Four U.S. senators have introduced a new piece of legislation aimed at protecting children from the negative impacts of social media. The Protecting Kids on Social Media Act, introduced by Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Katie Britt (R-Ala.), proposes setting a minimum age of 13 for the use of social media apps and requiring parental consent for 13 to 17-year-olds. The bill also aims to prevent social media companies
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At the end of its recent session, the Maryland legislature passed two new pieces of employment legislation for Governor Wes Moore’s signature. In its long-running efforts to implement family leave, the legislature passed Senate Bill 828, which is a modification to the Time to Care Act that governs Maryland’s new Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program. The bill would delay the start date and make administrative changes to the program. The legislature also sought to
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A group of federal agencies recently announced a joint inter-agency commitment to enforcing civil rights and consumer protections as they apply to the quickly emerging AI technologies in the workplace. On April 25, 2023, The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held a joint press conference to recognize the growing use of AI in employment decision-making and
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Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has signed two new bills into law that provide greater privacy protections for employees, while ending the use of nondisclosure, confidentiality and non-disparagement agreements for employees who have experienced sexual harassment. The governor signed Senate Bill 1040, which prohibits employers from using an employee’s social security number (SSN), or any derivative of it, as a means of identification. Employers are also prohibited from including an employee’s SSN on any identification card
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New York City will begin enforcing its new law that regulates the use of AI in hiring tools, on July 5, 2023. The city has delayed enforcement of the new law, called Local Law 144, since January, due to confusion over the implementation of bias audits in AI systems that employers use for screening job candidates. The law mandates that employers must inform job candidates beforehand if they use automated hiring systems and conduct a
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A new bill from Washington would give the federal government broad authority to police apps and technologies that it believes foreign adversaries are using to communicate or collect information on Americans. Sponsored by Senator Mark Warner, the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (RESTRICT) Act, would give the Secretary of Commerce the authority to review and prohibit certain transactions, communications and information sharing between persons in the United States
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A recent decision by the U.S. Copyright Office established that the United States does not recognize copyright protection for images created by AI-driven image generators. The Copyright Office recently granted copyright registration for a comic book, Zarya of the Dawn, after an individual filed an application with the agency. In the application, the individual listed herself as the author and stated that she created the comic book. Shortly after registering the work, however, the Copyright Office
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New guidance from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is helping employees to understand the limits of non-disparagement clauses in severance agreements. According to a memo to NLRB field offices, lawful severance agreements are still permitted, as long as they do not contain overly broad provisions that affect employee rights to engage with one another to improve their working conditions. As noted in the recent McLaren Macomb decision, the Board reaffirmed longstanding precedent that employers violate the
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Has your employer told you not to discuss or compare your salary with co-workers? Your employer is wrong. You may freely discuss your salary and benefits in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Your employer cannot lawfully stop you. State and federal law protect an employee’s ability to discuss their pay freely and openly without fear of retaliation or termination. Washington, D.C. Employees In the District of Columbia, the D.C. Wage Transparency Act restricts employers from
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The District of Columbia recently updated it human rights laws to include a revised definition of sex discrimination in employment. The updated law defines sex as “the state of being biologically male, female, or intersex, including associated medical conditions and reproductive health decisions.” The revision expands the prohibition on sex-based discrimination to include adverse actions based on reproductive health decisions. The revised law prohibits employers from engaging in retaliatory, coercive, or interfering behavior due to
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