As the 2023 California pay data reporting cycle begins, a look at the California Civil Rights Department’s (CRD) recent pay data reporting enforcement actions provides a helpful reminder of the potential risk that exists for...more
The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) recently released new guidance clarifying how employers using mandatory paid sick leave accrual and caps may transition to the increased amount of forty hours or five...more
The new California employment-related laws that came out of the 2023 legislative session address a number of issues that will affect many employers. Leave (paid family leave, sick leave, and reproductive loss leave),...more
On October 8, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed Senate Bill (SB) No. 731. If enacted into law, SB 731 would have required employers to provide at least 30 calendar days’ advance written notice before requiring...more
On October 8, 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill (SB) No. 497—also referred to as the Equal Pay and Anti-Retaliation Protection Act. SB 497 amends California Labor Code Sections 98.6, 1102.5, and 1197.5...more
Taking a meal break in California is no simple affair. Culminating seven years of litigation involving one California employer, on February 25, 2021, the Supreme Court of California issued its unanimous opinion in Donohue v....more
3/5/2021
/ CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Rebuttable Presumptions ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Rounding ,
State Labor Laws ,
Timekeeping ,
Wage and Hour
On September 30, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 3075, which amends the California Labor Code to allow employees to collect wage and hour judgments not only from their employers, but also from...more
With the rapid onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, California employers have endeavored to ensure the health and safety of their workforces while at the same time heeding the anti-discrimination provisions of the California Fair...more
On August 30, 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 778 into law, thereby giving employers more time to comply with the state’s sexual harassment training requirement. In September 2018, former...more
9/13/2019
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
FEHA ,
Governor Newsom ,
New Legislation ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statutory Deadlines ,
Time Extensions
Signaling a growing movement to align culturally inclusive practices with legal protections, California has become the first state to expressly ban discrimination based on hairstyle and hair texture associated with a person’s...more
The California State Senate and Assembly have been busy this year, moving a number of employment law bills through the legislative process. May 31, 2019, was the deadline for either the assembly or the senate to pass a bill...more
6/6/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
EEO-1 ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exclusions ,
FEHA ,
Harassment ,
Independent Contractors ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Penalties ,
Pending Legislation ,
Private Right of Action ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Retaliation ,
Staffing Agencies ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Unemployment Insurance Acts ,
Unpaid Wages
California’s meal and rest break rules are extremely technical and nuanced—and a failure to properly comply with them can result in penalties. Here are answers to six frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding compliance...more
In a recent, unpublished opinion, a California Court of Appeal found in favor of an employer on a marital status discrimination claim than an employee brought under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). The court held...more
Several California labor and employment law bills passed in both the state assembly and senate on or before the September 15, 2017, legislative deadline. Governor Brown will have until October 15, 2017, to sign or veto these...more
9/19/2017
/ Ban the Box ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Fair Pay Act ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Parental Leave ,
Pending Legislation ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Wage and Hour
Many employers enforce attendance policies which assign an “occurrence” for unscheduled, unapproved absences. Although employers generally have discretion to implement attendance policies, such policies should be carefully...more
Many employers offer light duty programs to employees who are temporarily disabled. Reasonable accommodation obligations imposed by California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) may come into play when administering...more
4/18/2017
/ Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Reassignment ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Essential Functions ,
Failure to Accommodate ,
FEHA ,
Light-Duty Positions ,
Public Employees ,
Workplace Injury
When must rest breaks occur, and may a company allow employees to combine their rest breaks with other breaks? California’s nuanced meal and rest break rules have spawned an endless cycle of litigation, and as a recent...more
Companies that classify workers as independent contractors are facing increasing scrutiny in court and before administrative agencies. A recent unpublished California Court of Appeal decision in a case titled Garcia v. Seacon...more
On July 16, 2015, California’s Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill amending the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), adding protections for workers who request accommodations for disabilities or religious...more
Armenta v. Morris National, Inc., No. B255575 (March 27, 2015): Discrimination claims often ensue after a reduction in force (RIF) because laid off employees second-guess management’s selection process. However, as seen in a...more
So what’s it going to be for 2015? Get up and run three miles every morning? Finally pay off those credit cards? Learn to speak French? Before you finish the list of New Year’s resolutions, consider adding a few on the human...more
1/19/2015
/ Arbitration ,
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) ,
Bullying ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Iskanian ,
Reimbursements ,
Sales Commissions ,
Sick Leave ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Bullying
The California Supreme Court has denied a petition to review Cochran v. Schwan’s Home Service, Inc., Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, Division Two, No. B247160 (August 12, 2014). As a result of the...more
California Governor Jerry Brown has signed into law a number of bills that will impact the employer community.
Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014—Paid Sick Leave (AB 1522) -
On September 10, 2014,...more
10/31/2014
/ Child Labor ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Farm Workers ,
Health Insurance ,
Independent Contractors ,
Jerry Brown ,
Minimum Wage ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Leave ,
Retaliation ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
Sick Leave ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Training ,
Undocumented Immigrants ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Unpaid Interns
In September 2014, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a number of bills that will impact the employer community.
Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014—Paid Sick Leave (AB 1522) -
On...more
When an employee who has signed an arbitration agreement files a lawsuit alleging individual claims along with class action claims, and the trial court has ordered him to take his individual claims to arbitration, what...more