Either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will be our nation’s next president – and the impact on workplace law will be significant regardless of who prevails. During their campaign trails, each candidate has provided some clues...more
9/12/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Gig Economy ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Over-Time ,
Paid Leave ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Political Candidates ,
Presidential Elections ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Tipped Employees ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Most attention about whether the Biden administration would attempt to adopt a version of California’s notorious “ABC test” for determining whether individuals are properly classified as employees or independent contractors...more
It’s been said that from crisis comes opportunity. And given that the COVID-19 pandemic has handed us the greatest collective crisis in our lifetimes, it should stand to reason that we should now be in the perfect position to...more
5/3/2021
/ Business Operations ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Governance ,
Data Security ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-9 ,
Gig Economy ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Labor Relations ,
Legal Operations ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Remote Working ,
Staffing Agencies ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
The Labor Department finalized a new rule yesterday that aims to make it easier for businesses to classify workers as independent contractors – but the rule faces a very uncertain future given that the Biden administration...more
In a budget deal finalized today and expected to be approved by state lawmakers in a matter of days, the California state legislature has reached an agreement that will see $17.5 million allocated toward enforcement of AB-5...more
California Governor Gavin Newsom just signed into law Executive Order N-51-20 to provide two weeks of supplemental paid sick leave to certain food supply chain workers, provided they are subject to specified qualifying...more
4/17/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Executive Orders ,
Food Service Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Governor Newsom ,
Health and Safety ,
Independent Contractors ,
Operators of Essential Services ,
Paid Leave ,
Public Health ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Sick Leave
After reviewing the 2,203 pieces of proposed legislation introduced in the California legislature by the February 21 deadline, it’s obvious that one issue will dominate debate in the 2020 session: the continued fallout from...more
3/2/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Dynamex ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Exemptions ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Misclassification ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Wednesday, January 8th, saw a state court conclude that California’s controversial new misclassification law doesn’t apply to truck drivers, the second time in the last few weeks that a judge has come down hard on AB-5 for...more
1/10/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Preemption ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
It’s been a long legislative year. And this being Governor Newsom’s first term in office, many observers have been anxiously awaiting to see what approach he takes when it comes to labor and employment legislation. Now all of...more
9/23/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gig Economy ,
Governor Newsom ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Misclassification ,
Pending Legislation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
With just a one-page, single-paragraph Order, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday provided the faintest glimmer of hope for gig economy businesses everywhere – but especially for those in California. The federal...more
It’s been tough to keep up with developments concerning the fallout from the Dynamex case and California’s new ABC test for determining employee/independent contractor status. The past few months have seen several recent...more
7/12/2019
/ ABC Test ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Carve Out Provisions ,
DLSE ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Opinion Letter ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Orders
December 3 was the first day of the new legislative session in California. It was a day of festivities and ceremony, as new members were sworn into office and Democrats had their first taste of the “super-duper majority”...more
While much of the attention this midterm election has been focused on Congress and federal issues - the “blue wave” and a “referendum” on the Trump presidency - California employers know all too well that employment and labor...more
11/7/2018
/ #MeToo ,
ABC Test ,
Administrative Appointments ,
Arbitration ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Earned Income Credit ,
Earned Income Tax ,
Election Results ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Entrepreneurs ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Equity ,
General Elections ,
Gig Economy ,
Governor Vetoes ,
Governors ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Independent Contractors ,
Law Enforcement ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Misclassification ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Gap ,
Political Candidates ,
Popular ,
Portable Benefits ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Budgets ,
State Labor Laws ,
Undocumented Immigrants ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Visas
As we have covered extensively, the California Supreme Court dropped a proverbial bomb earlier this year in the Dynamex case when it adopted a new legal standard known as the “ABC Test,” making it much more difficult for...more
10/31/2018
/ ABC Test ,
Appeals ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Retroactivity ,
Summary Judgment ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Orders
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more
9/17/2018
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Background Checks ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
Collective Action Waivers ,
Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act (CCRAA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Failed Legislation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Freedom of Religion ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Gig Economy ,
Governor Baker ,
Governor Brown ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (ICRAA) ,
Licenses ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
OFCCP ,
Opinion Letter ,
Opioid ,
Over-Time ,
Pay Gap ,
Pending Legislation ,
Portable Benefits ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Ridesharing ,
Right to Work ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Union Dues ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Injury
On August 9, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a lawsuit filed by a group of independent drivers challenging a 2015 ordinance by the City of Seattle that allows ridesharing drivers to organize.
