California has long had the most restrictive laws against employee non-compete agreements. Effective January 1, two new legislative bills, Senate Bill 699 and Assembly Bill 1076, tightened California’s restrictions even...more
1/26/2024
/ Appeals ,
CA Supreme Court ,
California ,
Deadlines ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
Employment Litigation ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Notice Requirements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State Bans ,
Unfair Competition ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Written Notice
When an employer “discharges” an employee, California Labor Code section 201(a) provides that “the wages earned and unpaid at the time of discharge are due and payable immediately.” California also treats vacation and paid...more
As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in early 2020, state and local governments issued stay-at-home orders. The sudden change to stay-at-home work caught many businesses by surprise, and compelled many employees, who were...more
Ruling on a lingering legal issue from the COVID-19 pandemic, the California Supreme Court held that an employer is not liable for cases of “take-home” COVID-19 — that is, where a household member allegedly caught the virus...more
7/21/2023
/ CA Supreme Court ,
Cal-OSHA ,
California ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Litigation ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Labor Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State Labor Laws
Last year, in Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services, Inc., 13 Cal.5th 93 (2022), the California Supreme Court held that an employer’s failure to timely pay premium pay for meal and rest break violations could subject the...more
Ruling on a narrow, but significant question, the US Supreme Court affirmed that the white-collar overtime exemptions under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) require employers to pay an employee on an actual “salary...more
In another reversal of course, the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals cleared the way again for California employers to require arbitration agreements. The latest 2-1 decision in Chamber of Commerce v. Bonta, issued on...more
The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board’s COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency Regulation is now in place. It took effect on February 3, 2023, following approval by the state’s Office of Administrative...more
Similar to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), California law requires an employer to pay overtime based on an employee’s “regular rate of pay.” That rate may not be just an employee’s hourly wage, or straight time,...more
The new year brings several new laws and requirements for California employers. Among changes in 2023, California employers face a higher state minimum wage, increased minimum pay requirements for employees, new protected...more
12/23/2022
/ Bereavement Leave ,
California ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employment Policies ,
Marijuana ,
Minimum Wage ,
Pay Transparency ,
Popular ,
Privacy Laws ,
Recreational Use ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
Sick Leave
Further expanding generous protected employee leaves, California now will require most private employers to provide up to five days of bereavement leave for a covered family member’s death. Assembly Bill 1949, which Governor...more
Already permitting employees to take leave to care for a wide scope of family members, California now will allow them to use state family and medical leave and paid sick leave to provide care for a “designated person.” The...more
California extended the time for eligible employees to use COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave by three months, or until the end of 2022. In a further change, Assembly Bill 152 also allows California employers to require...more
California has enacted legislation broadly protecting employees from discrimination for the use of marijuana, which has been legal in the state since 2016. Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1288 into law. It generally...more
10/6/2022
/ CA Supreme Court ,
California ,
Drug Testing ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
FEHA ,
Governor Newsom ,
Health and Safety ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Proposition 64 ,
Recreational Use ,
State Bans ,
Telecommunications ,
Termination
Most of California’s Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) wage orders mandate that employees “shall be provided with suitable seats when the nature of the work reasonably permits the use of seats.” The California Court of...more
Sometimes, a wage and hour decision touches upon several noteworthy issues, either addressing them for the first time, in new contexts, or serving as a good reminder on topics.
...more
8/1/2022
/ Appeals ,
CA Supreme Court ,
California ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Healthy Workplaces Healthy Families Act 2014 ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Commissioners ,
Liquidated Damages ,
Minimum Wage ,
Penalties ,
Personal Liability ,
Sick Leave ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Unfair Competition ,
Wage and Hour
Under federal and California law, employers must include most bonuses and incentives in the “regular rate” for paying overtime, as well as meal and rest period premium pay. Often, such as with a monthly or quarterly bonus, an...more
California employers do not have to pay applicants for time or expenses related to taking a pre-employment drug test, when the employer made hiring contingent on passing the test, according to a recent decision. Under those...more
In addition, on a point with broader implications, the Supreme Court held that wage statements must include all wages earned, and not just wages paid, with any wages earned but unpaid possibly triggering penalties for an...more
5/25/2022
/ California ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Legislation ,
Penalties ,
Premium Pay ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Statements
Under California law, employers generally must provide employees working more than five hours in a day with a meal period. These meal periods must be at least 30 minutes, duty-free, and uninterrupted. In addition, for a long...more
California law generally requires employers to provide employees with a safe place to work. What, if anything, does this obligation entail when an employee works at home or another employee visits that private residence for...more
Adding to seemingly ever-shifting paid sick leave requirements in different places, the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) has issued updated guidance under the San Francisco paid sick leave ordinance....more
Since 2001, California Labor Code Section 226.7 has required employers to pay employees an additional hour of pay at the employee’s “regular rate of compensation” for not providing compliant meal or rest periods. The...more
7/26/2021
/ CA Supreme Court ,
California ,
Class Action ,
Compensation ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Labor Code ,
Meal Penalties ,
New Regulations ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Wages
In a major property rights decision, the US Supreme Court held that the federal Constitution protects against a state mandating union access to an employer’s private property for organizing purposes.
Its decision in Cedar...more
7/6/2021
/ Agricultural Workers ,
Cedar Point Nursery v Hassid ,
Farm Workers ,
Farms ,
Fifth Amendment ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Just Compensation ,
NLRA ,
SCOTUS ,
Takings Clause ,
Unions ,
United Farm Workers
Effective January 1, 2021, California employers must provide significantly expanded family and medical leave under state law.
Senate Bill 1383, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, extends family and medical leave...more