The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) tracks state legislation on 34 labor-related topics. Below is a summary of major state labor laws enacted in the previous calendar year that fall under those categories. The summary is also accompanied by a chart that lists the bill numbers of each piece of enacted legislation, by the labor legislation categories that are tracked by WHD.

Previously, this information was published on an annual basis in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Monthly Labor Review. State labor legislation articles from previous years have been archived under the subject category of “State Government” in the Monthly Labor Review Archive, http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/subject/s.htm.

 

Summary of State Labor Legislation Enacted in 2014

  • The timeframe of this report covers legislative activity from January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014.
  • In 2014, 46 states and the District of Columbia met in regular legislative session. The following four states did not meet in regular legislative session in 2014: Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, and Texas. A number of states also met in special sessions to address issues of particular interest or immediate necessity.
  • During the reporting timeframe of this report, 41 states and the District of Columbia enacted or amended labor legislation relevant to the categories tracked by WHD.
  • A total of 208 bills were introduced and then enacted by the states and the District of Columbia, encompassing 27 of the 34 legislative categories tracked by WHD.
  • The 34 legislative categories that were tracked in 2014 are:
     
    • Agriculture
    • Hours of Work
    • "Other" or "Miscellaneous" Legislation
    • Time off from Work
    • Child Labor
    • Genetic Testing for Employment Purposes*
    • Overtime
    • Unfair Labor Practices
    • Discharge of Employees
    • Human Trafficking
    • Overtime Worked in the Health Care Industry*
    • Wages PaidDrug and Alcohol Testing
    • Immigration Legislation
    • Plant Closing and the Displacement or Replacement of Workers
    • Whistleblowers
    • Employee Leasing
    • Independent Contractors (more specifically, Employee Misclassification as Independent Contractors)
    • Preference of Employers Regarding Employees
    • Worker PrivacyEmployment Agency
    • Inmate Labor
    • Prevailing Wage
    • Workers with Disabilities
    • Equal Employment Opportunity
    • Living Wage (Statewide)*
    • Right to Work*
    • Workplace Security
    • Family Leave Issues
    • Minimum Wage and Tipped Employees
    • State Departments of Labor
    • Workplace ViolenceGarment Activity*
    • Offsite Work*
    *No enacted legislation was reported in 2014 in this category
 

Not every piece of state labor legislation enacted in the past year falls into one of the 34 legislative categories tracked by WHD. Among the legislative issues that are excluded from the report are those which:

(1) Amend existing state law, but are strictly technical in nature,

(2) Affect only a limited number of individuals,

(3) Require the undertaking or the distribution of an issue study for a legislature or a governor, or

(4) Deal with operational or funding matters related to a specific issue.

(5) Also not covered are areas of labor legislation that concentrate on issues relating to occupational safety and health, employment and training, labor relations, employee background checks (except for those dealing with potential national security issues), economic security, and local-area living wage ordinances.

 

Enacted State Labor Legislation – Senate & House Bills
Interim Report for 2014 (01/01/2014 –12/31/2014)
States Agriculture Child Labor State DOL Disabled Workers Discharge of Employee Drug & Alcohol Testing EEO Employment Agency Employee Leasing Family Leave Issues Garment Activity Genetic Testing Hours Worked Human Trafficking Immigration Legislation Independent Contractor Inmate Labor Living Wage - Statewide Minimum Wage & Tipped Wages Miscellaneous Off-site Work Other Legislation Overtime Overtime Health Care Plant Closing Preference of Employees Prevailing Wage Right to Work Time Off from Work Unfair Labor Practice Wages Paid Whistleblower Workers With Disabilities Worker Privacy Workplace Security Workplace Violence
Alabama                                                                        
Alaska                                                                        
Arizona       H-2007                   H-2454                                            
Arkansas       H-211                                                                
California S-1087 A-1680
A-2288		   S-577     A-1397
A-1443		   A-1897       S-1360 A-1585
A-1610
S-1388		 A-2751
S-477		         S-315           A-1397
A-2760		 A-26
A-1650
A-1870
A-1939
A-2272
S-266		   A-1522
A-2536		   A-1723
A-2074
A-2743
S-878		       A-2053
S-1087		  
Colorado                           H-1273         S-5                       S-5     H-1323    
Connecticut                   H-5269     H-5453           S-32               S-318                  
Delaware       S-185     S-212             S-197   H-270     S-6                         H-300   H-294    
District of Columbia               B-1012                     B-459                   B-480   B-1012          
Florida H-487                         H-989
H-1065		   H-1179                                        
Georgia                                                                        
Hawaii                           H-2038         S-2609               H-2413   S-1233   H-1814          
Idaho                                 S-1374                                      
Illinois S-3551           H-4157
H-5563		             S-1007
S-3558		         H-3814 H-8                 S-2769   H-5622     H-5701   S-3038
Indiana   H-1083         H-1242                                                          
Iowa                                                                        
Kansas                           H-2501                                       S-371    
Kentucky   S-49                                                                    
Louisiana       S-482     S-155
S-322
S-412		             H-1025   H-505                             H-689
LA-359		     H-340    
Maine                           H-1238
H-1359		                                            
Maryland   H-467
H-811
S-876		 H-579       S-212     H-1026
S-737		                 H-295
H-579		               H-727
S-232		               S-126  
Massachusetts       H-4047                 S-2132           S-2195                   H-4109   S-858
S-873		          
Michigan   H-4656       H-4967               H-5025
H-5234
S-584
S-590		         S-934                                  
Minnesota             H-2536                 S-2065     H-2091                                  
Mississippi                                                                   S-2689 S-2473 S-2473
Missouri                                                     H-1594                  
Montana                                                                        
Nebraska                                                   L-588         L-560
L-765		          
Nevada                                                                        
New Hampshire     H-1169     H-597 S-1188
S-207
S-390		             S-317 H-1168                                     H-1407    
New Mexico                           H-181                                            
New Jersey                                                   A-1510               A-1999    
New York   S-4762
S-7344		   A-9367     A-8201 A-8106 A-9396             S-5867                   S-5504     S-7111   A-8106 A-7909        
North Carolina                                                                        
North Dakota                                                                        
Ohio   H-107                       H-130                                            
Oklahoma H-2566                         H-3496
S-1538		           S-1023                           H-2372
S-2078		    
Oregon                                                             S-1542          
Pennsylvania               H-1980           S-75                                   S-33        
Rhode Island       H-7663
H-8123
S-2702		                             H-7194                   H-7705   H-7624
S-2673		          
South Carolina                                       H-3124           H-4922                    
South Dakota                                                           H-1108            
Tennessee S-1706     H-1672
S-1770		                               S-2126                           S-1808
S-2144		 S-2226 S-2226
Texas                                                                        
Utah                           S-203 S-203         S-87                                
Vermont         H-758                           H-552                                  
Virginia             S-587                       H-1008             S-516           H-728   S-219    
Washington S-5123                 S-5173     S-6453 H-1791
S-6339		                         H-1254       S-5360          
West Virginia             H-4284                       H-4283
H-201		       H-201                     H-3156    
Wisconsin       A-459
S-370		                 A-712           A-412       A-712     S-370                    
Wyoming       H-73                                                                
Total # of Enacted Bills 6 11 2 15 1 2 17 3 2 4 0 0 5 27 4 5 1 0 17 6 0 0 2 0 0 8 12 0 8 1 19 4 0 14 5 3
Total # of States that Enacted Bills in this Category 6 7 2 10 1 2 11 3 2 3 0 0 5 18 3 5 1 0 15 6 0 0 2 0 0 7 6 0 7 1 12 4 0 12 4 3
 

State Labor Legislation Enacted in 2013