Intro to Delaware Labor Laws

The Delaware Legislature has amended the state’s anti-discrimination law to add housing status as a protected characteristic in employment practices. Employers with 4 or more employees in Delaware are banned from discriminating against the permanence or habitability of an employee or their family’s overnight residence. Employers should review and update their equal employment policies accordingly.

Delaware employers with 4 or more employees are prohibited from asking candidates to provide their age, birth date, or dates they attended an educational institution on an initial employment application, with limited exceptions. Employers may require this information if there is a bona fide occupational qualification or to comply with a state or federal law.

Similar to the federal WARN Act (though with an expanded definition of a “covered employer” and additional notice requirements), Delaware law will require certain employers doing business in the state to provide at least 60 days of advance notice about mass layoffs, plant closings and relocations.

Delaware passed a new law legalizing the use of recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older. Like similar laws in other states, Delaware employers are not required to permit the use of cannabis at work or during work time and may take disciplinary action against an employee who tests positive for cannabis. Employers should continue to monitor updates and are encouraged to review their current policies and testing procedures in accordance with this law.

Delaware is poised to join ten states and DC in offering statutory paid leave benefits as Delaware’s General Assembly recently passed a bill that would provide up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave benefits for covered employees. Employer & employee contributions towards the program would begin January 1, 2025, and benefits would be available to employees beginning January 1, 2026. Employers with fewer than 10 employees would be exempt from the bill’s requirements, while employers with 10-24 employees will only be required to comply with the parental leave requirements. Governor Carney is expected to sign the bill, after which it would become law. Impacted customers should continue to monitor this situation.

Among other requirements, the law requires distribution of an information sheet to new and existing employees for employers with four or more employees, and requires sexual harassment prevention training be completed for employees of employers with 50 or more employees.