The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division just released today the required notification poster for the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) that will soon need to be posted in many workplaces – and...more
The U.S. Department of Labor released a preliminary “Questions and Answers” page today, attempting to answer some preliminary compliance questions related to the new Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which will bring...more
The Senate passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act today, an economic stimulus plan aimed at addressing the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on Americans and introducing paid sick leave and an expanded family and...more
3/18/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Medical Testing ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Sick Leave Act ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Public Health ,
Sick Leave ,
Tax Credits ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment Insurance ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
In an effort to boost the government’s response to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act Saturday, March 14th, an economic stimulus plan aimed...more
3/16/2020
/ Caregivers ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employment Policies ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Medical Testing ,
Paid Leave ,
Pending Legislation ,
Public Health ,
Sick Leave ,
Tax Credits ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment Insurance ,
Unpaid Leave ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
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
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
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
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
Mass shootings have become a tragic reality in the United States. Recent years have witnessed a number of high-profile incidents at schools, workplaces, churches, and other public places. While the country remains deeply...more
10/16/2019
/ Best Practices ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Gun Laws ,
Mass Shootings ,
Red Flags Rule ,
Restraining Orders ,
Risk Mitigation ,
School Shootings ,
State and Local Government ,
Threat Management ,
Workplace Violence
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
Governor Gavin Newsom just signed into law two amendments to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) that will have a direct impact on employers doing business in the state. The new amendments, signed on October 11, 2019...more
10/14/2019
/ Amended Legislation ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Breach ,
Data Collection ,
EEO-1 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exemptions ,
Governor Newsom ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Opt-Outs ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Privacy Laws ,
State Data Breach Notification Statutes
A big focus of the #MeToo movement over the last several years has been on efforts to increase the statute of limitations for bringing sexual harassment claims. Governor Newsom just signed into law Assembly Bill 9 (Reyes),...more
10/11/2019
/ Bias ,
DFEH ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Governor Brown ,
Governor Newsom ,
Governor Vetoes ,
New Legislation ,
Retroactivity ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statute of Limitations
Following San Francisco’s lead, California will soon significantly expand the obligation of most employers to provide break time and a location to express breast milk. The new law, just signed into effect by Governor Newsom...more
10/11/2019
/ Breastfeeding ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Governor Newsom ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
New Legislation ,
Parental Leave ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State Labor Laws
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
As the 2019 legislative year is about to come to a close, there are a number of critical labor and employment proposals still making their way to Governor Newsom’s desk. With just four short weeks remaining for the...more
8/21/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Reporting ,
EEO-1 ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
FEHA ,
Governor Newsom ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Liability ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Local Ordinance ,
Mandatory Arbitration ,
Pending Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Unemployment Benefits
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
Governor Newsom recently signed legislation to provide that prohibited employment discrimination based on race under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) also includes discrimination based on hair texture and protective...more
7/8/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Dress Codes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
FEHA ,
Governor Newsom ,
Hairstyle Discrimination ,
New Legislation ,
Race Discrimination ,
State Labor Laws
It’s been a busy week on the Dynamex front, and the news for businesses continues to get worse. As we recently discussed, the 9th Circuit held just last week that Dynamex and the ABC test should be applied retroactively. The...more
A measure currently pending in the California Legislature, and garnering wide bipartisan support, would provide that prohibited employment discrimination based on race under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) also...more
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
For several years now, we’ve been alerting employers about the dangers of phishing scams that attempt to obtain private and personal information from employers... Many of these scams rear their ugly head around tax season,...more
1/29/2019
/ Best Practices ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Data Theft ,
Email ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hackers ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Information Technology ,
IRS ,
Phishing Scams ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Popular ,
Risk Management ,
Risk Mitigation ,
State Data Breach Notification Statutes ,
Tax Fraud ,
Technology Sector ,
W-2
As we discussed recently, the November midterm elections have resulted in a divided Congress that is unable to pass significant employment legislation. This means we are likely to see the drive for legislative changes pursued...more
1/16/2019
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Local Ordinance ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pending Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Salary/Wage History ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour