What do you get when you combine a business-backed ballot initiative, the state legislature and governor’s office, and labor organizations? A deal. California style.
By now you have heard of the deal to reform the...more
Hot off the press – here is Littler’s mid-year report! As federal regulators, states and cities continue to pass new workplace regulations through the calendar year, we summarize each state’s notable labor and employment law...more
6/21/2024
/ 401k ,
Child Labor ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Employment Tax ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Minimum Salary ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Notice Requirements ,
Occupational Exposure ,
OSHA ,
Over-Time ,
Popular ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retirement Plan ,
Salaried Employees ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures ,
Threshold Requirements ,
Wage and Hour ,
Warehouses ,
White-Collar Exemptions ,
Workers’ Compensation ,
Workplace Safety
The federal government, states, counties, and cities were active again this year passing workplace legislation intended for the most part to protect employees, creating new compliance obligations for employers. Littler’s...more
11/27/2023
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
New Regulations ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
California’s legislature covered a wide array of labor and employment law topics this legislative session. The laws discussed below were signed into law by Governor Newsom and will become effective on January 1, 2024 unless...more
10/27/2023
/ California ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Violence
California enacted two new bills expanding the scope and consequences of the state’s policies against restrictive covenants. Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 699 into law on September 1, 2023, and Assembly Bill 1076 into...more
10/18/2023
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State Labor Laws
For years, California has led the way in the fast food industry, with several prominent brands having their origins in the Golden State. More recently, California has shown innovation in the ways that the employment of fast...more
9/12/2023
/ California ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
FEHA ,
Food Service Workers ,
IWC ,
Labor Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Minimum Wage ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Restaurant Industry ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
We are in the final stretch of the California legislature’s first year of a two-year session. One bill that sped through the legislative process—without any registered opposition—is Senate Bill 699, which extends the state’s...more
9/7/2023
/ California ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Out-of-State Companies ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State Labor Laws
As happens this time every year in California, legislators and the governor are crafting a state budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget bill currently under consideration in Sacramento contains a startling and...more
6/27/2023
/ California ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
IWC ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Reform ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Authority ,
State Budgets ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Traditionally, January 1 has been the key date for which employers must prepare to implement new labor and employment compliance obligations for new laws passed within the previous year. For the past several years, we have...more
2022 is coming to a close, and the new year will be here before we know it. While many states, cities and counties seem to be willing to pass employment laws and regulations at any time, the first day of a new year is still...more
11/3/2022
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
New Legislation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
California state and local governmental bodies—our state legislature, and counties and cities—were active again this year in their efforts to regulate the workplace. Littler Workplace Policy Institute has been tracking these...more
10/6/2022
/ Amended Regulation ,
California ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
Popular ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
On July 27, 2022, the Director of California’s Department of Finance sent a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom and other state officials, noting that the Department had determined poor economic conditions necessitated expedited...more
It used to be that employers had the luxury of waiting until January 1 to be vigilant for new employment laws and compliant challenges. For the past several years, we have reported on employment and labor laws taking effect...more
6/23/2022
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gig Economy ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Wage and Hour
2021 saw state and local legislatures shifting their focus away from COVID-19 measures back to traditional employment law matters. Although two states and the District of Columbia have COVID-19 related legislation going into...more
11/12/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Human Trafficking ,
Independent Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Legislation ,
Retirement Plan ,
State Labor Laws ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour
In 2019, California adopted several laws that restricted “non-disclosure" provisions in employment-related agreements. Those laws, passed in the wake of the “me too” movement, limited non-disclosure provisions in settlement...more
California is at it again – adopting a host of new labor and employment laws that will further regulate and complicate business operations in the Golden State. Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute has been tracking these...more
10/12/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Vetoes ,
Independent Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Labor Regulations ,
Minimum Wage ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Severance Pay ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft ,
Workplace Safety
...more
5/3/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Retention ,
Furloughs ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Labor Regulations ,
Layoffs ,
Local Ordinance ,
Right of Recall ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
Just about a year ago, in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic activity in many sectors went from red hot to nearly frozen, seemingly overnight. The hospitality industry was particularly hard hit, as business...more
4/19/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Retention ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Layoffs ,
Local Ordinance ,
New Legislation ,
Rehiring Issues ,
Right of Recall ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
On January 14, 2021, the California Supreme Court held in Vazquez v. Jan-Pro Franchising Int'l, Inc. that the ABC test for determining worker classification fashioned in its groundbreaking decision, Dynamex v. Superior...more
1/19/2021
/ ABC Test ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Dynamex ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
Retroactive Application ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
As employers continue to grapple with the ever-changing legal landscape of COVID-era regulations, 2021 will bring changes to the traditional realm of employment law in dozens of jurisdictions. Compared to prior years, there...more
11/10/2020
/ Child Abuse ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unemployment ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies
Assembly Bill 2855, recently signed into law by Governor Newsom, will require that acute care hospitals in California reimburse employees and job applicants for certain training costs....more
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the closure of the California Legislature for long stretches of time this year. The work of the body continued on, however, and at the end of the session it passed the usual flurry of labor...more
10/2/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Flexible Work Arrangements ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Legislation ,
Sick Leave ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unemployment
As business owners and members of the labor and employment law community know all too well, California’s AB 5 went into effect on January 1 of this year. The law imposed the “ABC test” for determining whether a worker should...more
10/1/2020
/ ABC Test ,
Borello Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exemptions ,
Gig Economy ,
Governor Newsom ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
Newspapers ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Signed into law on September 28, 2020, AB 1731 moves California’s work sharing program into the 21st century by mandating an online application process and specific deadlines for delivering claim forms. Work sharing is an...more
9/30/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EDD ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Flexible Work Arrangements ,
Furloughs ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Layoffs ,
New Legislation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Wage and Hour ,
Work Share
Effective January 1, 2021, SB 1383 expands the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) to cover smaller employers and provide access to leave for additional covered reasons....more