It is time to take stock of where we are with potential new employment-related laws now that we have passed the first major deadline in California’s legislative calendar. May 24 marked the deadline for pending legislation to...more
Existing law prohibits a person from discharging an employee or in any manner discriminating, retaliating, or taking any adverse action against any employee or applicant for employment because the employee or applicant...more
1/10/2024
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Harassment ,
Health and Safety ,
Labor Code ,
Minimum Wage ,
OSHA ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
Retaliation ,
Sick Leave ,
Unfair Competition ,
Wage and Hour
Employers, it is time, once again, to update your existing handbooks and employment policies. California enacted several new laws that will affect your business beginning Jan. 1, 2024. On the flip side, in a win for...more
Navigating the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) landscape can be overwhelming for California employers. To help employers stay updated on the ever-evolving statute, this article highlights key takeaways from our recent...more
Several developments have surfaced in the past few months regarding PAGA standing in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Viking River Cruises decision. Payne & Fears is hosting an interactive, in-person event that aims to...more
Part One of a Series -
Americans are serial entrepreneurs, consistently starting new businesses. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that more than 432,000 new businesses applied for tax IDs or Employer Identification...more
Introducing: the California Civil Rights Department No, this is not a new government agency. Rather, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) was rebranded as the Civil Rights Department, or CRD, to more...more
9/23/2022
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Food Service Workers ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Third-party claims seeking damages for faulty workmanship that results in property damage are covered under general liability policies in most jurisdictions. Virginia is not one of them. A federal district court recently...more
The California Court of Appeal recently provided much needed clarification regarding the application of Proposition 65, which prohibits businesses from knowingly and intentionally exposing individuals to certain chemicals...more
Insurers regularly argue that commercial general liability (“CGL”) policies are not performance bonds and therefore there is no coverage for claims seeking damages for defective or faulty workmanship. Insurers also argue...more
On March 3, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021. The act passed both houses of the legislature with broad bipartisan support. The act, which...more
On Feb. 9, 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed new legislation, COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (Senate Bill 114), into law that will require all employers with more than 25 employees to provide their employees with up to 40...more
Gov. Gavin Newsom closed California’s 2020-2021 Legislative Session with a flurry of bill signings, many of which created and/or updated employment-related laws. A few of these bills were “emergency bills” which became...more
12/17/2021
/ Cal-OSHA ,
California Family Rights Act (CFRA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Newsom ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Medical Leave ,
OSHA ,
State Labor Laws ,
Workplace Safety
Ethical behavior is vital to a business’s reputation with both the public and its workforce, and society is paying close attention to how businesses and individuals respond to the many issues that affect our daily lives. It...more
On Oct. 20, 2021, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) announced a new effort to identify and correct violations of the Fair Chance Act, which seeks to reduce barriers to employment for individuals...more
In this Webinar, we will identify the major concepts in ethics, discuss the internal and external influences weighing on you and your workforce, identify the elements of an ethical approach to decision making, and discuss why...more
On Oct. 7, 2021, Governor Newsom signed into law SB 331, or the “Silenced No More Act,” which updates existing laws to place new restrictions on nondisclosure and non-disparagement provisions in agreements with employees and...more
On Sept. 22, 2021, Governor Newsom signed AB 701, aimed at regulating quotas in warehouse distribution centers, into law. Here is what employers need to know....more
Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, LLC, No. S259172, 2021 WL 2965438 (Cal. Jul. 15, 2021)
Summary: The term “regular rate of compensation” under California Labor Code section 226.7 is synonymous with the term “regular rate...more
8/11/2021
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
FEHA ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Regulations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Over-Time ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Rate of Pay ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
Welcome to the first edition of a new series, “Case in Point.” During these short videos, we’ll recap several of the key employment cases from the last few months and discuss what they mean for employers in California.
In...more
One year after COVID caused companies to send droves of employees home to work remotely, how well did those employees do at protecting their clients’ and their company’s confidential information and what can they do better...more
Donohue v. AMN Services., LLC, No. S253677, 2021 WL 728871 (Cal. Feb. 25, 2021) -
Summary: Employers cannot engage in the practice of rounding time punches in the meal period context.
Time records that show...more
Today, the California Supreme Court held that employers cannot use the practice of rounding time punches in the meal period context, and that unrounded time records that show noncompliant meal periods raise a rebuttable...more
On January 29, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued new employer guidance on mitigating and preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. This guidance is intended to help employers...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on January 15 upheld the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (“FMCSA”) determination that federal law preempted California’s meal and rest break rules (“MRB...more