HR guides for Pennsylvania employers

What makes Pennsylvania different

Pennsylvania's statewide law is moderate, but the city you operate in can change the answer completely. Get the municipality wrong and the rest of the analysis follows it.

• Anti-discrimination law starts at four employees. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Act applies at 4+ (43 P.S. §954(b)) — well below the federal threshold of 15. A twelve-person Pennsylvania employer is covered by state law while being invisible to Title VII.
• Philadelphia is close to a separate jurisdiction. On top of paid sick leave, the city layers a salary-history ban, Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards, a Fair Workweek predictable-scheduling law for large retail, hospitality and food employers, a wage-theft ordinance, commuter-benefit rules and WARN-style obligations.
• Pittsburgh has its own paid sick days law. Upheld in 2019 and separate from Philadelphia's — two cities, two schemes, neither of which is statewide.
• Criminal history is limited by statute. 18 Pa.C.S. §9125 restricts an employer's use of criminal records to convictions that relate to the applicant's suitability for the job.

Statewide, Pennsylvania has no mini-WARN Act — but note that Philadelphia imposes WARN-style duties of its own, so “federal WARN only” is the right answer for a rural employer and the wrong one inside the city.