On July 1, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in Harrington v. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, became the latest federal circuit to rule that the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bristol-Meyers Squibb...more
7/11/2025
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Damages ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Jurisdiction ,
Wage and Hour
The California Legislature passed legislation on June 27, 2024, representing a significant overhaul of the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA). PAGA permits a current or former employee to pursue an action...more
On March 25, 2024, the California Supreme Court held that workers are entitled to compensation for time spent undergoing exit security checks that included an inspection of their personal vehicle. In the same decision, the...more
California has introduced some significant and widely applicable new employment laws that took effect on Jan. 1, 2023, unless otherwise stated.
Minimum Wage Increases -
On Jan. 1, 2023, the California state minimum...more
On Sept. 27, 2022, in a continuing effort toward pay equity, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1162, the state’s pay transparency law. S.B. 1162 brings a number of changes employers will need to implement by...more
On May 23, 2022, the California Supreme Court held that premium pay for missed meal and rest breaks pursuant to Cal. Labor Code Section 226.7 are “wages” that must be reported on wage statements per Cal. Lab. Code § 226 and...more
On Feb. 9, 2022, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 114, granting covered employees up to 80 hours of paid sick leave for COVID-19-related reasons (CSPSL).
Effective Dates of Application. The new...more
As usual, the new year will bring a slew of new California employment laws. Following is a summary of many of the more significant new and widely applicable employment laws that will take effect in California on Jan. 1, 2022,...more
12/20/2021
/ Cal-OSHA ,
California Family Rights Act (CFRA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Independent Contractors ,
Minimum Wage ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Notification Requirements ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft
On July 15, 2021, the California Supreme Court decided a closely watched case, Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, LLC, and unanimously held that employers are required to pay meal and rest break violation premiums at the same...more
On May 5, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) eliminated a Trump administration end-of-term rule for determining whether workers should be classified as independent contractors or employees under the Fair Labor Standards...more
Over the last decade, courts have permitted California employers to use timekeeping policies that round employee time punches (e.g., to the nearest 10th of an hour) if the rounding policy is facially neutral and used in a...more
Effective Jan. 1, 2021, California employers with five or more employees will be required to provide family and medical leave to their employees under a newly enacted version of the California Family Rights Act (CFRA). The...more
On March 12, 2020, the California Supreme Court held in Kim v. Reins International California, Inc. that employees who settle and release their individual wage and hour claims still have standing to bring a representative...more
On May 31, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California awarded a $102 million judgment against a national retailer for failing to comply with California’s meal break and wage statement laws. The bulk...more
On Feb. 4, 2019, the California Court of Appeal decided Ward v. Tilly’s, Inc., holding that employers must provide “reporting time pay” when requiring employees to call in prior to a potential shift to learn whether they must...more
On April 30, 2018, the California Supreme Court issued a long-awaited opinion in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, clarifying the legal standard for distinguishing between employees and independent contractors....more
Earlier this week, just one day before Equal Pay Day, the 9th Circuit issued an en banc opinion in Rizo v. Yovino, holding that a prospective employee’s pay history cannot justify a wage disparity as a “factor other than sex”...more
On Oct. 12, 2017, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a new law that restricts employers’ use of applicants’ salary history during the hiring process. This law will also require employers to provide the applicable pay scale to...more
On July 13, 2017, the California Supreme Court handed down a decision in a long-running dispute in wage and hour litigation regarding whether employers must disclose employees’ names and contact information.
In its first...more
On Dec. 22, 2016, the California Supreme Court ruled in Augustus, et al. v. ABM Security Services, Inc. that an employer’s policy requiring employees to remain “on call” during paid rest breaks violated state law. This...more
On July 1, 2016, Los Angeles introduced its own paid sick leave ordinance as part of the Los Angeles Minimum Wage Ordinance. The requirements of this ordinance are in addition to California’s state-wide paid sick leave...more
On June 30, 2016, Judge Jeffrey Hamilton of the California Superior Court in Fresno County granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing the enforcement of various aspects of California’s new piece-rate pay statute,...more