#WorkforceWednesday: SCOTUS in Review, Biden Acts to Limit Non-Competes, NY HERO Act Model Safety Plans - Employment Law This Week®
#WorkforceWednesday: Mandatory Vaccination, Tipped Worker Rule, and SCOTUS Rules Against Organized Labor - Employment Law This Week®
California employers in the agriculture industry are facing challenges this spring after two major developments last month. First, new rules took effect requiring employers to provide a special written notice to H-2A...more
A federal judge in New York recently cast doubt on the validity of state laws that seek to restrict employer speech in connection with union organizing. In New York State Vegetable Growers Association, Inc. v. Letitia James,...more
In early 2020, Alco Harvesting, LLC hired Jesus Guzman, a citizen of Mexico, to perform agricultural work in Santa Maria under the H-2A visa program. The H-2A visa program allows employers to hire foreign nationals to engage...more
On June 1, 2023, a panel of judges for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that berry distributors were not liable as “client-employers” of agricultural workers. The plaintiff agricultural workers...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...more
On Sept. 30, 2022, State Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon announced that she has accepted the New York Farm Laborers Wage Board’s recommendation to lower the overtime threshold for agricultural workers from 60 hours down to...more
As we previewed previously, a number of hot-button legislative proposals made it to Governor Newsom’s desk this year – many of which would change the landscape for California employers. For the first time since the COVID-19...more
Eight months of legislative wrangling and dealmaking have come to an end as the California Legislature just wrapped up work for the year – and now employers across the Golden State turn their eyes to the governor’s office to...more
A new decision by the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board increases the stakes for employers who are found to have willfully misclassified its employees, as the Board deployed a powerful weapon in its arsenal for...more
As covered previously here, the California Chamber of Commerce (“Chamber”) once again has identified a handful of “job killer” bills making their way through the legislative process. This year’s crop of proposed legislation...more
Agricultural ("ag") workers on the West Coast must now be paid overtime. Oregon The Oregon legislature passed what some called the “most divisive” bill of the short 2022 legislative session, requiring agricultural farmworkers...more
We recently reported on a number of employment-related bills working their way through the Oregon Legislature. As an update to that report, here are the five employment-related bills that appear likely to head to Governor...more
Creating an agriculture overtime law is a top priority of democrats in the current 2022 legislative short session that began on February 1, 2022. The introduced bill, House Bill 4002, would impose a 40-hour overtime pay...more
Each year in California, the new year brings new employment laws for businesses to follow. This is a good time for cannabis employers to evaluate their policies and practices to ensure they keep pace with these changes. ...more
Each year in California, the new year brings new employment laws for businesses to follow. This is a good time for wine business employers to evaluate their policies and practices to ensure they keep pace with these changes. ...more
As 2021 quickly comes to a close, we look back at this year’s legislative session, which included several employment-related bills signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, including bills aimed at prohibiting quotas that interfere...more
The California Legislature passed and Governor Newsom signed several new or amended employment laws covering topics ranging from non-disparagement and separation agreements, the California Family Rights Act, and warehouse...more
This month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed course and held that the arbitration agreement signed by a H-2A temporary farm worker was valid and enforceable. This decision is instructive for California employers on...more
A west coast federal appeals court just opened the door for H-2A employers to enforce arbitration agreements in employment disputes even outside the context of a collective bargaining agreement. The Ninth Circuit Court of...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Governor Gavin Newsom has approved AB 701, which will impose notice and other requirements on employers of employees subject to quotas in large California warehouse distribution centers, and has vetoed AB...more
It's #WorkforceWednesday! This week, we look at the increase in mandatory vaccination policies, a new rule for tipped workers, and a Supreme Court decision against organized labor. Employers Implement Mandatory Vaccination...more
In response to last year’s groundbreaking decision by the Washington State Supreme Court in Martinez-Cuevas v. DeRuyter Bros. Dairy, Inc., the state legislature recently passed Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5172 (SB5172),...more
Washington’s Supreme Court disrupted the state’s agricultural industry on November 5, 2020, when it held that the agricultural overtime exemption at RCW 49.46.130(2)(g) violated the state’s constitution as applied to dairy...more
President Biden promised sweeping changes to U.S. immigration law should he be elected president. In accordance with these campaign promises, Democratic lawmakers have just introduced a sweeping immigration bill backed by the...more
As we previously blogged, “agricultural employees” are excluded from coverage under the federal National Labor Relations Act, which governs unionization. The National Labor Relations Board’s Division of Advice (which...more