Employment Laws in New Hampshire

Definition of employee. Employee does not include any individual employed by a parent, spouse or child, or any individual in the domestic service of any person.

Definition of employer. Employer does not include a club that is exclusively social; a nonprofit fraternal, charitable, educational or religious association or corporation; or any employer with fewer than six persons in its employ; but does include the state and all its political subdivisions.

Effective July 1, 2006, the definition of employer in New Hampshire includes employees of charitable organizations.

Prohibited employment discrimination. It is an unlawful practice to make employment decisions on the basis of an employee's or job applicant's age, sex, race, color, marital status, physical or mental disability, religious creed, national origin, or sexual orientation, unless based on a bona fide occupational qualification.

Effective January 1, 2007, employers are required to make a reasonable accommodation for an employee with a disability if the employee is otherwise qualified to perform the essential functions of a job, provided the accommodation would not pose an undue hardship on the employer.

Tobacco use. Employment discrimination on the basis of an individual's use of tobacco products outside the course of employment is also prohibited.

Emergency responders. Firefighters, rescue workers and emergency medical personnel have the right to take leave without pay from a place of employment when mobilized after the governor has declared a state of emergency, unless their employer certifies them as essential to its own emergency relief efforts.

Recordkeeping requirements. Employers may record any data required by state or federal law, rule or regulation provided records are kept for compliance and not used as a subterfuge for discrimination.

Posting requirements. Employers must post, in a conspicuous place, notices setting forth requirements for compliance with New Hampshire's Law Against Discrimination and other relevant information that the Commission determines necessary to explain the law.