A recent federal appellate court ruling has once again introduced uncertainty for California employers as to whether they may require mandatory arbitration of employment disputes. In 2019, California passed Assembly Bill 51...more
In California, employers with non-exempt employees often utilize time-rounding policies to determine whether employees have been fully paid for time worked, as well as whether employees have taken a meal break in the manner...more
In a further attempt to "bend the curve" and to slow the spread of COVID-19 in California, Governor Gavin Newsom has announced that he is "pulling the emergency brake" on the state's reopening plans, and California has issued...more
12/8/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Risk Management ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
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
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
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
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