The COVID-19 pandemic sparked an ongoing upheaval in the California (and greater U.S.) labor market. Extensive job losses early in the pandemic have led to a tight labor market, which arose in part due to the...more
Many Montana employees can claim the protection of Montana’s unique Wrongful Discharge from Employment Act, which generally bars an employer for terminating an employee without “good cause” after the employee has completed a...more
Beginning September 1, 2021, claims for sexual harassment can be made against a broader group of employers in Texas. The Texas Legislature passed two significant amendments, SB 45 and HB 21, to the Texas Labor Code, which...more
In a unanimous opinion in Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, the California Supreme Court ruled on the important practical question of whether the “regular rate of compensation” for calculating meal or rest break premium...more
7/19/2021
/ CA Supreme Court ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Rate of Pay ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Retroactive Application ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Orders
On May 7, 2021, Governor Greg Gianforte signed House Bill 702, which prohibits discrimination based on vaccination status or possession of an immunity passport. Specifically, the Act makes it unlawful for employers to refuse...more
5/17/2021
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
New Guidance ,
New Legislation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Vaccinations ,
Vaccine Passports
Employers have continued to feel the impact of the 2018 California Supreme Court decision in Dynamex Operations West Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County, 4 Cal.5th 903 (2018). Today, the California Supreme Court in...more
1/15/2021
/ ABC Test ,
Borello Test ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Dynamex ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Independent Contractors ,
New Legislation ,
Retroactive Application ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage Orders
Employees must be paid for time spent on their employer’s premises waiting for, and undergoing, required searches of bags and other property voluntarily brought to work, according to the California Supreme Court’s ruling...more
On October 11, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 51, which will drastically change the requirements for employers who use arbitration agreements. Specifically, the new law bans employers from requiring, as a...more
10/17/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
FEHA ,
Governor Newsom ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Mandatory Arbitration ,
State Labor Laws
On September 18, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 5, which clarifies when workers should be considered “employees” under the California Labor Code and the California Unemployment Insurance Code,...more
10/9/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Dynamex ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Freelance Workers ,
Governor Newsom ,
Health Insurance ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Staffing Agencies ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Withholding Tax
On September 18, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 5, which clarifies when workers should be considered “employees” under the California Labor Code and the California Unemployment Insurance Code,...more
9/24/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Dynamex ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Newsom ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Code ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
When it comes to marijuana, the legal landscape is changing rapidly. Ten states, including California, have legalized recreational use. In more than twenty other states, some form of medical marijuana is legal....more
In July of 2018, Dorsey updated you on the California Supreme Court’s ruling in Troester v. Starbucks Corp., where the Court rejected the federal minimis doctrine, which exempts employers from compensating employees for short...more
In his last bill signing of his final term, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law several bills affecting employers’ obligations relating to sexual harassment. Those imposing the most sweeping changes are described briefly...more
The California Supreme Court recently confirmed that employers seeking background reports need to ensure they are in compliance with both the Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (ICRAA) and the Consumer Credit...more
In a long-awaited decision, the California Supreme Court rejected the federal de minimis doctrine, making clear that in any instance in which employees perform “minutes of work,” before or after their shifts, that time must...more
7/31/2018
/ CA Supreme Court ,
De Minimis Claims ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Starbucks ,
State Labor Laws ,
Timekeeping ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
Let’s face it. The hiring process involves mounds of regulations, disclosures, authorizations, and then more disclosures. The last thing an employer – or applicant – wants to see is a higher stack of documents filled with...more
4/26/2018
/ Appeals ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Frito-Lay ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Popular ,
Settlement ,
Waivers
Question: Some of our retail company’s employees in California are demanding chairs to sit in while they work. Management thinks it appears unprofessional to have workers sitting, but I hear the employees might have a legal...more
4/12/2016
/ Banks ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Class Action ,
CVS ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Job Duties ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Retailers ,
Seating ,
Suitable Seats Lawsuits ,
Totality of Circumstances Test ,
Wage Orders
Question: We have our electronic handbook and arbitration agreement online, and all employees sign both electronically. I saw a news blurb that a California court last year refused to enforce an arbitration agreement that...more
You are right to be concerned. Under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), employees who work for entities engaged in the manufacture, processing, packing, transporting, distribution, reception, holding, or...more
According to reports, more than half of all businesses with over 200 employees ask employees to participate in biometric screening, and nearly 10% of them provide a financial incentive for employees to participate. As a part...more
12/4/2014
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Biometric Information ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
GINA ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Honeywell International ,
PHI ,
Wellness Programs
As a general business practice, employers should routinely anticipate and prepare for emergencies to ensure minimal interruption to their business. While West Africa is experiencing the largest Ebola epidemic in history,...more
Quirky Question -
We are a California employer. After all the publicity surrounding class actions over meal and break periods, we instituted automatic warnings if employees take too long or too short a meal or rest...more
Question:
Our office manager occasionally runs errands during the day such as delivering something to a customer or picking up lunch for a meeting. We reimburse her at the IRS rate for mileage. Yesterday, on her way...more
We have an employee who is claiming that he should be paid for time cleaning up his work station after logging out of our electronic time keeping system each night. Literally, he spends one or two minutes straightening his...more
I have always understood that California employers that misclassify workers as independent contractors face potential liability, including compensatory damages, penalties and attorney’s fees. I recently heard a news broadcast...more