Arbitration agreements have been trending in the courts this past year, and California employers just received another win. Employers once again have the option of requiring employees and applicants to sign arbitration agreements as a condition of employment. On...
Jennifer Duggan
New pay disclosure, recordkeeping and reporting requirements affect some California employers
A number of new laws went into effect in 2023 affecting California employers, including the Pay Transparency Act (SB-1162). This law imposes new requirements for certain employers with regard to pay scale disclosures and pay reporting. The purpose of the law is to...
From Illegal Conduct to Protected Activity: Cannabis Users Acquire Protected Status Under FEHA in 2024
Beginning January 1, 2024, employees who recreationally use cannabis (marijuana) outside of the workplace will be legally protected in doing so, and cannot be subject to employment actions merely because of their off-duty use of the drug. The new law, Assembly Bill...
COVID is not going away and neither is SPSL (and other COVID-19 related legislative developments)
As many employers know, California Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (SPSL) for COVID-19 was set to expire on September 30, 2022. However, on September 29, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill No. 152 (AB 152), extending SPSL through December 31, 2022. AB 152 was an...
Fashion forward: The NLRB makes it more difficult for employers to restrict union insignia on uniforms
On August 29, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a 3-2 split decision in Tesla Inc., holding that any attempts by an employer to restrict an employee’s display of union insignia will be found presumptively unlawful, absent “special circumstances”...
What restaurant employers need to know about the FAST Recovery Act
On September 5, 2022, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 257 into law, known as the FAST Food Recovery Accountability and Standards Recovery Act or FAST Recovery Act (the “Act”). The Act provides for the creation of the Fast Food Council, which is a separate council...
Avoid discriminatory questions of California job applicants or employees
Employers, beware. While California employers may ask applicants or employees certain questions which they perceive to be polite small talk, some of these questions could actually be unlawful under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) which prohibits...
Webinar: The Families First Coronavirus Response Act
In this webinar presented on March 27, 2020, Attorney Christina Bucci Hamilton discusses the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and related employment law issues.
California Supreme Court: the federal de minimis rule does not apply in California wage cases
May employers ask workers to perform brief, minor tasks while off the clock? This is the central question of Troester v. Starbucks, in which a former Starbucks shift supervisor alleged that the company did not properly compensate him for work he was regularly required...
How Should Employers Handle Workplace Romances?
In light of the #MeToo movement, office romances may seem like they are quickly becoming a thing of the past. But even if the number of people in workplace relationships is gradually decreasing, it is still far too high for employers to ignore. At the end of last...