According to the NFIB’s February 2019 Small Business Optimism Index, 57% of small businesses are hiring or trying to hire workers. Many have job openings they can’t fill. If you’re in the market for a new employee, be sure you understand the laws governing your actions. Some of these laws are federal, but a growing number of them apply on the state and local levels.
Trends in State Employment Laws
Equal Pay
The federal Equal Pay Act requires that men and women be given equal pay for equal work for the same employer. Despite the fact that this law has been on the books since 1963, wage disparity based on gender continues due to loopholes in the law. (Actual statistics about the wage gap vary considerably from source to source.) Most states have their own laws to bar pay discrimination.
