Category Archives: Delaware Specific

Recently Enacted Delaware Layoff Notification Law Imposes New Requirements on Delaware Employers

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By Scott A. Holt

This article was updated on August 17, 2018

Effective January 7, 2019, Delaware private employers will need to comply with a new state law requiring 60 days advanced notice to affected employees and government officials of a mass layoff, plant closing or relocation. The new law, known as the Delaware Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (“Delaware WARN”), mirrors in many respects the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN). The Delaware WARN, however, differs from the federal WARN Act in four critical ways.   Continue reading →

Change to Educator Discipline: An Update to Title 14 Chapter 12 of the Delaware Code

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On July 11, Governor Carney signed a bill that changes Title 14, Chapter 12 of the Delaware Code and updates how educators in Delaware are reprimanded in certain instances. State employees who are involved in discipline of teachers, and teachers themselves, should become familiar with the slight, but important, changes that have gone into effect. Continue reading →

Sexual Harassment Training Now Mandated: An Update on the Passage of House Bill 360

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On June 12, 2018 House Bill 360 (HB360) was substituted in the House by House Substitute 1(HS1). It was voted out of Committee on June 20 and the final bill was passed on July 1 by the General Assembly. The final bill that passed had an amendment that changed some of the wording, which we discuss below. This bill will take effect on January 1, 2019. In the meantime, we have broken down the most significant differences between the original bill and its substitute. Continue reading →

Big Legislative Takeaways for Delaware

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Saturday June 30 (and into the wee hours of Sunday July 1) saw the end of the fiscal year and with it came midnight and last minute (literally) deals in the Delaware General Assembly. Here were some of the biggest takeaways that will affect employment law: Continue reading →

New Sexual Harassment Bill on the Horizon

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If you attended our Annual Employment Law Seminar on April 12, then you already know that the ways in which employers deal with sexual harassment is changing. Even if you didn’t attend, you probably have a sense that the cultural attitude towards sexual harassment is changing. This is primarily due to movements like #MeToo and #TimesUp that are striving to bring attention and accountability to issues of sexual harassment. Continue reading →

Delaware Choice of Law News

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Last month, the Delaware Superior Court issued a key ruling on the enforceability of Delaware choice-of-law provisions. These contract clauses provide that, if litigation arises over the terms of a contract (often a settlement agreement or an employment agreement), that the law to be applied to the contract will be Delaware contract law (as opposed to the law of the state where the employee works). Continue reading →

Right-to-work: Right or Wrong?

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Recently there has been a lot of talk in Delaware regarding right-to-work laws.

When a private-sector company is organized, the union will try to negotiate a requirement that all employees either join the union and pay union dues or pay a so-called agency fee for the services provided by the union like negotiations and grievance processing. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) authorizes individual states to outlaw this practice.  Any state who passes such a law is called a “right-to-work state.”

Delaware, like 21 other states, is not a right-to-work state. Delaware Governor Carney wants Delaware to stay that way. Continue reading →