There seems to be growing momentum in Washington, D.C. to establish a national paid leave program, but – as with most things in the nation’s capital – there seem to be differing views on how to accomplish this stated goal of...more
Regular readers of this blog know about the Grubhub gig economy misclassification litigation. The quick version: Grubhub squared off with a former driver, Raef Lawson, in the nation’s first-ever gig economy misclassification...more
3/4/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Appeals ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employee Definition ,
Gig Economy ,
GrubHub ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Wage and Hour
You can have the best independent contractor agreement in the world. You can hire the best gig economy lawyers in the country (ask us, we have some ideas) to draft the absolute crown jewel of a document for you, capturing the...more
2/27/2019
/ ADEA ,
Age Discrimination ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Race Discrimination ,
Title VII
I recently wrote about the January 25 decision from the National Labor Relations Board that makes it easier for businesses to classify their workers as independent contractors (SuperShuttle DFW, Inc.). In a nutshell, now that...more
As of Saturday, the current federal government shutdown became the longest in our nation’s history—and employers are starting to feel the sting. While the peculiarities of the federal budget process meant that this shutdown...more
1/14/2019
/ Anti-Deficiency Act ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Verify ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Eligibility Verification ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Contractors ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Government Agencies ,
Government Shutdown ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
OSHA ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Because Congress and the president could not approve a stopgap funding bill by midnight on December 21, the federal government partially shut down, with no compromise in sight. What will this mean for employers across the...more
12/27/2018
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Verify ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Contractors ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Government Agencies ,
Government Shutdown ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRB ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas
Sure, the monetary portion of the settlement—$10 million to a class of approximately 400 Uber software engineers and over $2.6M in attorneys’ fees—is pretty eye-opening. But perhaps the more significant part of the settlement...more
11/16/2018
/ Attorney's Fees ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Diversity ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Race Discrimination ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Software Developers ,
Uber
As if things aren’t spooky enough this time of year, employers have a new concern: getting “ghosted” by an applicant, a new hire, or even an existing employee. But this modern phenomenon isn’t just something to worry about...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more
10/11/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Background Checks ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Governor Brown ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Employers ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Unions
We’ve been waiting for something like this since the gig economy was established: a set of rules and regulations, adapted for the modern era and with the gig economy in mind, addressing the issue of independent contractor...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more
9/17/2018
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Background Checks ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
Collective Action Waivers ,
Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act (CCRAA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Failed Legislation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Freedom of Religion ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Gig Economy ,
Governor Baker ,
Governor Brown ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (ICRAA) ,
Licenses ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
OFCCP ,
Opinion Letter ,
Opioid ,
Over-Time ,
Pay Gap ,
Pending Legislation ,
Portable Benefits ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Ridesharing ,
Right to Work ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Union Dues ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Injury
While businesses, chambers of commerce, local leaders, and others have put the full-court press on the California legislature to take action to somehow lessen the impact of the new ABC Test for determining misclassification...more
Interpreting and applying the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is often among the most challenging aspects of managing the workplace law and human resources functions at your workplace. There are numerous issues to...more
7/5/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Interactive Process ,
Medical Leave ,
Over-Time ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Wage and Hour
Sure, there have been some high-profile legal setbacks for gig economy businesses in the area of misclassification lately; the Dynamex case was a punch in the gut for California businesses, and the Pimlico Plumbers case is a...more
6/27/2018
/ Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Employment Litigation ,
Former Employee ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Reversal ,
Right to Control ,
Unemployment ,
Unemployment Insurance
It’s impossible to ignore the reverberations that continue to shake the business landscape after the landmark April 30 Dynamex ruling introduced the notorious ABC test to the California gig economy industry. For those living...more
May the 4th has become known as Star Wars Day given the movie franchise’s most famous tag line. Today provides an opportunity for us to examine a recent employment law development of massive significance—a great disturbance...more
19th-century British poet Alfred Tennyson once said, “In the Spring, a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” And while you might hold a certain amount of affection for your employees this time of year and want...more
In a landmark decision that will accelerate the growing pay equity movement, especially for employers on the west coast, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today became the latest federal court of appeals to rule that employers...more
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1), passed by Congress on December 20 and expected to be signed into law by President Trump in the coming days, contains several provisions that will directly impact employers and workplace...more
12/22/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Business Ownership ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Individual Mandate ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Paid Leave ,
Repeal ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Incentives ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour
By most objective measurements, the Labor Department’s December 4 jobs report was solid. CNN Money reported that employers added 228,000 jobs in November, while the unemployment rate remained at a 17-year low of 4.1%....more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes each month in 2017. October was no...more
11/3/2017
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Appeals ,
Ban the Box ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Training ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Gig Economy ,
Governor Brown ,
GrubHub ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Enforcement ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
New Rules ,
NLRB ,
OFCCP ,
Over-Time ,
Parental Leave ,
Preventive Health Care ,
Proposed Rules ,
Restraining Orders ,
Retaliation ,
Salary/Wage History ,
SCOTUS ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures ,
Tip-Pooling ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblowers
Is honesty really the best policy at the workplace? Some employers believe that a few little white lies might help them avoid uncomfortable situations and confrontations. It’s common for some to spare an employee’s feelings...more
A terrible horde of mindless creatures takes over civilization, rendering our world virtually unrecognizable and changing everything about it. There’s nothing you can do to stop them. Every day, more and more of them appear....more
A classic managerial mistake is to focus so much on the present that you ignore what’s about to come around the corner. And what’s about to come around the corner at your workplace is the next generation of American worker....more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While it always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, the last few months have seen an unprecedented number of changes. June 2017 was no different, with...more
7/7/2017
/ Administrative Interpretation ,
Advocate Health Care v Stapleton ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Church Plans ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Discrimination ,
Electronic Records ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Harassment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
Joint Employers ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Microsoft v Baker ,
Minimum Salary ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
NLRB ,
Opinion Letter ,
OSHA ,
Over-Time ,
Popular ,
Public Accommodation ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Title III ,
Travel Ban ,
Trump v Hawaii ,
Trump v International Refugee Assistance Project ,
Uber ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Website Accessibility ,
White-Collar Exemptions