State Laws on Off-Duty Conduct

April 13, 2006

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Some states have laws that protect employees from being discriminated against or otherwise disciplined by employers for engaging in off-duty conduct that is not against the law. Examples of such conduct would be smoking, bungee jumping, and participating in demonstrations.

While you can control the employee's behavior at work, in states that address off-duty conduct, you cannot take action against employees for what they do on their own time, as long as their behavior is legal. Some state's laws afford protection from discrimination to employees for lawful, off-duty conduct.