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
The rollout of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in the United States has triggered extensive discussion around the law concerning mandatory vaccine policies in the workplace. This discussion will almost certainly evolve over...more
12/28/2020
/ Cal-OSHA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Moderna Inc. ,
New Guidance ,
OSHA ,
Pfizer ,
Quarantine ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
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
2016 brought several employment law developments that will undoubtedly affect your workplace. The Fenwick & West Employment Practices Group invites you to attend its annual complimentary briefing to learn more about the most...more
12/12/2016
/ Arbitration ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
EEO-1 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Events ,
LGBTQ ,
NLRB ,
Paid Leave ,
Separation Agreement ,
Sick Leave ,
Social Media Policy ,
Unfair Competition ,
Wage and Hour
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
Federal anti-discrimination laws (“Title VII”) prohibit an employer from refusing to hire a candidate to avoid accommodating a suspected, but unconfirmed religious practice, according to a recent United States Supreme Court...more
6/26/2015
/ Abercrombie & Fitch ,
Disparate Treatment ,
Dress Codes ,
EEOC v Abercrombie ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Clothing ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII
Employer’s Motive, Not Confirmed Knowledge Of Accommodation Need, Is Basis Of Religious Accommodation Violation -
Federal anti-discrimination laws (“Title VII”) prohibit an employer from refusing to hire a candidate to...more
6/24/2015
/ Abercrombie & Fitch ,
Ban the Box ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dress Codes ,
EEOC v Abercrombie ,
Employee Restrooms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Joint Employers ,
Misclassification ,
OSHA ,
Paid Leave ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Clothing ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Wage and Hour
In Mach Mining, LLC v. EEOC, the United States Supreme Court held that the conciliation efforts of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) are subject to judicial review, although such review is limited to ensure...more
EEOC Conciliation Efforts Subject To Limited Judicial Review -
In Mach Mining, LLC v. EEOC, the United States Supreme Court held that the conciliation efforts of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) are...more
5/20/2015
/ Conciliation ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
FEHA ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Judicial Review ,
LinkedIn ,
Litigation Fees & Costs ,
Mach Mining v EEOC ,
Paid Leave ,
Prevailing Party ,
Sick Leave
Jury to Decide Adequacy of FMLA Recertification Notice Delivered by Email -
A recent case allowing an employee to take claims under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) to trial underscores the importance...more
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
Is an employer allowed to enforce a uniformly-applied workplace conduct policy against an employee whose misconduct was caused by her disability? A federal district court in California said “maybe, maybe not,” and determined...more
Supreme Court Confirms FICA Taxes Must be Withheld from Severance Payments -
Finding severance payments to be a form of “remuneration for employment,” the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Quality Stores,...more
4/22/2014
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
FEHA ,
FICA Taxes ,
Harassment ,
Hills and Dales ,
Hiring & Firing ,
NLRB ,
Posting Requirements ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Severance Pay ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Title VII ,
Wages ,
Whistleblowers
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 another favorable ruling for employers, the Supreme Court in University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar clarified that employees must satisfy a higher “but for” standard of proof to prevail in a Title VII...more
7/24/2013
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
But For Causation ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Harassment ,
Retaliation ,
SCOTUS ,
Supervisors ,
Title VII ,
UT Southwestern Medical v Nassar
In a favorable decision for employers, the U.S. Supreme Court in Vance v. Ball State University ruled that employers are strictly liable for harassment by a supervisor where the supervisor is empowered to take tangible...more
7/22/2013
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Delays ,
DOMA ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
FEHA ,
Harassment ,
Proposition 8 ,
Retaliation ,
Same-Sex Marriage ,
SCOTUS ,
Supervisors ,
Title VII ,
US v Windsor ,
Vance v. Ball State University ,
Vicarious Liability