| Summary: Effective January 1, 2021, SB 664 will require all government employers and certain private employers to use E-Verify. This includes local school districts, public universities and colleges, and state and local agencies, as well as their private contractors. No public contract can be entered into without an E-Verify certificate. Private employers are not required to use the E-Verify system unless they contract with a public entity or they receive taxpayer-funded incentives through the Department of Economic Opportunity. However, any private employer who does not use E-Verify must also maintain copies of the documents used to complete the Form I-9 for three years (this is optional under federal law).
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| Impact(s): Florida public employers and contractors |
| Summary: On May 10, 2020, New York City's new law went into effect prohibiting an employer from testing an applicant for marijuana as part of a pre-employment screening process. Exceptions to the law included "safety-sensitive" positions such as law enforcement, certain construction jobs, positions requiring a commercial driver's license, positions requiring the supervision or care of children, medical patients or vulnerable persons and positions with the "potential to significantly impact the health or safety of employees or members of the public." The law also does not apply to drug testing required pursuant to the Department of Transportation or state or local testing regulations or to federal contracts between the federal government and an employer that mandates drug testing, among several other exemptions.
The New York Commission on Human Rights adopted new rules that clarify the “safety-sensitive” exception to the above mentioned prohibition. Specifically, a position is deemed to significantly impact the health or safety of employees or members of the public and to be exempt if:
- the position requires that an employee regularly, or within one week of beginning employment, work on an active construction site;
- the position requires that an employee regularly operate heavy machinery;
- the position requires that an employee regularly work on or near power or gas utility lines;
- the position requires that an employee operate a motor vehicle on most work shifts;
- the position requires work relating to fueling an aircraft, providing information regarding aircraft weight and balance, or maintaining or operating aircraft support equipment; or
- impairment would interfere with the employee’s ability to take adequate care in the carrying out of his or her job duties and would pose an immediate risk of death or serious physical harm to the employee or to other people.
These rules become effective July 24, 2020.
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| Impact(s): New York City employers |
