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
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
Join Fenwick’s Employment Practices Group for a 90-minute discussion of the legal developments and emerging trends that shaped 2022 then hear about the compliance recommendations, practical takeaways, and perspective on what...more
12/23/2022
/ Continuing Legal Education ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Webinars ,
Workplace Safety
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
Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a slew of new bills into law at the close of California’s legislative season. Below is a summary of the new employment laws, all of which take effect on January 1, 2022....more
11/10/2021
/ California ,
California Family Rights Act (CFRA) ,
Classification ,
Employee Retention ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement ,
Governor Newsom ,
Independent Contractors ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures ,
Wage Theft ,
Workplace Safety
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
The California Supreme Court held on January 14, 2021, that its landmark Dynamex decision, which established a rigid standard under California law for companies to classify workers as independent contractors, and later was...more
1/21/2021
/ ABC Test ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Freelance Workers ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Misclassification ,
Retroactive Application ,
State and Local Government ,
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
As outlined in our prior alert, a multitude of changes in New York employment law have either gone into effect or will be in effect soon. We encourage employers with New York operations to review our prior guidance,...more
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 Governor Gavin Newsom on Sept. 18 signed into law Assembly Bill 5, landmark legislation which codifies, and significantly expands, the reach of the California Supreme Court’s restrictive “ABC” test for determining...more
9/19/2019
/ ABC Test ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gig Economy ,
Governor Newsom ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Aug. 30 signed into law a bill that extends the deadline for small businesses (five or more employees) to conduct harassment prevention training for both supervisory and non-supervisory...more
New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on August 12 signed into law new legislation expanding employee protections against discrimination and harassment. Among the key provisions are a lower standard for proving harassment,...more
8/14/2019
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Pay ,
Faragher/Ellerth defense ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Hairstyle Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Notice Requirements ,
Protected Class ,
Punitive Damages ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Wage and Hour
Washington is the latest state to shake up the non-competition landscape. Last month, Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law a bill that significantly limits post-employment/post-service non-compete agreements. Washington now joins...more
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