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
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
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
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
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
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
On August 31, 2020, California’s legislative session closed with a flurry of bills—the majority driven by COVID-19. These bills have been sent to the governor, who now has until the end of September to sign them into law or...more
9/18/2020
/ California Family Rights Act (CFRA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Essential Workers ,
Layoffs ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Pending Legislation ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures ,
State of Emergency ,
Workers' Compensation Claim
As states lift their “stay-at-home” orders, employers who have struggled to survive the economic toll of the COVID-19 crisis now face a new threat: uncertain legal liability in a post-COVID market. As we transition away from...more
5/27/2020
/ California Family Rights Act (CFRA) ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Failure to Accommodate ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Government Lockdown ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
High Risk Covid Employees ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Local Ordinance ,
Popular ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Rehiring Issues ,
Remote Working ,
Retaliation ,
Risk Assessment ,
Shelter-In-Place ,
State Labor Laws ,
Voluntary Reduction in Force ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Construction companies have a unique opportunity to avoid the application of the restrictive new independent contractors' law that took effect this year. This article provides a checklist that will help construction companies...more
2/22/2020
/ Borello Test ,
Business Licenses ,
Construction Industry ,
Contractor's State License Board ,
Dynamex ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exemptions ,
General Contractors ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
State Labor Laws ,
Subcontractors
Ridgeway v. Wal-Mart, Inc., 946 F.3d 1066 (9th Cir. 2020) -
The employer must pay minimum wages to employees for time spent on mandated layovers where the employer’s policy imposes constraints on employees’ movements...more
2/12/2020
/ Administrative Complaints ,
Appeals ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Truck Drivers ,
Concurrent Litigation ,
DFEH ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equitable Tolling ,
Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) ,
FEHA ,
Jury Trial ,
Medical Leave ,
Minimum Wage ,
Police ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Preemption ,
Reaffirmation ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Reversal ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Summary Judgment ,
Traveling Employee ,
Wal-Mart ,
Workers' Compensation Claim
This month's key California employment law cases involve the Dynamex case and the effect of prior administrative hearing on a civil lawsuit....more
8/26/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
CA Supreme Court ,
CalPERS ,
Collateral Estoppel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Jury Trial ,
Misclassification ,
Retroactive Application ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unemployment Insurance
This month’s key California employment law cases are from the California Supreme Court and from the California Court of Appeal.
Troester v. Starbucks Corp., 235 Cal. Rptr. 3d 820 (2018) -
Summary: Employer that requires...more
8/21/2018
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Contract of Adhesion ,
De Minimis Claims ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Harassment ,
Iskanian v CLS Transportation ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Public Policy ,
Starbucks ,
State Labor Laws ,
Totality of Circumstances Test ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Void Contracts ,
Wage and Hour