As the New Hampshire 2003 Legislative Session comes to a close, the following highlights the outcome of certain bills of particular interest to employers.

• SB 53, An Act establishing an advisory board to the labor commissioner and relative to the terms of members of the compensation appeals board (Senator Flanders, District 7).
This bill establishes an advisory board to the labor commissioner, which shall evaluate candidates for the compensation appeals board. The bill also changes the term of members of the compensation appeals board.  Senate Bill 53 passed the Senate with an amendment, which the House subsequently passed.  Governor Benson allowed the bill to become law without his signature on June 9, 2003.  The effective date of this act is January 1, 2004.
• HB 559, An Act relative to grounds for termination of employment (Representative Holden, Hillsborough 48).
This bill protects an employee from discharge or discrimination when the employee has spoken about a matter that is of public importance concerning his or her employment.  Protected speech does not include speech that divulges trade secrets, patents, or certain other confidential information. This would create an additional potential cause of action for employees, who are reassigned, disciplined or terminated. House Bill 559 has been retained in the House Labor Committee, we will monitor this legislation over the summer.
• HB 468, An Act relative to the enforcement of labor protection statutes (Representative Gilman, Grafton 9).
This bill would have allowed the labor commissioner to hold hearings and investigate charges of violations of the labor protection statutes either on his own motion or on an employee complaint.  It would also have allowed the Department to initiate a wage claim and extends the period to file a wage claim from 18 months to 36 months. Passage of this bill would likely lead to an increase in the number of Department of Labor investigation and hearings. House Bill 468 passed the House, but was found Inexpedient to Legislate in the Senate.