California employers know that the new year inevitably brings new workplace laws that are finalized at the end of the state’s legislative session in the fall. This year, state lawmakers considered over 2,700 bills – the most...more
10/16/2023
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Automatic Stay ,
California ,
Caregivers ,
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Notice Requirements ,
Paid Leave ,
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Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Strike ,
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Workplace Violence ,
Workplace Violence Prevention Programs
The California Supreme Court ignored guidance from the U.S. Supreme Court Monday when it ruled that employees can still proceed with parts of their lawsuits against employers even if the PAGA portions of their claims are...more
A federal appeals court just paved the way for California employers to continue utilizing mandatory arbitration agreements with employees and job applicants. You may be familiar with the litigation roller coaster of...more
Employers can enforce arbitration agreements in California to the extent they require an employee to arbitrate individual claims under the state’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), according to an 8 to 1 SCOTUS ruling...more
6/16/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Collective Actions ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Preemption ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
Viking River Cruises Inc v Moriana
- The Ninth Circuit rules that portions of Assembly Bill 51 are not preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) and lifts a lower court’s injunction that barred the law from taking effect.
- The court did rule that...more
A federal judge just extended the reprieve that permitted California employers to escape the grasp of a newly enacted law that aimed to prevent them from utilizing mandatory arbitration agreements with their employees. After...more
California employers just received a last-minute reprieve from complying with a newly enacted law that aims to prevent them from utilizing mandatory arbitration agreements with their employees – at least for now. A federal...more
First-year Governor Gavin Newsom signed some significant pieces of legislation in recent days that will impact employers across California – ranging from a ban on mandatory arbitration agreements, to a complete rewrite to the...more
10/15/2019
/ Amended Legislation ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Fees ,
Bias ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Delays ,
DFEH ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Governor Newsom ,
Hairstyle Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Mandatory Arbitration ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
Privacy Laws ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statute of Limitations
When it comes to paying your arbitration fees in whole and on time, the stakes for California employers just got more serious. Under legislation just signed by Governor Newsom, a drafting party that fails to pay arbitration...more
• Under a new law just signed into effect by the California Governor and set to take effect on January 1, 2020, employers will no longer be able to compel workers into arbitration for state discrimination claims or those...more
10/14/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
FEHA ,
Labor Code ,
Mandatory Arbitration ,
Preemption ,
Private Right of Action ,
State Labor Laws
February 22 was the last day to introduce new legislative proposals for the 2019 California legislative year. A whopping 2,576 bill were introduced before the deadline, making for an extremely busy legislative year ahead....more
2/27/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Governor Brown ,
Governor Vetoes ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Local Ordinance ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Misclassification ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Paid Leave ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
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
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
The #MeToo movement and the national focus on sexual harassment have sparked significant legislative activity at the state level designed to address these issues. Here in California, lawmakers introduced over two dozen bills...more
8/29/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Governor Brown ,
Mandatory Arbitration ,
Preemption ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sexual Harassment
Due to some last-minute bargaining between state lawmakers and proponents of a controversial data privacy initiative, California businesses will soon need to prepare to comply with a new state measure designed to protect...more
6/29/2018
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Arbitration ,
Attorney General ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Encryption ,
Minors ,
New Legislation ,
Opt-Outs ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Private Right of Action ,
Right To Cure ,
Right to Delete
As we discussed in our last blog post, California employers received some rare good news in recent days. Bills to expand California’s paid sick leave requirement and to require employers to accommodate medical marijuana use...more
6/1/2018
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Arbitration ,
Board of Directors ,
Breastfeeding ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Data Breach ,
Discrimination ,
DLSE ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Brown ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Immigration Records ,
Liquidated Damages ,
Local Ordinance ,
Pay Data ,
Pending Legislation ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Trucking Industry ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
As we discussed back in January, sexual harassment appears to be the hot topic for the California State Legislature’s 2018 session. This is certainly not a surprise, as issues related to sexual harassment and the #MeToo...more
2/21/2018
/ Adverse Action ,
Arbitration ,
Chamber of Commerce ,
Civil Code ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Defamation ,
DFEH ,
Domestic Violence ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
FEHA ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hotels ,
Leave of Absence ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Lobbyists ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Personal Liability ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Public Agencies ,
Record Retention ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Release of Claims ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Retaliation ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Stalking ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
The California Legislature reconvened on January 3 to begin the second year of the 2017-18 legislative session. As anticipated, sexual harassment appears to be the “hot topic” for the Legislature this year, with nearly a...more
1/8/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Hotels ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unions ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies
The battle over organizing workers in the on-demand economy continues to heat up. Yesterday, a federal court in Washington dismissed a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others challenging the City of Seattle’s...more
8/2/2017
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Chamber of Commerce ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dismissals ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Local Ordinance ,
Lyft ,
NLRA ,
Preemption ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Price-Fixing ,
Ridesharing ,
State Action Immunity ,
Uber ,
Unions