On October 4, 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) No. 616 into law. SB 616 amends California’s paid sick leave law to expand mandatory paid sick leave from three days or twenty-four hours to five days or forty...more
On September 28, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) No. 1228 into law, repealing the FAST Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act (FAST Recovery Act) (AB 257) and replacing it with a...more
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) No. 428 on September 30, 2023. The new law expands California’s workplace violence restraining order law to protect against certain kinds of workplace harassment as...more
California is one step closer to becoming the first state to enact legislation banning caste-based discrimination. Senate Bill (SB) No. 403 adds caste to the list of characteristics protected by the California Fair Employment...more
On August 11, 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will publish its proposed regulations on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) in the Federal Register. The PWFA became effective on June 27,...more
8/10/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Comment Period ,
Duty to Accommodate ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
NPRM ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Reasonable Accommodation
The California Legislature is poised to make it even more difficult for hospitality and business service providers to operate in California. Senate Bill (SB) No. 723 amends California Labor Code Section 2810.8, which provides...more
6/29/2023
/ Construction Industry ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
DLSE ,
Governor Newsom ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Pending Legislation ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Right of Recall ,
State Labor Laws ,
Sunset Provisions
Complying with the various legal and practical requirements of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and its regulations is an ongoing challenge for employers, particularly when it comes to questions about when an employee...more
On January 20, 2023, San Francisco Mayor London Breed approved a city ordinance that will require large, private employers to provide differential paid leave for military reservists called up to active duty. The “Military...more
On September 29 and 30, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom signed more than one hundred new pieces of legislation, several of which directly affect California employers. In addition to several California Division of...more
10/4/2022
/ Cal-OSHA ,
Call Centers ,
Contraceptive Coverage Mandate ,
Contraceptives ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Handbooks ,
FEHA ,
Governor Newsom ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unpaid Leave ,
WARN Act ,
Workplace Hazards
On May 27, 2022, the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) issued its “Proposed Rules Implementing the Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance (as amended).” The OLSE also issued a notice of proposed...more
On February 28, 2022, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued new guidance, further loosening the rules for wearing COVID-19–related masks in the state. Effective March 1, 2022, unvaccinated individuals are...more
On February 23, 2022, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) issued an order, effective February 25, 2022, that slightly loosened the rules for wearing COVID-19 masks in the county. One day after the...more
On February 7, 2022, the California legislature passed legislation reviving COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave (SPSL). The law creates new California Labor Code Section 248.6 and takes effect ten days after Governor Newsom...more
On January 31, 2022, the California State Assembly passed Assembly Bill (AB) No. 257, the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act (FAST Recovery Act), which would potentially provide increased rights to the...more
On January 25, 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom and California legislative leaders announced they have reached an agreement to require employers again to provide COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave (SPSL), which...more
On January 5, 2021, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) issued an Order of the Health Officer requiring all employers to provide face masks to employees “who work indoors and in close contact with...more
On January 6, 2022, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) updated its answers on the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) isolation recommendation found in its guidance, “COVID-19...more
On December 30, 2021, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued its updated “Guidance for Local Health Jurisdictions on Isolation and Quarantine of the General Public.” With the updated guidance, the CDPH’s...more
1/4/2022
/ Cal-OSHA ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Guidance Update ,
Masks ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Quarantine ,
State Health Departments ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On December 13, 2021, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued a revised guidance on face coverings titled Guidance for the Use of Face Covering. Although styled as a guidance, the document states that the...more
On October 7, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) No. 331 into law. SB 331 is known as the “Silenced No More Act.” It amends California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1001 and the California Fair...more
On August 2, 2021, the City and County of San Francisco updated Health Officer Order No. C19-07y, entitled “Encouraging COVID-19 Vaccine Coverage and Reducing Disease Risks (Safer Return Together),” to require all...more
Growing numbers of private businesses and public entities have announced policies requiring employees and others to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment or as a condition of access to facilities or...more
8/4/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Influenza ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Policy Memorandums ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations
As the delta variant (B.1.617.2, which is one of the genetic variants of SARS-CoV-2) fuels a substantial rise in COVID-19 cases in unvaccinated individuals, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated...more
On July 21, 2021, the City of Pasadena health officer issued an order titled, “Order for Wearing of Face Masks in Public Settings.” As did the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s (LACDPH) health order of the...more
On Friday, July 16, 2021, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) issued a health order requiring all individuals regardless of vaccination status to wear face coverings in “[a]ll indoor public settings,...more