In a case involving the potential overlap between the Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (ICRAA) and the Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act (CCRAA), the state’s high court ruled that employers must comply with...more
The “right-to-work” movement has been on a roll of late, as an increasing number of states (especially in the Midwest) have adopted laws putting such provisions on the books. Right-to-work laws generally make it unlawful to...more
It’s been a nice summer recess as the California Legislature has been on break, with Members returning to their home districts. But that respite is about to end as the Legislature reconvenes on August 6. There will be a...more
8/2/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Corporate Counsel ,
DFEH ,
EEO-1 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
FEHA ,
Governor Brown ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
NLRA ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Volks Rule ,
Wage and Hour
As many of you will recall from last year, Governor Brown signed legislation to prevent employers from asking about or relying on salary history information when making hiring decisions. That legislation, Assembly Bill 168...more
Immigration has, and continues to be, a major flashpoint between California and the Trump administration. In 2017, the California legislature passed significant legislation (AB 450) impacting how California employers deal...more
7/9/2018
/ Consent ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Employment Records ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Intergovernmental Agreements ,
New Legislation ,
Notice Requirements ,
Preemption ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
State Labor Laws ,
Trump Administration ,
Undocumented Immigrants ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
Workplace Investigations
The “future of work” is the topic du jour these days for pundits, academics, policy makers, employers and unions alike. Numerous conferences, white papers, academic studies, and media investigations have all explored this...more
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
It’s not often that we get to report good news on this blog. But last week, two significant bills that would have imposed new requirements on California employers failed to advance past the Assembly Appropriations...more
5/30/2018
/ Failed Legislation ,
Governor Brown ,
Healthy Workplaces Healthy Families Act 2014 ,
Local Ordinance ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Paid Leave ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
One of the more popular public policy issues of late has been an employer’s obligation to accommodate employees who are lactating or expressing breast milk. The federal government, states, and local jurisdictions have been...more
4/9/2018
/ Breastfeeding ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Labor Commissioners ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Undue Hardship
Recently, the California Fair Employment and Housing Council (FEHC) proposed new draft regulations to implement provisions of two key employment statutes enacted last year.
Last year, Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill...more
3/5/2018
/ Ban the Box ,
California Family Rights Act (CFRA) ,
Comment Period ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
FEHC ,
Governor Brown ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Notice Requirements ,
Proposed Regulation ,
State Labor Laws
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
One of the more controversial bills introduced in the California Legislature in 2017, which was eligible to be brought up this month, has been held and will not move forward.
AB 5 by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher...more
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
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
Popular legislative proposals sometimes generate competition among legislators for who will be the first to introduce a bill on a given subject, or who will get credit for a bill’s final passage and enactment into law....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
California employers will soon need to adjust themselves to a new reality once again as a number of new workplace restrictions have been passed by the state legislature and just signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown. State...more
10/17/2017
/ Ban the Box ,
Burden of Proof ,
California Family Rights Act (CFRA) ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Construction Project ,
DFEH ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Employment Policies ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Form I-9 ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Gender Identity ,
General Contractors ,
Governor Brown ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Job Applicants ,
Joint Liability ,
New Legislation ,
Notice Requirements ,
Parental Leave ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Retaliation ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sexual Orientation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Subcontractors ,
Trump Administration ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Whistleblowers
On October 14, Governor Brown signed AB 1008 to prohibit most public and private employers with five or more employees from asking applicants about criminal conviction histories until after a conditional offer of employment...more
10/16/2017
/ Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employment Application ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance (FCIHO) ,
FEHC ,
Governor Brown ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Negligence ,
New Legislation ,
State Labor Laws
SB 63 requires employers with between 20 and 49 employees to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected parental leave to bond with a new child. The signing of SB 63 follows previous unsuccessful efforts to extend...more
10/13/2017
/ California Family Rights Act (CFRA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
DFEH ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Governor Brown ,
New Legislation ,
Parental Leave ,
Small Employers ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Pilot Programs ,
Unpaid Leave
California joins other states and municipalities in banning inquiries into salary history of applicants. AB 168 prohibits employers from seeking salary history information or relying on the salary history information...more
Over the last several years, the level of employer complaints about PAGA has reached a deafening crescendo. For some time now, employers have expressed deep concern about abusive litigation tactics and “extortionate” PAGA...more
On October 5, Governor Brown signed AB 450, which will go into effect on January 1, 2018. Among other things, AB 450 prohibits employers from voluntary consenting to ICE access to the worksite without a judicial warrant,...more
10/6/2017
/ DACA ,
Deportation ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Form I-9 ,
Governor Brown ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
New Legislation ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Raids ,
Sanctuary Cities ,
SEIU ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statutory Penalties ,
Subpoenas ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
Warrants ,
Workplace Investigations
Senate Bill 306, among other things, allows an employee or the Labor Commissioner to obtain a preliminary injunction (ordering the employee to be reinstated pending their retaliation claim) upon a mere showing of “reasonable...more
10/4/2017
/ Burden of Proof ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Governor Brown ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Labor Commissioners ,
New Legislation ,
Penalties ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Reasonable Cause Defense ,
Retaliation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Termination ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions ,
Whistleblowers
The Legislature worked into the wee hours of the morning Saturday as it hit its deadline to pass legislation and send bills to Governor Brown for signature or veto....more
It’s a time of high-drama in Sacramento. With less than two weeks to go in the legislative year, many of the hot-button labor and employment bills we have been tracking all year await final action. Many bills are...more