Washington is the latest state to enact a Mini-Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) law. Effective July 27, 2025, the Securing Timely Notification and Benefits for Laid-Off Employees Act (SB 5525) imposes...more
6/2/2025
/ Business Closures ,
Covered Employer ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exceptions ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Layoff Notices ,
Layoffs ,
New Legislation ,
Notification Requirements ,
Penalties ,
State Labor Laws ,
WARN Act ,
Washington
In 2024, we witnessed a wave of transformative changes in employment laws, from expanded leave protections and new paid leave mandates to increased pay transparency requirements for employers....more
2/11/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Bias ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hairstyle Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Minimum Wage ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Pay Transparency ,
State Labor Laws
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
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision (Dobbs), several states have already begun outlawing abortions and more states are expected to do so. Some states are also considering...more
7/15/2022
/ Abortion ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Pregnancy ,
Roe v Wade ,
State Labor Laws ,
Travel Reimbursements
New ARPA/COBRA Subsidy -
The federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) provides for a 100% subsidy of COBRA premiums for six months from April 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021, for individuals (and their covered...more
4/1/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Biden Administration ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employees ,
Covered Employer ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Governor Newsom ,
Health Insurance ,
New Guidance ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Notice Requirements ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
Premium Subsidies ,
Relief Measures ,
State and Local Government ,
Tax Credits ,
Vaccinations
On September 10, 2014, Governor Brown signed into law AB 1522 (Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014), which requires all California employers, large or small, to provide employees paid sick leave (with limited...more
Companies in California and across the United States are moving away from traditional vacation accrual policies to unlimited vacation policies, or honor vacation policies. What is an honor vacation policy? How can start-ups...more
In U.S. v. Windsor, the court struck down a portion of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) as unconstitutional. DOMA, for purposes of federal tax and benefits laws, defined marriage as only between “one man and one...more