Hunton Retail Law Resource

In the first four months of 2021, Virginia, New Mexico, New York and New Jersey passed laws legalizing or decriminalizing, in some form, recreational marijuana.  Exactly how these laws will affect employers in these states is still an open question, but for now, employers should understand the nuances of the laws so they can prepare for the emerging reality that is legal marijuana.  For retail employers, this means renewed attention to drug use and drug testing policies.  Retailers, for the most part, are still able to enforce policies against drug use at work, but must be mindful of how these policies, especially with regards to testing and marijuana, could leave them open to claims of discrimination or state law violations.  At a minimum, retailers should review their policies for each state in which they operate, as a “one-size-fits-all” approach may no longer be practical.

As the new year gets off to a start, employers in the retail industry will be making wage adjustments to meet current and future minimum wage increases.  Employees in 21 states around the country will see their state’s minimum wage increase.

Recently, President Trump announced that he sent names of four nominees to serve as commissioners on the five-member Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) to the Senate for approval. If all four of the nominees are confirmed, it will still leave one remaining vacant seat on the FTC, which has been operating as a bipartisan two-member interim agency since early last year. The nominees, three of whom were announced last fall, consist of three Republicans—Joseph Simons, Noah Phillips and Christine Wilson—and one Democrat, Rohit Chopra.

On January 25, 2017, Victoria Lipnic was appointed acting chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), and members of the legal community believe that her appointment could move the EEOC in a more management-friendly direction. Lipnic has served as a Commissioner of the EEOC since 2010, having been nominated by Barack Obama to two consecutive terms, the second of which is set to expire in 2020. Immediately prior to joining the EEOC, Lipnic was a management-side labor and employment attorney for an international law firm and also served as the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment Standards from 2002 until 2009 under President George W. Bush. In that position, she oversaw the Wage and Hour Division, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs and the Office of Labor Management Standards.