Along with signing into law a variety of employment-related bills in the 2023–2024 legislative session, Governor Gavin Newsom also vetoed numerous bills that would have further affected California employers. Here is an...more
On October 7, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) No. 700 into law, expanding California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act to protect applicants from discrimination based on prior cannabis use, with...more
10/10/2023
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Cannabis Products ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Drug Testing ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Chance Act ,
FEHA ,
Governor Newsom ,
Job Applicants ,
Marijuana
As the September 14, 2023, deadline to pass bills during the current session of the California Legislature fast approaches, the California Senate and Assembly are considering several employment law bills. Many are likely to...more
9/6/2023
/ Caregivers ,
FEHA ,
Governor Newsom ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Maternity Leave ,
Minimum Wage ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Parental Leave ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Remote Working ,
Retaliation ,
Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
WARN Act ,
Workplace Violence
Beginning on January 1, 2024, California employers will be prohibited from discharging employees or refusing to hire individuals based on their off-duty use of marijuana.
Assembly Bill (AB) 2188, the workplace...more
California employers may soon be barred from discharging employees or refusing to hire individuals based on their off-duty use of marijuana, under a new bill headed to the governor’s desk. On August 30, 2022, the...more
9/7/2022
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Drug Testing ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Policies ,
FEHA ,
Governor Newsom ,
Marijuana ,
Off-Duty Employees ,
Pending Legislation ,
Recreational Use ,
Screening Procedures
A bill recently introduced in the California Assembly proposes to prohibit discrimination against employees who use cannabis off the job.
The legislation, Assembly Bill (AB) No. 2188, would amend California’s employment...more
4/27/2022
/ Cannabis Products ,
Drug Testing ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
FEHA ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Marijuana ,
Pre-Employment Health Screenings ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Recreational Use
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
Once again, Governor Jerry Brown ends the legislative year by signing a flurry of employment-related legislation. This year, however, is Governor Brown’s last year to do so, and next year we will report about the...more
10/5/2018
/ Board of Directors ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Construction Industry ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
FEHA ,
Gender Equity ,
Governor Brown ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hotels ,
Human Trafficking ,
Labor Code ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Payroll Records ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws
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
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
In 2015, the California legislature undoubtedly took aim at employers with piecemeal legislation covering everything from cheerleaders (who are now employees by statute) to gender-based pay differentials—the latter with what...more
12/15/2015
/ California Family Rights Act (CFRA) ,
DLSE ,
E-Verify ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Fair Pay Act ,
FEHA ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Healthy Workplaces Healthy Families Act 2014 ,
Minimum Wage ,
On-Duty Meal Period Waivers ,
Piece-Rate Pay ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA)
In response to standard negative performance feedback from a supervisor, an employee takes a leave of absence due to stress and submits a medical note stating that the employee must be transferred to another department as an...more
8/24/2015
/ California Family Rights Act (CFRA) ,
Disability ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
FEHA ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Leave of Absence ,
Performance Reviews ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Supervisors ,
Sutter Health ,
Work-Induced Stress
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