New Virginia Employment Laws Effective July 1, 2020

Virginia has tradition所有y been viewed as an employer-friendly state.  这种声誉的部分原因是它的工资支付规定相对较少，州法院对大多数与就业有关的索赔不予受理.  而不是, employees had to bring their discrimination claims in federal court, where there were statutory caps to 损害赔偿, 他们不得不依靠劳工和工业部来追究任何工资支付要求.  不再....... 今年, 新当选的民主党多数派在立法机构两院颁布了几项影响深远的法案, “pro employee” laws that were signed by the Governor.  Most of these laws go into effect on July 1, 2020, and they will have a huge impact on employment in Virginia.  The following is a brief summary of those laws and their impact.

Expanded Protections Concerning Discrimination

Recently, the United States Supreme Court held in 博斯托克v. 克莱顿,格鲁吉亚 1964年《亚洲博彩平台排名》第七章涵盖了因性取向或变性身份而受到歧视的个人.  今年早些时候，弗吉尼亚州议会通过了“弗吉尼亚价值观法案”(“VVA”)，对《澳门亚洲博彩平台排名》(“VHRA”)进行了修订，增加了更多受保护的阶层和更多获得法律救济的机会.  之前, 《澳门亚洲博彩平台排名》只适用于雇用5至15名雇员的雇主，并禁止基于种族的歧视性解雇, color, 宗教, 国家的起源, 性, 怀孕, 分娩 or related medical 条件, 和年龄. 它旨在涵盖那些规模太小而不受联邦反歧视法规保护的雇主. 补救措施限于12个月的欠薪和不超过欠薪金额25%的律师费. 

在新的VVA下, 将于7月1日生效, 2020, VHRA的反歧视条款(除了基于年龄的条款)现在涵盖了 所有 employers with fifteen or more employees. For termination claims employers with five or more employees are covered.  对于与年龄有关的索赔，拥有19名或以上雇员的雇主适用一般歧视索赔，而拥有6名或以上雇员的雇主适用解雇索赔.  VVA还扩大了VHRA，以涵盖基于性取向的歧视, 性别认同, 资深地位, 婚姻状况.  根据新修订, 《澳门亚洲博彩平台排名》现在适用于就业条款和条件方面的所有歧视, such as compensation and promotions, 不仅仅是终止.  Employees can now receive unlimited compensatory 损害赔偿, 惩罚性赔偿高达350美元,000, reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, and court-ordered injunctions that may include reinstatement.  最后，VHRA现在有了一个新的执行方案，本质上反映了第七章.  雇员必须向弗吉尼亚人权司(“VDHR”)或平等就业机会委员会(“EEOC”)提出申诉。.  一旦VDHR或EEOC发出“起诉权”信函，员工就可以向州法院提出索赔.

这些变化极大地使钟摆向有利于雇员的方向倾斜，预计将导致在州法院针对雇主的歧视相关诉讼的洪流.  一般, 弗吉尼亚州的联邦法院更容易接受在即决判决动议中处理虚假索赔, which prevents the unnecessary expense of a trial.  Title VII claims make up a large part of the federal court docket, 联邦法官有经验迅速处理无法律依据的案件.  现在, 然而, 员工可以向州法院提出索赔，在那里他们更有可能得到审判, 无论他们的主张多么薄弱，无论法官在处理此类案件方面几乎没有经验. 

New Accommodations for Pregnant Employees

大会还通过了新的立法，修订了《澳门亚洲博彩平台排名》，明确禁止基于怀孕的歧视, 分娩, (2)要求雇主参与一个互动过程，以确定基于这些受保护类别的限制的合理安排, 只要这种住宿不会对雇主造成不适当的困难.  An example would be more frequent or longer breaks for lactation.  法律明确禁止雇主在有其他合理安排的情况下要求雇员休假. 它还禁止雇主对行使法律规定的权利的雇员进行报复.  员工认为违反本法规定的，可以向法院提起诉讼，而不必提起行政诉讼.

该法律还要求雇主在显眼的地方张贴有关这些权利的信息(弗吉尼亚州劳动和工业部(“DOLI”)预计将在10月份准备好海报)。, include such information in their employee handbook, and provide the information to (1) new employees, (2)雇员在收到通知后10天内告知雇主自己怀孕, and (3) 所有 current employees by October 29, 2020.

Misclassification of Employees as Contractors

与普遍的看法相反, 有一个书面的承包商协议并不能保证“承包商”不是雇员.  雇主经常使用承包商来避免支付员工福利和维持员工的交易成本.  研究表明，由于雇主错误地将雇员分类为承包商，弗吉尼亚州每年损失数百万美元的税收.  The state has made a concerted effort for years to crack down on the practice, and now the legislature has provided additional tools through several new laws. 

根据新的法律，

1. 任何因所提供的亚洲博彩平台排名而获得报酬的个人都被推定为公司的雇员，除非公司能够根据美国国税局(IRS)的指导方针(26 C . 16)证明该雇员是承包商.F.R. § 31.3121(d)-1); 

2. 雇员可以起诉雇主“故意”将他们错误地归类为承包商. A successful employee can receive lost wages, 工资, 员工福利, reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, 以及雇员发生的本应由保险支付的任何费用;  

3. DOLI is authorized to issue civil penalties against violators, and if they are government contractors, 他们将被禁止与弗吉尼亚州的公共机构或机构签订任何合同一年(对屡犯者来说时间更长); 

4. employers are now prohibited from entering into any written agreement that misclassifies an employee as a contractor or that does not accurately reflect the parties’ relationship; and 

5. 雇主不得对任何报告或计划报告错误分类或参与错误分类调查的个人进行报复.

