The Vermont Employment Law Guide

Employers in Vermont must pay their employees at least weekly unless they give employees advance written notice that pay will be biweekly or semimonthly.

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

Employers are required to conduct background checks on the following types of employees or applicants: School personnel, including student teachers, superintendents, and employees of contractors who may have unsupervised contact with children; Work-study students who will have unsupervised contact with schoolchildren; Childcare personnel; Personnel, including volunteers, who work for a commissioner-designated shelter; Personnel, including principal officers and board members, of a cannabis dispensary; Home health agency personnel who provide direct care; Residential treatment program personnel, including volunteers and student interns, who may have unsupervised contact with children; Personnel who work for an emergency management organization and who have access to facilities, materials, or information that requires a security clearance.

Employers in Vermont may not obtain credit reports on their applicants or employees unless under the following circumstances: The information is required by State or federal law or regulation; The job involves access to confidential financial information; The employer is a financial institution or credit union; The job is for a law enforcement officer, emergency medical personnel, or a firefighter; The job requires a financial fiduciary responsibility to the employer or a client of the employer, including the authority to issue payments, collect debts, transfer money, or enter into contracts; The employer can demonstrate that the information is a valid and reliable predictor of employee performance in the specific job; The job involves access to an employer’s payroll information.

Under the “Ban the Box” law, employers are prohibited from asking about criminal histories on initial employment applications. If employers ask for criminal history information later in the hiring process, applicants must be given the opportunity to explain the information, including any rehabilitation.

Employers may test their applicants and employees for drugs or alcohol only if they follow certain requirements, as outlined below.

Applicants: Employers may test applicants only if all the following conditions are met: The employer offers them the job conditioned on passing a drug or alcohol test; The employer provides written notice of the testing procedures and a list of drugs they test for; The employer provides a written statement that therapeutic levels of medically prescribed drugs will not be reported; The employer follows the following state requirements of administering the test.

Employees: Employers may test employees only if all the following conditions are met: The employer has probable cause to believe that the employee is using drugs on the job or is under the influence of drugs on the job; The employer has a rehabilitation program available to the employee; The employer does not discharge an employee for a positive test if the employee completes the rehabilitation program; The employer follows the following state requirements of administering the test.

Employers are generally required to accommodate off-duty medical use of marijuana.

Employers in Vermont may not discharge or discriminate against an employee for most types of whistleblowing. Examples of protected activity include the following: Exercising their rights regarding workplace safety, such as reporting an unsafe working condition; Filing a complaint or participating in an investigation regarding discrimination; Filing a complaint or participating in an investigation of a violation regarding parental and family leave; Filing a complaint regarding a violation of the Vermont Polygraph Protection Act; Filing a claim or participating in a proceeding regarding a violation of state labor law; Filing a claim or participating in an investigation regarding a violation of military-leave laws.

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.” Vermont’s mini-COBRA allows employees to continue their coverage for up to 18 months. Employers must provide an employee with a notice of their COBRA rights within 30 days of the triggering event.

Employers may not ask about a prospective employee’s current or past compensation at any point during the hiring process. This prohibition includes seeking information from or through a third party. Employers also may not use current or past compensation to satisfy minimum or maximum requirements or to determine whether to interview a candidate.

Employers with five or more employees who do not offer insurance to all their employees must pay a “Health Care Fund Contribution.” The Health Care Fund Contribution Assessment (HCFCA) is administered by the Department of Taxes.

The assessment is paid for every uncovered full-time equivalent employee. To find out how many uncovered full-time equivalent employees an employer has, an employer must do the following: Divide the total hours worked by all uncovered employees during a quarter by 520. No matter how many hours are worked by an employee in a quarter, no more than 520 hours can be assessed for one individual employee. Round down to the nearest whole number and then subtract 4. The reason 4 is subtracted is because the first four uncovered employees are exempt for all employers. The resulting number is the number of uncovered employees for which the employer must pay the assessment. Multiply the number of uncovered employees by the rate. The resulting number is the contribution the employer must pay to the Health Care Fund.

A Vermont employer may not require, request, or coerce an employee or applicant to do any of the following: Disclose a username, password, or other means of authentication, or turn over an unlocked personal electronic device for the purpose of accessing the employee’s or applicant’s social media account; Access a social media account in the presence of the employer; Divulge or present any content from the employee’s or applicant’s social media account; Change the account or privacy settings of the employee’s or applicant’s social media account to increase third-party access to its contents; Add anyone, including the employer, to their list of contacts associated with a social media account.

Employers may request that an employee share specifically identified content for the purpose of: Complying with the employer’s legal and regulatory obligations; Investigating an allegation of the unauthorized transfer or disclosure of an employer’s proprietary or confidential information or financial data through an employee’s or an applicant’s social media account; Investigating an allegation of unlawful harassment, threats of violence in the workplace, or discriminatory or disparaging content concerning another employee.

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