What is "lawful conduct"? Certainly it would include belonging to an organization the employer doesn’t like, whether it be the local PTA, the Democratic Party, the National Gay & Lesbian Alliance, the KKK or a labor union. A legislative statement enacted with the law states that its purpose is to protect the civil rights of employees under Article I of the state constitution.  That includes free speech, religious freedom, and a host of other individual rights.

But the language of the statute is very general, and could be interpreted as tying the hands of employers when it comes to what employees do when they’re off work.

For example, how does the employee rights law interface with trade secret law? Can UPS prevent its drivers from moonlighting for FedEx? What if a buyer for Office Depot takes a second job buying for Comp USA? Doesn’t that give rise to an inherent conflict of interest that employers have always been able to regulate?

And what about the traditional notion that employees must behave in a way that does not tarnish the company image? Under section 96(k), it’s unclear whether a church can still demand that its Sunday School Director refrain from participating in swingers’ clubs or visiting nude bars, as long as he or she is off duty.

Another issue surrounds the phrase "occurring during nonworking hours away from the employer’s premises." Does the employer’s premises include a home office where an employee does most of his or her work? Does "nonworking hours" mean time the employee is off duty or the time is outside his or her normal work schedule, whether actually working or not?

As of this writing, the new law is more than a year old. Yet, no regulations have been issued by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement to further define any of these terms, or to indicate which claims the Labor Commissioner will pursue and which claims it will decline. And employees may sue privately without filing a complaint with the Labor Commissioner - which means a judge would have to interpret the law.

Bottom line: it may take one or more court decisions to sort this one out.