leave Contributions and Benefits
Effective Jan. 1, 2023, employer contribution rates to the Paid Family and Medical Leave program will decrease. For employers with 25 or more employees, the contribution rate will decrease from .68% to .63%. For employers with 24 or fewer employees, the contribution rate will decrease from .344% to .318%.
The maximum amount of weekly wages an employee may be eligible to receive while taking leave under the program will increase from $1,084.31 to $1,129.82.
New York
- Paid Family Leave to Care for a Sibling
New York SB02928 expanded the coverage under New York’ Paid Family Leave program to include a sibling in the definition of “family member.”
- Using Automated Employment Decision Tools (“AEDT”)
New York City Local Law No. 144 defines AEDT as “any computational process, derived from machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics, or artificial intelligence, that issues simplified output, including a score, classification, or recommendation, that is used to substantially assist or replace discretionary decision making for making employment decisions that impact natural persons.” By design, the law will make it difficult for New York City employers to use algorithmic or computerized tools to broadly review, select, rank, or eliminate candidates for employment or promotion.
Effective Jan. 1, 2023, to use AEDT in the decision-making process for hiring or promoting an employee, an employer must have it undergo an annual, independent bias audit. A summary of the results of such bias audit must be made publicly available. The type(s) of data used by the AEDT, including any data retention policy, also must be made publicly available and disclosed upon written request from a candidate.
Additionally, the employer is responsible for providing each candidate with 10 business days’ notice of being subject to any AEDT. The notice must contain the list of job qualifications and characteristics used by the AEDT. Candidates have the right to opt out and request an alternative selection process or accommodation.
Rhode Island
- Minimum Wage
Rhode Island’s minimum wage will increase to $13.00 per hour effective Jan. 1, 2023. The minimum wage is statutorily set to increase twice more—on Jan. 1, 2024, to $14.00 per hour and on Jan. 1, 2025, to $15.00 per hour.
- Pay Equity
Rhode Island’s Equal Pay Law prohibits discriminating in the payment of wages on the basis of sex. Rhode Island SB 2548 expanded this protection to include race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, or country of ancestral origin. As of Jan. 1 2023, the only permissible grounds for wage differentials are: a seniority system; a merit system; a quantity/quality of production system; geographic locations with different costs of living; reasonable shift differentials; education, training, or experience; regular or work-related travel; or a bona fide and job-related factor consistent with business necessity.
The legislation also imposes new requirements on employers. Employers must disclose a wage range when an employee is hired, when an employee transfers to a new position, and/or upon the employee’s or applicant’s request.
Employers may not rely on the wage history of an applicant in deciding whether to consider the applicant for employment or in determining the wage rate the applicant will be paid upon hire. Employers are also prohibited from requiring that an applicant’s wage history meet minimum or maximum criteria. Finally, employers may not reduce an employee’s wages to comply with the law. The law does contain a safe harbor provision through June 30, 2026, that makes it an affirmative defense to all liability for any alleged unlawful pay practices if an employer can show that it: (1) conducted a self-evaluation of its pay practices within the 2 years preceding the commencement of a pay equity lawsuit; and (2) it has eliminated the allegedly unlawful wage differentials revealed by the self-evaluation.
- Reproductive Health Benefits
As of Jan. 1, 2023, group health plans must establish a special enrollment period for a pregnant individual to enroll at any time after the commencement of the pregnancy. Insurance coverage for such pregnant individual begins on the first of the month the individual applied.
Glenn Duhl is a management-side employment and litigation lawyer at Zangari Cohn Cuthbertson Duhl & Grello P.C. Please visit www.zcclawfirm.com.
The information contained in this article is general in nature and offered for informational purposes only. It is not offered and should not be construed as legal advice.