The Montana employment
law guide

Employers may not discharge or discriminate against an employee for doing any of the following: Filing a complaint under the Montana Human Rights Act, participating in an investigation or proceeding under the Montana Human Rights Act, or reporting a violation of the law or a public policy, including the Montana Constitution and administrative rules.

COBRA is a federal law that allows many employees to continue their health insurance benefits after their employment ends. Because federal COBRA only applies to employers that have 20 or more employees, many states have adopted their own versions of the law, which are known as “mini-COBRAs.” Montana has a limited mini-COBRA, which allows employees to continue their coverage for disability insurance for up to one year after their work hours are reduced. However, employers may choose not to provide this benefit.

Montana only permits drug testing of applicants in safety-sensitive positions. This includes employees who work in or manage hazardous work environments, security positions, positions affecting public safety or health, positions with mandatory driving duties, or positions with fiduciary responsibility for the employer.

Employers who run background checks should ensure they’re following the requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which are available here.

Montana does not require any private-sector employers to conduct background checks on their employees.

Employers may not obtain a credit report on an employee or applicant unless they clearly and accurately inform them that a report, including what types of information it will contain, may be made.

This notice must be in writing and the employer must mail or deliver it to the applicant or employee within three days of requesting the report. The notice must inform the applicant or employee that they have the right to be informed of the nature, scope, and substance of the report requested.

Montana has adopted the EEOC Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures. As a result, employers in Montana may not ask about applicants about arrest records and may only ask about conviction records if there is a direct relationship to the job.

Employers may choose how often they pay their employees. However, they must inform an employee in writing of their rate of pay and the date of paydays upon written request. Upon written request, employers must inform employees before they start work of their rate of pay and dates of paydays. The employer may provide the notice to employees individually or by posting it in a prominent location.

An employer may not require or request an employee or an applicant for employment to do the following: Disclose a user name or password for the purpose of allowing the employer or employer’s agent to access a personal social media account of the employee or job applicant; access personal social media in the presence of the employer or employer’s agent; or divulge any personal social media or information contained on personal social media.

Montana is an “all parties” consent state, meaning every person on a phone call must be aware that they are being monitored or recorded and have consented by placing or continuing the phone call. This means employers may monitor or record phone calls between their own employees only if each employee has been given notice that phone calls may be monitored or recorded. However, phone calls placed by employees to outside parties may not be monitored or recorded unless the outside party has also consented.

Get our Compliance Calendar to stay on top of deadlines throughout the year: View it on your computer. Click + Google Calendar in the lower right to add it to your Google Calendar and subscribe to all updates. You can also download a calendar (.ics) file that you can import into iCal or Outlook, or download a PDF to your computer.