Regulatory Radar

REGULATORY RADAR -Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has officially declared Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States on June 19, as a state holiday.

REGULATORY RADAR - The new law, which is intended to curb abusive conduct against employees in the workplace, covers public and private sector workers and requires that employers adopt rules and policies to eliminate and investigate workplace harassment.

REGULATORY RADAR - South Carolina and Georgia have recently passed lactation-support-related legislation, expanding family friendly policies for nursing women in the workplace.

REGULATORY RADAR - President Trump signed the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act on August 4, 2020, guaranteeing funding for the protection of federal land in the United States.

REGULATORY RADAR - Virginia is the first U.S. state to adopt COVID-19 workplace health safety standards that apply to every employer covered by the state’s occupational health and safety program.

REGULATORY RADAR - The U.S. Department of Labor issued guidance at the end of August on employer’s obligations to track work hours for employees working remotely due to COVID-19 or other telework arrangements.

REGULATORY RADAR - The California legislature has passed legislation requiring corporate board to include representation from minority groups starting next year.

REGULATORY RADAR - On August 27, 2020, the New Jersey legislature passed a new law requiring the state’s Department of Environmental Protection to identify environmentally “overburdened communities” and grant environmental permits only after a determination that the permitted activity will have no disproportionate, cumulative environmental impact on the community.

REGULATORY RADAR - The U.K. government has published plans to prohibit large business operating in the country from using products that were grown in areas that had been deforested illegally.

REGULATORY RADAR - New compensation data requirements have passed both houses of the California legislature and are expected to be signed by California Gov.

REGULATORY RADAR - California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order phasing out the sale of all gasoline powered vehicles in the state by 2035.

REGULATORY RADAR - Canadian Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson announced that the country plans to ban single-use plastics, such as plastic straws, cutlery, and checkout bags, by the end of 2021.