Today, in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, the Supreme Court unanimously held that in order to establish a prima facie case of discrimination under Title VII, a plaintiff who is a member of a majority group does not...more
Employers in California often offer employees the ability to sign “meal period waivers,” usually at onboarding. These written waivers reflect the employee’s agreement, on a going-forward basis, to waive their first meal...more
4/22/2025
/ Appeals ,
California ,
Contract Terms ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Popular ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Waivers
An issue that has long plagued employers in California is whether time an employee spends on the employer’s premises making their way to or from their worksite is compensable. We have seen a spike in lawsuits raising this...more
Kuciemba v. Victory Woodworks Inc., 14 Cal. 4th 993 (2023)...
Adolph v. Uber Technologies Inc., 14 Cal. 5th 1104 (2023)...
Woodworth v. Loma Linda University Medical Center, No. E072704, 2023 WL 4701976 (Cal. Ct. App. July...more
In a 6-3 decision issued today, the United States Supreme Court held that a former employee of an offshore oil rig, who earned more than $200,000 a year, was eligible for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act...more
After more than three years of litigation, the Ninth Circuit has held that AB 51, California’s attempt to ban mandatory employment arbitration agreements, is unenforceable....more
Summary -
Where an employer can and does track the exact time in minutes that its employees work each shift, and those records show that employees were not paid for all the time they worked, neutral time rounding is not a...more
12/8/2022
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitrators ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
FEHA ,
FMCSA ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Issue Preclusion ,
Judgment on the Pleadings ,
Preemption ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Retroactivity ,
Split of Authority ,
Standing ,
State Labor Laws ,
Timekeeping ,
Wage and Hour
Join us for our third annual all-day complimentary seminar on the most pressing employment law topics, transmitted to you in your home, office, or virtually anywhere with an internet connection. Attendees can enjoy one or all...more
9/22/2022
/ Affirmative Action ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Best Practices ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
State Labor Laws ,
Viking River Cruises Inc v Moriana ,
Webinars
Join us for a lively discussion of critical year-end updates for California employers. We will address new legislation and key case rulings.
Topics will include:
- Vaccine mandates and COVID-19-related considerations...more
11/19/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Litigation ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
State Labor Laws ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Webinars
Welcome to the second edition of “Case in Point,” a series of short videos in which we recap key employment cases from the past quarter and discuss what they mean for employers in California.
In this 6-minute episode, Tyler...more
2021 brought several changes to the workplace, but employers should have less to fear following this Payne & Fears conference. Join us for a full day of seminars on the most pressing employment law topics, transmitted to you...more
9/24/2021
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Business Expenses ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Dress Codes ,
Employee Evaluations ,
Employee Monitoring ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Gender Identity ,
Mental Health ,
OSHA ,
Over-Time ,
Political Speech ,
Productivity ,
Rate of Pay ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Social Media Policy ,
Timekeeping ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Statements ,
Webinars
Welcome to the first edition of a new series, “Case in Point.” During these short videos, we’ll recap several of the key employment cases from the last few months and discuss what they mean for employers in California.
In...more
Sanchez v. Martinez, No. C083268, 2020 WL 5494239 (Cal. Ct. App. Sept. 11, 2020) -
Summary: Piece-rate employees who are provided with unpaid rest breaks are entitled to damages in the amount of the minimum wage for actual...more
10/14/2020
/ Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Damages ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Judicial Review ,
Piece-Rate Pay ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Robinson v. Southern Counties Oil Co, 53 Cal. App. 5th 476 (2020) -
Summary: Res judicata bars a PAGA claim when the employer has already settled a separate PAGA claim covering the same claims and time period.
An...more
9/22/2020
/ Amended Rules ,
Appeals ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Commonality ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
FRCP 23 ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Res Judicata ,
Reversal ,
Standing
Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, 140 S. Ct. 1731 (2020) -
Summary: Title VII prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity....more
7/15/2020
/ Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Appeals ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
CA Supreme Court ,
California ,
Class Action ,
Commuting ,
Compensation Schemes ,
Control Test ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
IWC ,
Labor Code ,
LGBTQ ,
Mileage Reimbursement ,
Out-of-State Employees ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Summary Judgment ,
Title VII ,
Transgender ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Orders ,
Wage Statements
In a pair of overlapping opinions issued today – Ward v. United Airlines, Inc. and Oman v. Delta Air Lines, Inc. – the California Supreme Court addressed a wide variety of unsettled questions in California wage-and-hour law....more
Betancourt v. OS Rest. Servs., LLC, No. B293625, 2020 WL 2570839 (Cal. Ct. App. Apr. 30, 2020) -
Summary: A plaintiff is not entitled to recover penalties for waiting time and wage statement violations based on claims of...more
6/9/2020
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equitable Estoppel ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Third-Party Beneficiaries ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
As we previously reported, on May 2, 2019, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Vazquez v. Jan-Pro Franchising Int'l, No. 17-16096, held that the California Supreme Court's landmark decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc....more
8/21/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Appeals ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Retroactive Application ,
Wage and Hour