At Meyers Nave, we prioritize assisting our clients in establishing and maintaining wage and hour policies that comply with legal standards. This includes implementing effective systems and processes to ensure all levels of...more
The California Supreme Court issued several important decisions in 2023 about issues such as COVID-19 take-home exposure and arbitrating Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) claims. Employers should continue to be aware of...more
In a much-anticipated decision, the California Supreme Court in Adolph v. Uber Technologies unanimously held that a plaintiff, compelled to arbitrate individual claims under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), does not...more
Can an employee still be protected as a whistleblower under California law if they are not the first to blow the same whistle? Per the California Supreme Court, the answer is yes: “[A] protected disclosure under [Labor Code]...more
The California Supreme Court (the Court) issued a unanimous decision on May 22, 2023, in the case of People ex rel. Garcia-Brower v. Kolla’s, Inc. The ruling broadened the interpretation of “disclose” under California Labor...more
The California Supreme Court has expanded whistleblower protections under state law, taking a broad reading of the term “disclosure.”...more
In People ex rel. Garcia-Brower v. Kolla’s, Inc., the California Supreme Court resolved a split between the Courts of Appeal for the First and Second Districts over whether a protected “disclosure” under Labor Code section...more
The California Supreme Court has held that an employee who makes a whistleblower complaint to his or her employer may bring a retaliation claim under the whistleblower statute (California Labor Code § 1102.5(b)) even if the...more
On March 29, 2023, the California Supreme Court put the final nail in the coffin of an employee’s claim that California Labor Code Section 204 requires employees to be paid on weekends. The California high court declined...more
The sharks are starting to circle around PAGA (Private Attorney General Ac), a law that many California employers find crazy-making for all the reasons outlined here. PAGA may finally be subject to challenge on two separate...more
The California Supreme Court has been busy in 2021 deciding cases that affect employers from how to pay meal and rest period penalties to when the statute of limitations for a failure to promote runs. While the state’s...more
Over a decade has passed since an appellate court in California ruled that employers could not average pay for productive activity to include unpaid non-productive activity in meeting their minimum wage obligations. That...more
It’s been tough to keep up with developments concerning the fallout from the Dynamex case and California’s new ABC test for determining employee/independent contractor status. The past few months have seen several recent...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On May 3, 2019, the California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (“DLSE”) issued an opinion letter regarding the applicability of the ABC test set forth in Dynamex...more
This edition of the Employment Flash looks at the new Department of Labor directive regarding contractor compensation practices; recent NLRB developments, including a draft rule regarding joint employment; the rise of...more
In a less-than-favorable decision for employers – Alvarado v. Dart Container Corporation – the California Supreme Court addressed how to calculate the overtime pay rate when the employee earns a non-production, flat sum bonus...more
California is a difficult landscape for employers, and last month, the California Supreme Court made that landscape all the more difficult. In a case called Alvarado v. Dart Container Corp., the California Supreme Court...more
It is an old joke that the world can be divided into people who are good at math and those who go to law school. Whether you believe the joke or not, math – or in this case, simple arithmetic – can be at the heart of many...more
This month’s two key California employment law cases are both significant decisions involving wage and hour laws. Alvarado v. DART Container Corp. of Cal., 4 Cal. 5th 542 (2018) - Summary: California formula for...more
California businesses must follow a different standard than that allowed under the federal rules when calculating overtime to address flat sum bonuses. ...more
For decades, many employers across California relied upon established federal law governing the calculation of overtime compensation on bonuses. Under federal law, the same set of rules apply to flat sum bonuses (i.e., set...more
In Alvarado v. Dart Container Corporation of California, the California Supreme Court clarified how a flat sum bonus – a bonus that is independent of the number of hours worked by an employee – must be enhanced to comply with...more
Failing to comply with last week’s California Supreme Court order concerning overtime pay and lump sum bonuses may expose you to costly class actions like so many other California employers....more
• In Alvarado v. Dart Container Corp. of California, the California Supreme Court held that California law—unlike federal law—requires employers to calculate overtime by treating flat-sum bonuses as if they were earned during...more
The California Supreme Court just threw employers a serious curveball with respect to how employers must calculate overtime. And it did so by claiming employers should have known of this calculation method even though the...more