What Employers Need to Know About the New Alabama Concealed Gun Law

Alabama’s new gun law went into effect on Jan. 1, which eliminated the requirement for a permit to carry a concealed firearm or in a vehicle in the state – however, employers should be aware that this new law does not explicitly permit a person to open carry or bring a concealed firearm into a business or workplace.

Alabama employers should also note that the new law does not change existing law, passed in 2013, restricting employers from prohibiting employees from having firearms in their vehicles in the employer’s parking lot under certain circumstances. The 2013 law remains in effect, although the new law made a few non-substantive changes. A refresher of the 2013 law is as follows:

An Alabama public or private employer may not restrict or prohibit an employee from transporting or storing a lawfully possessed pistol, or ammunition for that pistol, in a motor vehicle that is parked or being operated in a public or private parking area, provided the employee satisfies the following requirements:

• • The motor vehicle is being operated or parked in a permitted location; and
  • The pistol is either (a) in a motor vehicle attended by the employee and kept from ordinary observation within the vehicle or (b) in an unattended motor vehicle but kept from ordinary observation and locked in a compartment, container, or in the interior of the person’s vehicle or in a compartment or container securely affixed to the vehicle (such as a toolbox).

A public or private employer also may not restrict or prohibit an employee from transporting or storing a lawfully possessed “firearm legal for use for hunting in Alabama” if the employee meets the same requirements listed above and satisfies the following additional conditions:

• • The employee has a valid Alabama hunting license;
  • The firearm is always unloaded on the property;
  • It is during a permitted Alabama hunting season;
  • The employee has never been convicted of a crime of violence, including domestic violence; and
  • The employee has no documented prior workplace incidents involving the threat of physical injury or which resulted in physical injury.

If a situation arises where the employer believes the employee presents a risk to themselves or others, then the employer may ask the employee if he/she has a firearm in their vehicle. And if the employee answers “yes,” then the employer is permitted to make necessary further inquiries into whether the employee has satisfied the above requirements. If not, the employer may then take adverse employment action against the employee, in the employer’s discretion. But if the employee has satisfied all the law’s requirements, then the employer may not take any adverse employment action based solely on the presence of a firearm in the employee’s vehicle.

The employer is permitted to complain to law enforcement if there is credible evidence that the employee’s vehicle contains a firearm prohibited by state or federal law, that the firearm is stolen, or that there are other prohibited or illegal items in the vehicle. The employer is also permitted to make a complaint to law enforcement if the employee makes a threat of bodily harm to themselves or others. An employer may then only take an adverse employment action against an employee for having an illegal or stolen firearm, or other prohibited items, after a legally valid search has been conducted by law enforcement.

An employee has a cause of action against the employer for any adverse employment action that is taken even though the employee is in full compliance with the law, but the employee must first make a demand to the employer and provide 45 days for the employer to respond. The employee can recover lost wages and benefits and other compensation caused by the adverse employment action, as well as attorneys’ fees.  

Alabama employers should review their policies and procedures to ensure they remain in compliance with the 2013 law.

Please contact Michael Turner or any member of Phelps’ Labor and Employment team if you have questions or need compliance advice or guidance.