| 1 | 1 | | BILL AS INTRODUCED H.344 |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | 2025 Page 1 of 2 |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | VT LEG #379817 v.1 |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | H.344 1 |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | Introduced by Representatives Logan of Burlington, Bos-Lun of Westminster, 2 |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | Casey of Montpelier, Cina of Burlington, Cordes of Bristol, 3 |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | Headrick of Burlington, Hooper of Burlington, McCann of 4 |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | Montpelier, McGill of Bridport, Priestley of Bradford, and 5 |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | Tomlinson of Winooski 6 |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | Referred to Committee on 7 |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | Date: 8 |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | Subject: Labor; employment practices; good cause termination of employment 9 |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to establish a 10 |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | good cause standard for termination of employment. 11 |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | An act relating to creating a good cause standard for termination of 12 |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | employment 13 |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 14 |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | Sec. 1. 21 V.S.A § 495 is amended to read: 15 |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | § 495. UNLAWFUL EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE 16 |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | * * * 17 |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | (b)(1) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to 18 |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | discharge an employee for other than good cause shown. As used in this 19 |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | subdivision, “good cause” means either a reasonable, good-faith reason for 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.344 |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | 2025 Page 2 of 2 |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | VT LEG #379817 v.1 |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | discharge related to a legitimate business reason or that the employee has been 1 |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | employed by the employer for fewer than 90 days. “Good cause” does not 2 |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | include reasons for discharge that are trivial, arbitrary, capricious, or otherwise 3 |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | unrelated to a legitimate business reason. A “legitimate business reason” 4 |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | includes the employee’s failure to satisfactorily perform job duties. 5 |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | (2) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to limit: 6 |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | (A) the rights of employers to discharge employees for good cause 7 |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | shown; or 8 |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | (B) any other rights of employees provided pursuant to law or in a 9 |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | contract or collective bargaining agreement. 10 |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | (3) An employer shall post notice of the provisions of this subsection in 11 |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | a form provided by the Commissioner in a place conspicuous to employees at 12 |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | the employer’s place of business. 13 |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | * * * 14 |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE 15 |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | This act shall take effect on July 1, 2025. 16 |
|---|