Quick Hits

• New state laws will impact minimum wage, leaves of absence, restrictive covenants, child labor, and other workplace issues.
• These laws will take effect on July 1, 2025.

Here is a roundup briefly summarizing the new state laws:

• Alaska Ballot Measure 1 increases the minimum wage to $13.00 per hour, establishes paid sick leave, and prohibits employers from holding mandatory meetings to share political or religious opinions. Employers will be required to provide one hour of paid sick leave per thirty hours worked.
• In California, Los Angeles County passed a Fair Workweek Ordinance, which includes predictive scheduling provisions. It requires employers to provide advance notice of schedule changes, premium pay for schedule changes, and rest time between shifts. It applies to retail businesses that have at least 300 employees worldwide. In addition, California’s minimum wage will increase to $17.81 per hour.
• Indiana Senate Bill 409 requires employers to give workers time off to attend a school attendance conference or case conference meeting for their child. The time off can be unpaid.
• Kansas Senate Bill (SB) 241 clarifies that certain nonsolicitation agreements with business owners and employees are presumptively enforceable and not a restraint on trade.
• In New Hampshire, employers with six or more employees will be required to provide nursing mothers with a reasonable break time and a private, non-bathroom space to express milk for up to one year after their child’s birth. The law mandates an unpaid break of approximately thirty minutes for every three hours of work.
• Oregon will increase its minimum wage to $15.05 per hour.
• In Vermont, H. 704 requires employers with five or more employees to include wage ranges in job advertisements. Another law, H. 259, requires hospitals to develop and implement a security plan for preventing workplace violence and establish a workplace violence incident reporting system.
• In Virginia, employers will be prohibited from entering into a noncompete agreement with any employee who earns less than $76,081 annually or is entitled to overtime compensation under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
• Washington, D.C., will raise its minimum wage to $18.00 per hour. The minimum wage for tipped employees will increase to $12.00 per hour.
• Washington State’s paid sick leave law will be expanded to include time off for immigration-related proceedings, starting on July 27, 2025.
• In West Virginia, Senate Bill 427 eliminates the requirement that fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds obtain a work permit as a condition of employment. Instead, an employer seeking to hire a teenager must obtain an age certificate verifying the child’s age from the state Division of Labor and the written consent of the child’s parent or guardian.

Next Steps

Employers will need to comply with new laws taking effect in states in which they operate.