Latest Publications

Share:

PAGA Reform: How California Employers Can Take Action Now to Limit Potential Liability

In 2004, California enacted the Private Attorneys’ General Act (PAGA), a first-in-the-nation mechanism to expand the enforcement of the state’s robust Labor Code protections for employees. Proponents of PAGA celebrated its...more

PWFA Final Rule is Now Published — It Takes Effect June 18, 2024

On April 15, 2024, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published a final rule to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) (the “Rule”). By way of background, the PWFA requires covered employers to...more

New Legislation Extends California Noncompete Ban to Agreements Signed Outside the Golden State and May Impose Notice Obligations...

As we’ve previously written, California already takes a strong position against employee noncompete agreements. State law bans such agreements (with extremely limited exception) and imposes significant penalties on employers...more

PAGA Litigation Remains in Play Following California Supreme Court Decision

In June 2022, we reported on the Viking River case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the question of whether claims brought under the California Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) could be compelled to arbitration...more

Protecting Trade Secrets In States That Disfavor Noncompetes

Federal and state laws are becoming increasingly unfriendly to employers' efforts to impose post-employment restrictions on workers via nonsolicit and noncompete agreements. However, even in states that have historically...more

As We Approach 2023, Where are We With COVID and the Workplace?

COVID-19 appears poised to remain with us on a long-term basis, and with every passing day, guidelines appear to become more lax. For example, the CDC now requires a person who tests positive to isolate for five days as...more

New Federal Law Limits Mandatory Arbitration of Sexual Harassment or Assault Claims

We have previously written on various states’ efforts to limit mandatory arbitration agreements in the employment context. Now, employers in all 50 states need to be careful when requiring mandatory arbitration of employment...more

California COVID Supplemental Sick Leave is Back

California COVID supplemental sick leave is back. After Governor Newsom and the State Legislature came to an agreement earlier this year for what the 2022 version of supplemental sick leave would look like, mirror bills (AB...more

California Expands Crackdown on Non-Disclosure and Non-Disparagement Provisions

As we recently reported, California has expanded the list of claims that cannot be subject to non-disclosure provisions in the employment or housing context. SB 331, which takes effect on January 1, 2022, expands the state’s...more

The Country is Reopening – Can We Plan a Big Corporate Event?

As businesses reopen and more and more employees become fully vaccinated, many companies are asking an important question: When can we gather together in large groups to attend conferences, retreats, and the like? ...more

Best Practices for Returning to Work in a Vaccinated World

For more than a year, the world has reacted to and adjusted for COVID-19. Now, with the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines, there is light at the end of the tunnel and individuals and companies can start moving forward and planning...more

New California Laws Set Stage for the Future

The Biden Plan for Strengthening Worker Organizing Collective Bargaining and Unions specifically endorses several California employment laws as models for the whole country. Accordingly, the many new employment laws set to...more

‘You are my Employer, not the Thought Police’ – Employee Online Activity in a Time of Turmoil

A number of outlets have reported that social media use has significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, as many are quarantined at home with time to kill. Meanwhile, just as social media use has spiked, the...more

California Imposes New Supplemental Paid Sick Leave for Certain Food Industry Workers

Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an Executive Order mandating 80 hours of supplemental paid sick leave for COVID-19 related reasons be provided to “food sector workers” at private companies with 500 or more...more

Five Do’s and Don’ts for an Effective Virtual Mediation

With shelter-in-place orders in effect in almost every state in the country, videoconferences are now the norm for conducting everyday business. Over the last several weeks, Foley attorneys have completed a number of virtual...more

Department of Labor Issues Temporary Rule Regarding Families First Coronavirus Response Act

On April 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) released a temporary rule (“the Rule”), at 29 C.F.R. § 826, regarding administration of the paid leave provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“the...more

California Significantly Strengthens Its Lactation Accommodation Law. Other States Are Likely to Follow

Earlier this year, the New York City Commission on Human Rights published robust model policies for employers to use in guiding compliance with the city’s lactation accommodation law. Not to be outdone, California has enacted...more

So, What Exactly is the Interactive Process?

Most employers are well aware that the Americans with Disabilities Act (and similar state laws) require employers to engage in the “interactive process” when an employee requests a disability accommodation. But in actual...more

Whatever the Court Decides It Won’t End the Debate Over Class Action vs. Individual Arbitration

The interplay between arbitration agreements and employment-based class actions has been the subject of extensive and often conflicting legal opinions for the last half-decade. While many hoped the issue would gain clarity...more

Potential #MeToo-Motivated Laws Address More Than Just Sexual Harassment

The #MeToo movement has spawned several bills, many of which are aimed at prohibiting private arbitration of sexual harassment claims or outlawing confidentiality provisions in settlement agreements addressing sexual...more

The Jig Is Up: California Supreme Court Asserts New Independent Contractor Test Impacting The “Gig Economy” and Companies Engaging...

Yesterday (April 30, 2018) the California Supreme Court issued an opinion on the appropriate test to employ when assessing “independent contractor” classification under state law. The Court’s unanimous decision throws out...more

You Signed A Consent Decree. So Now What?

Any employer who has been on the receiving end of a lawsuit filed by the EEOC or a similar state agency is aware that a standard requirement of settling this type of case is entering into a “consent decree.” A consent decree...more

California Changes the Rules for Calculating Overtime on Employee Bonuses

The California Supreme Court just threw employers a serious curveball with respect to how employers must calculate overtime. And it did so by claiming employers should have known of this calculation method even though the...more

Is Bullying Harassment?

California is oft thought of as a trailblazer in the arena of sexual harassment law. Because California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act mirrors Title VII, practitioners and employers in other states often look to California...more

“Shifting” Away From Hourly Pay ... Be Aware of Potential Pitfalls

In many states, the practice of paying nonexempt employees a “day rate,” “shift rate” or “job rate,” is gaining in popularity. A day rate occurs when a set amount of pay is guaranteed for a shift without regard to the hours...more

31 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 2

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide