HB 985 – Enacts the Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2006. (See Business Law)

HB 1079 – Self-governance. Provides hospital medical staff with the right of self-governance on certain issues.

HB 1114 & HB 1139 – State contracts. Requires that all state service contracts awarded after August 28, 2006, must include specifications that employees of contractors or subcontractors be citizens of the United States.

HB 1128 – Occupational diseases. Adds certain types of cancer to the list of diseases presumed to have been suffered in the line of duty by a uniformed member of a paid fire department for purposes of retirement.

HB 1187 – Unlawful employment practices. Makes an abusive work environment an unlawful employment practice, and provides for employer liability for an unlawful employment practice committed by an employee. Prohibits retaliation against an employee because he or she opposed any unlawful employment practice or made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any internal proceedings, arbitration and mediation proceedings, or legal actions. Provides for relief as deemed necessary by the court. Requires an action commence no later than one year after the last act that comprises the alleged unlawful employment act. Remedies in the bill are in addition to the remedies under the Workers’ Compensation Law. Allows a person who believes he or she has been subjected to an unlawful employment act to accept workers’ compensation benefits in connection with the act, but having done so, may not bring an action under the provisions of the bill for the same act.

HB 1286 – Release of employee job related information. Creates a rebuttable presumption that an employer who discloses job-related information about a former or current employee to a prospective employer or law enforcement agency either by letter or telephone is acting in good faith and grants immunity from civil liability for the disclosure or its consequences. Allows the presumption of good faith to be overcome if there is clear and convincing evidence that the information disclosed was knowingly, recklessly, deliberately, or maliciously false or was disclosed in violation of a non-disclosure agreement or applicable law.

HB 1458 – Prohibitions discrimination. (See also SB 716) Prohibits discrimination based upon a person’s sexual orientation Specifies that discrimination includes incidents in which unfair treatment results from the guilty party’s mere assumption about the victim (e.g., race, religion, sexual orientation, etc.), whether or not those assumptions are true or false.

SB 610 – Labor union dues. Requires employee authorization for public employee labor unions to withhold fees from paychecks

SB 620 – Prevailing wage. Modifies the prevailing wage law.

SB 663 – Employer purchasing alliances for group health insurance. (See Insurance Law)

SB 666 - Creates the volunteer firefighter job protection act. Bars public and private employers from firing an employee for joining any fire department, as a volunteer, or for missing work for responding to an emergency as a volunteer firefighter. Any employee who is fired in violation of this act has a cause of action for a civil suit against the employer in violation of the act. The employee may seek reinstatement to the employee’s previous position, reinstatement of fringe benefits, back wages, and reinstatement of seniority rights. The employee must bring an action within one year of the violation.

SB 700 – Equal pay. Removes references to male and female employees and requires equal pay for the same work regardless of gender.

SB 716 – Prohibits discrimination. (See also HB 1458) Prohibits discrimination based upon a person’s sexual orientation including unlawful housing practices, the denial of loans or other financial assistance, the denial of membership into an organization relating to the selling or renting of dwellings, unlawful employment practices, and the denial of the right to use public accommodations. Defines “sexual orientation” as male or female heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality by inclination, practice, identity or expression, or having a self-image or identity not traditionally associated with one’s biological gender. Also specifies that discrimination includes cases where unfair treatment results from the guilty party’s mere assumptions about the victim’s characteristics of race, religion, etc., whether or not such assumptions are true or false.

SB 734 – Public Employee Due Process Act. Prohibits public employees from appealing a dismissal or demotion if an employee has a right to appeal under the State Personnel Law (Merit System) or if the employee is in a policymaking position without a right to appeal. Establishes due process procedure for appealing a dismissal or demotion. Requires public bodies to serve written notice upon employees they intend to terminate, discipline, or demote containing the grounds for the intended action, and notification of the right to request a hearing. Requires the public body to provide the employee with a four-month remediation plan before charging the employee if the charges are based on inefficiency, incompetence, or insubordination. Requires hearings take place at least sixty days after the charges are served , and requires the decision be based on the doctrine of just cause. Contains provisions concerning the hearing process by the state board of mediation, including the selection of a hearing officer, disclosure of witnesses, and representation. Prohibits officials who are required to be appointed by the governor, from appealing their removal. Requires permanent teachers be notified of their right to a hearing by the board of education or the state board of mediation and their right to request such a hearing.

SB 735 – Modifies procedures for filing documents with the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission. (See Administrative Law/State Government)

SB 755 – Contract carriers. Clarifies employment security coverage for owner/operators who lease or contract vehicles to common or contract carriers.