The California Legislature passed legislation on June 27, 2024, representing a significant overhaul of the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA). PAGA permits a current or former employee to pursue an action...more
On March 25, 2024, the California Supreme Court held that workers are entitled to compensation for time spent undergoing exit security checks that included an inspection of their personal vehicle. In the same decision, the...more
Defendants have long argued that Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claims can be unwieldy and that courts should strike such claims where individual issues make them unmanageable. In Estrada v. Royalty Carpet Mills, Inc.,...more
Effective Jan. 1, 2024, California employers may not inquire about employees’ prior use of cannabis, even if the employer learns of that prior use from an employee’s criminal history.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom...more
On Aug. 24 and 25, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued new regulations and a decision, which together overturn decades of precedent and represent a sea change in the union election process. First, the NLRB...more
According to recent studies, 83% of large employers surveyed rely in some form on artificial intelligence (AI) in employment decision-making, and 86% of employers that use AI admit that it is becoming a mainstream technology...more
Effective Jan. 1, 2024, California law will restrict employers from using traditional drug tests to test for cannabis use. California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the law on Sept. 18, 2022, prohibiting employers from...more
On Jan. 12, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey held in Ramos v. WalMart, Inc. that Pennsylvania plaintiffs have up to six years to file claims against employers for improper use of criminal history...more
California has introduced some significant and widely applicable new employment laws that took effect on Jan. 1, 2023, unless otherwise stated.
Minimum Wage Increases -
On Jan. 1, 2023, the California state minimum...more
On Sept. 27, 2022, in a continuing effort toward pay equity, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1162, the state’s pay transparency law. S.B. 1162 brings a number of changes employers will need to implement by...more
On Aug. 29, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled in a 3-2 decision along party lines in Tesla, Inc. , 370 NLRB No. 131 (2022), that an employer cannot impose any restriction on its employees’ right to wear...more
On May 23, 2022, the California Supreme Court held that premium pay for missed meal and rest breaks pursuant to Cal. Labor Code Section 226.7 are “wages” that must be reported on wage statements per Cal. Lab. Code § 226 and...more
On March 3, President Biden signed into law the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act. The new law invalidates pre-dispute arbitration agreements and class and collective waivers for sexual...more
On Jan. 27, 2022, the California Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision in Lawson v. PPG Architectural Finishes, Inc., clarifying that whistleblower retaliation claims brought pursuant to Section 1102.5 of the California...more
As usual, the new year will bring a slew of new California employment laws. Following is a summary of many of the more significant new and widely applicable employment laws that will take effect in California on Jan. 1, 2022,...more
12/20/2021
/ Cal-OSHA ,
California Family Rights Act (CFRA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Independent Contractors ,
Minimum Wage ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Notification Requirements ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft
On Sept. 22, 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 701 (AB 701). Effective Jan. 1, 2022, it will become the first state law of its kind to regulate and set parameters around the use of production quotas at...more
On July 15, 2021, the California Supreme Court decided a closely watched case, Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, LLC, and unanimously held that employers are required to pay meal and rest break violation premiums at the same...more
At a press briefing on July 7, 2021, the White House announced that President Joe Biden plans to issue an executive order aimed at restricting the use of noncompete agreements by private employers....more
Over the last decade, courts have permitted California employers to use timekeeping policies that round employee time punches (e.g., to the nearest 10th of an hour) if the rounding policy is facially neutral and used in a...more
Effective Jan. 1, 2021, California employers with five or more employees will be required to provide family and medical leave to their employees under a newly enacted version of the California Family Rights Act (CFRA). The...more
On June 15, 2020, by a vote of 6-3, the U.S. Supreme Court held that an employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Prior to the court’s historic...more
6/17/2020
/ Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
Even while imposing “shelter in place” orders, the vast majority of states have authorized and encouraged essential businesses to remain open. As states relax their restrictions in the coming weeks and months, non-essential...more
On March 12, 2020, the California Supreme Court held in Kim v. Reins International California, Inc. that employees who settle and release their individual wage and hour claims still have standing to bring a representative...more
On Feb. 4, 2019, the California Court of Appeal decided Ward v. Tilly’s, Inc., holding that employers must provide “reporting time pay” when requiring employees to call in prior to a potential shift to learn whether they must...more
On Jan. 29, 2019, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a strikingly broad decision, raised the bar for employers’ compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). In Gilberg v. California Check Cashing Stores, LLC,...more