Our colleagues Jeffrey M. Landes, Susan Gross Sholinsky, and Nancy Gunzenhauser Popper at Epstein Becker Green have a post on the Retail Labor and Employment Law blog that will be of interest to our readers in the hospitality industry: "Vermont Enacts Sweeping Sexual Harassment Prevention Law."

Following is an excerpt:

On May 30, 2018, Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed bill H.707, titled "An Act Relating to the Prevention of Sexual Harassment" (the "Act"). Effect on July 1, 2018, the Act provides expansive protections for employees and prospective employees, as well as some groundbreaking employer obligations and potential penalties for violations of the law.

Among its key provisions, the Act:

  • Applies to all persons "hired to perform work or services," thereby covering independent contractors and unpaid interns;
  • Prohibits employers from requiring any employee or prospective employee, as a condition of employment, to sign an agreement that waives "a substantive or procedural right or remedy available to the employee with respect to a claim of sexual harassment." In effect, this provision bans employment agreements requiring that sexual harassment claims be resolved through arbitration; …

Read the full post here.

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