Pennsylvania Employment Law explained: where early mistakes cost the most, retaliation timeline, and before timing gets tighter

Pennsylvania's employment law landscape is a study in contrasts. The Pennsylvania Human Rights Act (PHRA, 43 P.S. § 951 et seq.) provides broad anti-discrimination coverage — including employers with 4+ employees, lower than Title VII's 15-employee threshold. But Pennsylvania's minimum wage has been stuck at the $7.25 federal floor since 2009, with no state increase enacted despite repeated legislative efforts. Pennsylvania is one of a shrinking number of states where the minimum wage equals the federal minimum, and its workers earn less protection in that respect than workers in neighboring New York ($16.50/hr) or New Jersey ($15.49/hr).

Pennsylvania Human Rights Act

The PHRA (43 P.S. § 951) prohibits discrimination in employment based on: race, color, religious creed, ancestry, age (40–70), sex, national origin, handicap or disability, familial status, and use of guide animal. Pennsylvania also prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity under Executive Order 2003-10 for state government employers, and the PHRC (Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission) has taken the position that sex discrimination includes discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity for covered private employers. The PHRA applies to employers with 4 or more employees (or any employer for certain types of retaliation). Claims must be filed with the PHRC within 180 days of the discriminatory act — a shorter deadline than the EEOC's 300 days for dual-filed charges. Pennsylvania residents filing an EEOC charge automatically file a dual charge with PHRC due to the worksharing agreement.

Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law

The Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law (43 P.S. § 260.1 et seq.) requires employers to pay employees all wages owed on the regularly scheduled payday. Employers who fail to pay wages are liable for unpaid wages plus liquidated damages of 25% of unpaid wages (if not paid within 30 days after the regular payday) or 25% of unpaid wages plus interest if paid after litigation commences. The WPCL also allows attorney fee recovery. Pennsylvania's liquidated damages (25%) are lower than some states (e.g., New York at 100%), but the attorney fee provision makes individual claims economically viable.

Pennsylvania Non-Compete Agreements

Pennsylvania enforces non-compete agreements under a strict reasonableness analysis, following the standard from Hess v. Gebhard & Co. (Sup. Ct. Pa. 1952) and its progeny. A non-compete is enforceable only if it: (1) is ancillary to a valid employment relationship; (2) is supported by adequate consideration (continued employment alone may not be sufficient in Pennsylvania — a new covenant signed after employment begins requires new consideration such as a promotion, raise, or bonus); (3) is reasonably necessary to protect a legitimate business interest; and (4) is reasonable in duration and geographic scope. Pennsylvania courts do not have a statutory income threshold for banning non-competes (unlike Illinois), but courts are skeptical of broad non-competes and frequently decline to enforce those that extend beyond 1–2 years or cover excessive geographic areas for employees who lack genuine trade secret access.

Philadelphia Wage Equity Ordinance

Philadelphia enacted a Wage Equity Ordinance (Phila. Code § 9-1131) prohibiting employers from asking job applicants about their salary history before making a conditional offer. The ordinance applies to all employers with any employees in Philadelphia and to employment agencies. Employers cannot screen job applicants based on past compensation or refuse to interview based on salary history disclosure requests the applicant declines to answer. The salary history ban is enforced by the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations. Several states have enacted similar laws; Philadelphia's version was among the earlier municipal salary history bans in the country.