As we have...more
8/22/2018
/ Appeals ,
Dismissals ,
Drivers ,
First Amendment ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Lack of Jurisdiction ,
Local Ordinance ,
NLRA ,
Preemption ,
Ridesharing ,
Ripeness ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
If you’ve been following the legal fight over Seattle’s 2015 proposal to permit ride-sharing drivers who work for companies such as Uber and Lyft to organize and form the country’s first gig economy unions, you might feel...more
5/14/2018
/ Antitrust Litigation ,
Appeals ,
Chamber of Commerce ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Local Ordinance ,
Lyft ,
Price-Fixing ,
Ridesharing ,
State Action Doctrine ,
Uber ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
The gig economy continues to be a popular topic of discussion—for policymakers, politicians, lawyers, the media, and others. However, getting a good handle on the scope of the gig economy can be difficult at best. Traditional...more
As we have previously discussed, one of the hottest gig economy issues to dominate political and public policy debate has been “portable” benefits – the concept that gig economy workers should have flexible, portable benefits...more
February 16 was the deadline to introduce new bills in the California Legislature. By that date, nearly 2,200 bills were introduced. While that may seem like a staggering amount of legislative proposals (especially for a...more
2/28/2018
/ Agricultural Workers ,
Amended Legislation ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Board of Directors ,
Breastfeeding ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Construction Workers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
DLSE ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Training ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FEHA ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Gig Economy ,
Governor Brown ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Human Trafficking ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Independent Contractors ,
Janitorial Services ,
Labor Commissioners ,
Lead Poisoning ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Minimum Wage ,
Minor Children ,
Misclassification ,
Notice Requirements ,
OSHA ,
Over-Time ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Paid Leave ,
Payroll Records ,
Penalties ,
Personal Services ,
Portable Benefits ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Safety ,
Public Sector ,
Public Works ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Testimony ,
Trump Administration ,
Undocumented Immigrants ,
Undue Hardship ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Workplace Safety
Of all the public policy debates surrounding the gig economy of late, one of the hottest topics has been “portable benefits” – the concept that gig economy workers should have flexible, portable benefits that they can take...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes each month in 2017. November was no...more
12/7/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Appeals ,
Attorney General ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Electronic Filing ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Failed Legislation ,
Fair Workweek ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Fines ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gig Economy ,
Harassment ,
Independent Contractors ,
IRS ,
Joint Employers ,
LGBTQ ,
Marijuana ,
Misclassification ,
Paid Leave ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Salary/Wage History ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Tax Penalties ,
Title VII ,
Uber ,
UK ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Schedules ,
Workplace Illness and Injury Reporting
Over the last few months, there has been a lot of discussion about Blockchain technology and its potential to revolutionize and transform the sharing or gig economy. If you’re like me, your first question might be, “What the...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes each month in 2017. October was no...more
11/3/2017
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Appeals ,
Ban the Box ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Training ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Gig Economy ,
Governor Brown ,
GrubHub ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
New Rules ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
Over-Time ,
Parental Leave ,
Preventive Health Care ,
Proposed Rules ,
Restraining Orders ,
Retaliation ,
Salary/Wage History ,
SCOTUS ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers
It’s difficult to glean much from a veto message. However, in vetoing a recent California bill meant to regulate certain aspects of the “innovation” economy, Governor Jerry Brown used some pointed language that some in the...more