The presumption and civil penalties do not go into effect until January 1, 2021, but most of the rest take effect on July 1, 2020.

Expanded Enforcement Provisions for “Wage Theft”

直到现在, if an employer did not pay wages that were earned, an employee could only seek relief by filing a complaint with DOLI, 谁会调查此事并处以不超过1美元的罚款,雇主支付000英镑.  大会修订了《亚洲博彩平台排名》(“VWPA”)，赋予雇员对未付工资提起诉讼的私人权利. An employee can sue and receive any withheld compensation, an equal amount as liquidated 损害赔偿, 8% interest from when payment was due, and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.  If it is determined that the employer “knowingly” failed to pay the wages, the employee can receive triple the amount of unpaid wages, and DOLI can assess a civil penalty of up to $1,000.  Without waiting for administrative exhaustion, 员工可以单独起诉, 和其他员工, 或者可以根据《澳门亚洲博彩平台排名》的规定代表一群雇员提起集体诉讼.

大会还通过了一项立法，如果DOLI有理由相信雇主侵犯了他们在VWPA下的权利，那么它可以将调查范围扩大到其他雇员. If DOLI believes an employer is violating the VWPA, it can sue the employer on behalf of the employee or employees.  应当指出的是，《澳门亚洲博彩平台排名》包括了涵盖诸如工资支付频率和大多数扣减需要书面同意等问题的现有条款.

Limitations on Non-Competition Agreements

这是一种全国性的限制趋势, 甚至禁止, the use of non-competition agreements, also referred to as “covenants not to compete.今年, Virginia has followed the trend by prohibiting employers from “entering into, 执行, 或者威胁要强制执行雇主和低薪雇员之间不竞争的契约.该法律适用于2020年7月1日或之后签订的任何竞业禁止协议.

该法案对“低薪雇员”的定义相当宽泛,的定义，比如任何收入低于弗吉尼亚就业委员会确定的联邦平均周薪的人.  As it stands today, average weekly wages are $1,125 or $58,500 a year. 雇主还被禁止与独立承包商签订竞业禁止协议，这些承包商的时薪“低于联邦所有职业的时薪中位数”, 前一年, by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. 劳工部.”  This rate is currently set at $20.30 an hour, which translates to $56,740 a year.  These rates are adjusted quarterly and annu所有y, so a non-competition agreement that is enforceable today, 可能不是在未来.  对雇主来说幸运的是, 该法律不包括薪酬“全部或主要部分”来自销售佣金的雇员, 激励, 或奖金.

法律将不竞争契约定义为“雇佣合同的一项条款”, between an employer and employee that restrains, 禁止, or otherwise restricts an individual's ability, following the termination of the individual's employment, to compete with his former employer.“虽然这是一个悬而未决的问题, 从法律的语言看来，这种盟约将包括任何禁止向雇主的顾客或客户拉客的规定.

低薪雇员可以起诉雇主违反或企图违反法律, and may receive “所有 appropriate relief, including enjoining the conduct of any person or employer, ordering payment of liquidated 损害赔偿, 以及赔偿损失, 损害赔偿, and reasonable attorney fees and costs.法律还禁止雇主对提起此类诉讼的雇员进行报复.  另外, DOLI可以征收10美元的罚款,000 civil penalty against any employer it determines has violated the law.

最后，雇主必须张贴一份法律相关部分的副本或摘要(Va. 法典第40条.1-28.7:7)到2020年7月1日.

应当指出的是，法律明确规定，它不限制雇主签订保密或不披露协议以保护商业秘密和其他机密和专有信息的能力.

新的举报人保护措施

在今年之前，弗吉尼亚州对举报人没有真正的法律保护. 然而, 7月1日起, 2020, 雇主不得“解雇”雇员, 纪律, 威胁, 歧视, 或者惩罚员工, or take other retaliatory action regarding an employee's compensation, 条款, 条件, location, 或者雇佣特权,因为员工:

1. 或代表雇员善意行事的人向主管或任何政府机构或执法官员举报违反任何联邦或州法律或法规的行为; 

2. 是否被政府机构或执法官员要求参与调查, 听力, 或调查; 

3. 拒绝从事可能被追究刑事责任的犯罪行为; 

4. Refuses an employer's order to perform an action that violates any federal or state law or regulation and the employee informs the employer that the order is being refused for that reason; or 

5. 向进行调查的任何政府机构或执法官员提供信息或作证, 听力, 或调查任何涉嫌违反联邦或州法律法规的雇主.

与其他法律一样，这项新法规允许雇员提起诉讼来行使他们的权利.  法院可以裁定下列救济:(i)限制继续违反本条的禁令, (ii)恢复该雇员在报复行动发生前的职位或同等职位, and (iii) compensation for lost wages, 好处, 及其他报酬, 连同利息, as well as reasonable attorney fees and costs.

结论

员工保护的巨大变化可能会导致州法院系统的诉讼负担大大增加，该系统一直在努力处理由于Covid-19限制而大量积压的案件.  雇主可能会看到心怀不满的雇员和前雇员争先恐后地利用他们向对原告更友好的州法院求助的新途径.  现在, 更甚于以往, 雇主应该制定适当的协议来记录和一致地执行他们的政策和法律责任.

杰夫•威尔逊 是一个澳门亚洲博彩平台排名 & 亚洲博彩平台排名 attorney focusing his practice on employment law matters, including counseling and business litigation.