Montgomery County Employers Required to Provide Employees Paid Sick Leave

By: Jessica Summers, Paley Rothman Associate 

On Tuesday, June 23, 2015, Montgomery County joined the growing number of jurisdictions (including the District of Columbia) that require employers to provide employees with paid sick leave.

Bill 60-14 (the “Earned Sick and Safe Leave Act”), which was passed unanimously by the Montgomery County Council, will require virtually every employer in the County to provide paid sick leave to employees working in the County. This law, which will go into effect on October 1, 2016, will require many employers in the County to adjust their policies, processes, and potentially their budgets, to provide for the additional leave.

Supreme Court Sets Standard for Religious Discrimination Claims

On June 1, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc. , resolving the question of whether an applicant must demonstrate that a prospective employer had actual knowledge of his or her need for a religious accommodation in order to sustain a claim of religious discrimination. In an 8 to 1 decision authored by Justice Scalia, the Court ruled that a job applicant can establish a disparate treatment claim of religious discrimination by showing that the applicant’s need for a religious accommodation was the motivating factor behind the employer’s decision not to hire him or her. The Court made it clear that an applicant is not required to show that the prospective employer had actual knowledge of his or her need for a religious accommodation.