Employment Laws in Utah

Employers in Utah must conform to these state rules relating to the employment relationship.

Employee means any person applying for employment with or employed by an employer.

Employer means employers of 15 or more employees within Utah for each working day in each of 20 calendar weeks or more in the current or preceding calendar year, but does not include religions organizations.

Prohibited Employment Discrimination

It is a discriminatory or prohibited employment practice for an employer to refuse to hire, or promote, or to discharge, demote, terminate any person, or to retaliate against, harass, or discriminate with respect to compensation or terms, privileges, and conditions of employment, against any person otherwise qualified, because of:

Discharge of U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident employee. It is a discriminatory practice for any employer to discharge a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident employee while retaining an illegal alien hired in a comparable position if the employer reasonably knows that the retained employee is undocumented.

Refusal to sell alcoholic beverages. A sanction or termination of employment may not be imposed upon any employee of any restaurant, airport lounge, private club, on-premise beer retailer or any other establishment serving alcoholic beverages as a result of the employee having exercised his or her independent judgment to refuse to sell alcoholic beverages to any person the employee considers to be under 21 or under the influence of alcohol or drugs. An employer who terminates an employee or imposes sanctions on an employee for this reason is considered to have discriminated against the employee under the Utah Anti-Discrimination Act.

Protection of Activities in Private Vehicles law. A person, including any employer, may not establish or enforce a policy or rule that has the effect of prohibiting any individual from possessing any item in or on a motor vehicle on any property designated for motor vehicle parking if the effect of the policy or rule constitutes a substantial burden on that individual's free exercise of religion.

Internet Employment Privacy Act. Effective May 14, 2013, the Internet Employment Privacy Act prohibits employers from requesting that an employee or a job applicant disclose a username and/or password that allows access to the employee’s or the applicant’s personal Internet account. An employer may not take any adverse action, fail to hire or otherwise penalize an employee or applicant for failure to disclose this information.

Recordkeeping/Posting Requirements

Any personnel or employment record made or kept by an employer must be preserved for six months from the time they are made or from the date of termination, whichever occurs later.

Records to be retained include application forms, records having to do with hiring, promotion, demotion, transfer, layoff or termination, rates of pay and selection for training or apprenticeship.


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