Employment Law in Motion
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Washington State Announces New Compensation Levels for 2025: Minimum Wage and Salary Exemptions Unveiled
Washington State has announced its new minimum wage, exempt salary level, and other compensation levels for 2025. All of the following will be in effect as of January 1, 2025:
Washington State minimum wage: $16.66 per hour.Note: We are still wa...
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California Supreme Court Holds Single Allegation of Racial Slur by Coworker Sufficient to Form Basis of Hostile Work Environment Claim
Recently, the California Supreme Court found that a plaintiff’s claim based on a single (disputed) racial epithet by a non-supervisory coworker was sufficient to form the basis of a hostile work environment claim—it was sufficiently severe even though not pervasive.
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From Fingerprints to Facial Recognition: Employer Responsibilities for Biometric Data Management
Companies’ use of their customers’ biometric data has been increasing for a couple of decades. Numerous state and federal laws regulate how consumer biometric data can be stored and used and require notices to consumers about these actions.
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Posting Outside the Office, but Not Outside the Scope of an Employer’s Potential Liability
Between hybrid work, flexible schedules, online meetings, and the ubiquity of social media, the lines between in and out of office conduct continue to get murkier and create potential tagalong liability that persists for employers who do not promptly respond to complaints brought forward by employees. The Ninth Circuit has made clear that even though an employee’s conduct is online—even outside of work time—the impact that it has on an employee can be sufficient to sustain a Title VII hostile work environment claim.
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So Much for Goodbye: FTC Ban on Noncompetes Just Overturned
On May 7, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a much-anticipated new rule that would have prohibited ALL new noncompetes with employees nationwide, and enforcement of almost all existing noncompetes beginning September 4, 2024. However, just yesterday, a federal district court in Texas held that the FTC lacked the authority to issue the rule and issued a nationwide injunction that now prevents the rule from going into effect. The agency has initially indicated it is weighing its options and may yet appeal the decision.
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Beginning January 1, 2025, Minimum Wages Increase in Unincorporated King County
On May 14, 2024, the King County Council adopted a minimum wage higher than the state minimum wage (and some of the cities inside King County) for all employees working anywhere in unincorporated King County.
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