2023 was a seismic year for the employment landscape, with changes to state and federal laws that touch on hiring, firing, and just about everything in between. Members of Fenwick’s employment group recently walked through...more
2/1/2024
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
California ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
New York ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Paid Leave ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
State Labor Laws ,
Technology ,
Wage and Hour
On the heels of more than three years of legal challenges (summarized here) to California’s AB 51, which prohibits employers from requiring employees to arbitrate disputes under the state’s Labor Code and Fair Employment and...more
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has issued its long-awaited ruling on the appeal of a California trial court’s injunction that prohibited the State of California from enforcing AB 51,...more
9/21/2021
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
California ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Employment Practices Act ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Injunctions ,
Labor Code ,
New Legislation ,
State Labor Laws
Arbitration Agreements: Potential for a Reprieve from AB 51 -
As we reported last year, the California Legislature passed AB 51 in an effort to prohibit employers from requiring employees to arbitrate claims under the...more
2/25/2020
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Independent Contractors ,
New Legislation ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Security Checks ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller, in Sacramento on December 30, 2019, issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the state of California from enforcing AB 51, and on January 10 extended the TRO until January 31,...more
1/16/2020
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Chamber of Commerce ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
New Legislation ,
Preemption ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Restraining Orders ,
State Labor Laws ,
TRO
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Oct. 10 signed into law Assembly Bill 51. The new law, which goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2020, outlaws forced arbitration of a significant majority of claims employees and former employees can...more
11/1/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Breach of Contract ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
FEHA ,
Governor Newsom ,
Labor Code ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
New Legislation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Supremacy Clause
California Legislative Update -
In the latter half of 2016, California Governor Jerry Brown signed numerous bills into law. Below is a summary of those laws that will affect California employers in 2017 and...more
1/21/2017
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Background Checks ,
Cell Phones ,
Choice-of-Law ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Collective Actions ,
Company Vehicles ,
Computer Software Workers ,
Criminal Records ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Domestic Violence ,
Drivers ,
EEO-1 ,
Employee Restrooms ,
Employment Contract ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Pay Act ,
Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces ,
Governor Brown ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Injunctions ,
Juveniles ,
Local Ordinance ,
Mental Health ,
Minimum Salary ,
Minimum Wage ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
NLRB ,
No-Poaching ,
Notice Requirements ,
NYDOL ,
Off-Duty Employees ,
On-Duty Meal Period Waivers ,
Over-Time ,
Paid Leave ,
Parental Leave ,
Payroll Records ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Retaliation ,
Ridesharing ,
Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
State-Run Retirement Plans ,
Strategic Enforcement Plan ,
Venue ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Statements ,
Wage-Fixing ,
White-Collar Exemptions
Bag Checks for Apple Employees Not Compensable Time -
Apple Inc. recently convinced a California federal district court to dismiss a certified class action alleging that Apple had a legal duty to pay store workers for...more
12/22/2015
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Class Members ,
Compensation ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Legal Ethics ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
SCOTUS ,
Summary Judgment ,
Wage and Hour
Legislative Update -
Governor Brown recently signed into state law the following employment law bills (among others):
SB 358—Referred to as the California Fair Pay Act, this law is directed at closing the pay...more
10/26/2015
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
AT&T Mobility v Concepcion ,
Background Checks ,
Chipotle Grill ,
Class Action ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employment Application ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Fair Pay Act ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Identity ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Governor Brown ,
Governor Vetoes ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Code ,
Misclassification ,
Motion to Compel ,
New Legislation ,
Over-Time ,
Preemption ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remand ,
Retaliation ,
SCOTUS ,
Substantially Similar ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Void and Unenforceable ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Statements ,
Waivers ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers ,
Wrongful Termination
The 2014 legislative session is in the books, and it produced several new laws affecting employers in California, including:
Private arbitration companies must provide arbitration data on their websites, in a...more
10/27/2014
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Compliance ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Harassment ,
Internships ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Training ,
Unpaid Interns ,
Workplace Bullying
Partial-Day Leave Deductions Lawful for Exempt Employees -
A California court of appeal recently confirmed that employers may require exempt employees to use accrued leave for partial-day absences, even if shorter than...more
8/15/2014
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Paid Leave ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Retaliation
Finding the National Labor Relations Board failed to give appropriate weight to the Federal Arbitration Act, the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a Board decision invalidating an arbitration agreement that...more
Finding the National Labor Relations Board failed to give appropriate weight to the Federal Arbitration Act, the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a Board decision invalidating an arbitration agreement that...more
In Peng v. First Republic Bank, a former employee asserting discrimination and other claims challenged the enforceability of the arbitration agreement she signed as a condition of employment. Specifically, she asserted that...more
In Davis v. Kiewit Pacific Company, Lisa Davis, a heavy machine operator and one of two female employees at a 100-employee excavation project, prevailed in her claims of gender discrimination, hostile work environment, and...more
In American Express Company v. Italian Colors Restaurant, a non-employment case, the Supreme Court enforced a class action waiver in an American Express (“AMEX”) arbitration agreement despite a restaurant’s objection that the...more
In This Issue:
*FEATURE ARTICLES
- Cal Supreme Court Refuses To Immunize Employers In Mixed-Motive Discrimination Cases, But Significantly Limits Remedies
- Manager's Bias, Public Policy, And Defamation...more
2/21/2013
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Canning v NLRB ,
Claims Limitations Period ,
Defamation ,
Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Facebook ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Fraud Exception ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Kmart ,
Mixed Motive Cases ,
NLRB ,
Parol Evidence ,
Public Policy ,
Recess Appointments ,
Suitable Seats Lawsuits ,
Termination ,
Unconscionable Contracts