Starting September 3, 2024, employers must comply with involved new requirements if they wish to consider criminal backgrounds in making hiring or promotional decisions for positions that will perform work in any...more
The allure of doing business in California is undeniable. It is the world’s fifth largest economy (moving toward fourth) and a market of more than 39 million people. For employers, however, California presents unique...more
2/12/2024
/ Bereavement Leave ,
California ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Fair Pay Act ,
Fair Workweek ,
FEHA ,
Independent Contractors ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Minimum Wage ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Over-Time ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Paid Leave ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Rounding ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft ,
Work Schedules ,
Workplace Safety
California has no love for employers this Valentine’s Day. The deadline for employers to give their California employees who signed unlawful noncompetes written notice that the agreements or provisions are “void” is February...more
Beginning New Year’s Day 2024, employers are required to give all non-exempt new hires working in California a new form of Wage Theft Prevention Act Notice containing new information. Employers must tell employees in the new...more
No later than July 1, 2024, covered California employers must implement extensive workplace violence prevention plans (WVPP) and deliver specified training to employees under new legislation signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on...more
Employers who sign employees up to noncompetition agreements or other restrictive covenants or seek to enforce the agreements — even when employees enter into the agreements outside California in a state where the...more
Effective New Year’s Day 2024, the minimum wage employers of all sizes must pay California employees will increase from $15.50 per hour to $16.00 per hour. The minimum salary for exempt status will increase at the same time...more
Portions of employer liability in California PAGA actions are dischargeable in bankruptcy under a bankruptcy court decision issued this summer. Specifically, employers’ liability for the 25% share of PAGA penalties to be...more
This post is part of Experience Matters, a series drawing on my 30+ years of defending employers in California employment litigation. The series highlights actions you can take to reduce risk – and worry less – as you manage...more
Another wave of minimum wage increases will roll through in about two weeks. On July 1, the minimum wage rates that must be paid in cities and counties across California will rise. The local minimum wage increases going...more
Hand-signed arbitration agreements will be easier for employers to enforce in light of a recent California Court of Appeal ruling. Declarations from former employees claiming they “do not recall” having signed their...more
The allure of doing business in California is undeniable. It is the world’s fifth largest economy (moving toward fourth) and a market of more than 39 million people. For employers, however, California presents unique...more
1/20/2023
/ Age Discrimination ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Bereavement Leave ,
California ,
California Family Rights Act (CFRA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Fair Chance Act ,
Fair Pay Act ,
Fair Workweek ,
FEHA ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Minimum Wage ,
Over-Time ,
Paid Leave ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Rounding ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft ,
Work Schedules ,
Workplace Safety
Getting ready to return to the office in California and need a refresher on what makes California law “special”?
Have plans to open an office/location somewhere in California and want to understand what laws apply and how...more
3/14/2022
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Ban the Box ,
California ,
California Family Rights Act (CFRA) ,
Discrimination ,
Fair Pay Act ,
Over-Time ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Pregnancy ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Reimbursements ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft ,
Workplace Safety
As of New Year’s Day, the minimum wage employers must pay California employees once again jumps up, with ramifications beyond simply paying at least the new minimum rate.
The New Minimum Wage Figures-
As of January 1,...more
Beginning Monday, March 29, 2021, employers must begin providing California employees a new form of COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave. The new version reaches small and large employers alike and mandates that employers...more
3/24/2021
/ Caregivers ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Child Care ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Full-Time Employees ,
Governor Newsom ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Part-Time Employees ,
Sick Leave ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Written Notice
Starting Monday, grocery stores, drug stores and big box retailers in the City of Los Angeles will be required to pay “Premium Hazard Pay” – an additional $5.00 per hour — to non-exempt employees. The ordinance mandating the...more
3/8/2021
/ California ,
Civil Liability ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employees ,
Grocery Store Workers ,
Grocery Stores ,
Hazard Pay ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Operators of Essential Services ,
Premium Pay ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Retailers ,
Wage and Hour
The deadline for employers to file their first annual pay data report with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) – March 31 — is fast approaching. For employers scrambling to comply, a reprieve is...more
Newly posted FAQs bring employers welcome help in understanding what they need to do to satisfy Cal/OSHA’s Emergency Temporary COVID-19 Standards (ETS). These are key takeaways from the nearly 40 new FAQs posted on January 8,...more
As the sun rises on New Year’s Day 2021, California employment law will once again become more involved and challenging. For many employers, the following are the top five developments they most need to prepare for...more
FAQs released yesterday by the State of California are must-read guidance for employers in complying with Cal/OSHA’s new Emergency COVID-19 Prevention Regulation. Employers should make distilling from the FAQs what is...more
How employers will need to defend California employment lawsuits, Labor Commissioner actions and even arbitrations must evolve come the New Year due to changes in the law that become effective January 1, 2021. In this post, I...more
10/29/2020
/ Arbitration ,
Attorney's Fees ,
California ,
California Family Rights Act (CFRA) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Labor Commissioners ,
Retaliation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers
California employers with 100 or more employees are now required to file with the state detailed annual reports setting out demographic, pay and position information on their employees. As for the purpose of requiring the...more
10/6/2020
/ California ,
DFEH ,
DLSE ,
EEO-1 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Governor Newsom ,
Pay Data ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Wage and Hour
Employees who suffer physical or mental injury due to a crime will be entitled to job-protected leave and other protections from their employers under legislation signed this week by Governor Gavin Newsom. Employers will bear...more
Small employers in California – those with only five employees or more – will be obligated to provide eligible employees up to 12 weeks of family care and medical leave each 12 months under a bill Governor Gavin Newsom signed...more
Anticipation mounts as we watch for California Governor Gavin Newsom’s action on bills of immediate importance to employers. The Governor has until September 30, 2020 to sign or veto the following bills of concern:
SB 1383...more
9/14/2020
/ California Family Rights Act (CFRA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
DFEH ,
DLSE ,
EEO-1 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Newsom ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Layoffs ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unemployment Insurance ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workers' Compensation Claim