As the prospect of bringing employees back to the office becomes a reality for some employers, and draws closer for others, businesses need to ensure that they have a return to work plan that prevents the spread of COVID-19...more
While much of the country remains subject to stay-at-home orders due to the spread of COVID-19, many businesses are starting to plan for employees' return to the office. Because COVID-19 is expected to remain in the community...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has quickly led to stay-at-home directives, enhanced health and safety requirements, and new legislation. These developments changed the working environment and the rules governing the employment...more
On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the Act). The Act is one of several federal government efforts to stimulate the economy and mitigate the economic harm to individuals and...more
New York Governor Cuomo and the New York State legislature have reached agreement on a bill to expand New York's Paid Sick Leave Law to provide job protection and pay for New Yorkers quarantined as a result of the Novel...more
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to spread across the globe, including in the United States. California, New York, Florida, Washington, and other states have declared a state of emergency as the number of...more
Two recent cases have found that employee non-solicitation agreements, at least in the form many companies currently use, are unlawful in California. In AMN Healthcare, Inc. v. Aya Healthcare Services, Inc., 28 Cal. App. 5th...more
In tandem with the Massachusetts Noncompetition Act, which reformed Massachusetts law governing non-compete agreements (described here in detail), Massachusetts has adopted its version of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (the...more
Massachusetts has joined a growing list of states, including Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Oregon, and Utah, among others, with statutes placing limits on the permissible terms and scope of agreements prohibiting employees from...more
Once again, California's Supreme Court has underscored that California employment law can differ from federal law in significant, and typically more employee friendly, ways. In Douglas Troester v. Starbucks Corporation,1 a...more
In one of its most important employment law decisions in decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that an employer's use of a class or collective action waiver (class waiver) in a mandatory employment arbitration agreement...more
5/23/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Ernst & Young v Morris ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Murphy Oil v NLRB ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Savings Clause ,
SCOTUS
California's Supreme Court has issued a decision making it harder for companies to classify California workers as independent contractors. In Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, the court adopted a broad...more
In a decision receiving nationwide media coverage, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that an employer cannot defeat a federal Equal Pay Act claim by relying on an employee's prior salary, whether alone...more
As summer approaches, many employers are considering “hiring” summer interns, as well as what to pay them, if anything. Some employers will consider engaging the services of unpaid interns, sometimes at the request of eager...more
California has joined a growing number of cities and states seeking to advance gender pay equity by passing laws prohibiting employers from asking job applicants about their salary histories.1 Effective January 1, 2018,...more
On May 4, 2017, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law a bill that makes it an "unlawful discriminatory practice" for New York City employers to inquire about a job applicant's salary history, or to rely upon...more
At the proverbial eleventh hour, a federal court has blocked the implementation of the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL's) new overtime exemption rules that were scheduled to go into effect on December 1, 2016. As detailed in...more
Although the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL's) new overtime rules are scheduled to go into effect on December 1, 2016, the results of the U.S. presidential election and a pending federal court case are causing some...more
11/21/2016
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exempt-Employees ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Final Rules ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
The White House has entered the fray regarding employer use of non-compete agreements. While the Obama administration's recently issued "State Call to Action on Non-Compete Agreements" does not change current law applicable...more
In two recently announced settlements, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted a strict interpretation of the whistleblower protections afforded under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer...more
In a step that should immediately spur employers to review their compensation and hiring practices, Massachusetts recently enacted legislation that changes considerably the state's rules prohibiting gender-based pay...more
On May 11, 2016, we reported in a WSGR Alert that under the new Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA), employers seeking exemplary damages or attorneys' fees in a trade secrets misappropriation action must provide employees with...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has significantly altered Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations, requiring all employers to carefully review their classifications of employees as exempt or nonexempt from the FLSA's...more
Notwithstanding—and perhaps because of—the emergence of the so-called "sharing economy" and its proliferation of disruptive new business models, as well as calls to re-examine the traditional and familiar employee versus...more
6/15/2015
/ Business Development ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Rights ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Joint Liability ,
Labor Code ,
Misclassification ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Sharing Economy ,
Subcontractors ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour ,
Young Lawyers
In a recent enforcement action, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) took action against a company for "using improperly restrictive language in confidentiality agreements with the potential to stifle the...more
4/29/2015
/ Confidentiality Agreements ,
Employment Policies ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Internal Investigations ,
KBR (formerly Kellogg Brown & Root) ,
Protected Activity ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers