Legal News and Updates
Intersection Between ‘Ban-the-Box’ Law and Negligent Hiring Claims
Since January 1, 2018, California has had a "ban-the-box" law that prohibits most employers in the state with five or more employees from asking in the initial stages of the onboarding process whether job applicants have had criminal convictions. We discussed the law...
California amends lactation law effective January 1, 2019
California employers should be aware of a change in our state's lactation accommodation law as of January 1. Previously, an employer could satisfy the requirement for a private room for breastfeeding mothers to express milk so long as the room was not a "toilet...
Court says store must pay workers for unworked on-call shifts
Our state is known for its wide-reaching employee protections. A recent Court of Appeal case illustrates this in the context of a department store that required retail employees to call in two hours before possible on-call shifts to see if they had to report in...
California court allows rounding software for meal-break tracking
In a case widely lauded as pro-employer, the California Court of Appeal in the Fourth District recently agreed with the trial court that a health staffing company's use of time-rounding software to track its employees' required meal breaks was fair and neutral and...
Respondeat superior in California courts (Part 2)
In Part 1 of this post, we introduced the December 2018 case of Moreno v. Visser Ranch, Inc., in which a California appellate court addressed issues of employer liability for losses or injuries caused by an employee when he or she was acting within the scope of...
California employer liable for employee driving company vehicle while using vehicle for personal use (Part 1)
A recent California court decision raises important issues for employers who allow their employee to use company vehicles for personal reasons. In Moreno v. Visser Ranch, Inc., an employer allowed its employee to use a truck it owned and insured for both business and...
Study shows older-worker job losses more damaging than thought
At our law firm, we advise California employers on how to comply with state and federal laws against age discrimination. Last summer, we posted in this space about a class-action lawsuit alleging that social-media advertising for job openings that only display in the...
California employers need to keep detailed payroll records
There are many legal and practical reasons for California employers to keep accurate, careful records of hours worked and wages paid. For example, federal and state tax and other deductions must be correctly calculated. California law also requires employers to...
California noncompete-clause ban now has narrow exception
California law is serious about protecting employees within its borders. To that end, Labor Code section 925, which became effective in 2017, explicitly provides that an employer, as a condition of employment, may not force employees who primarily work and reside in...
Study looks at nuances of gender pay gap
The Institute for Women's Policy Research published a fascinating study in November 2018 that revealed that the gap between the pay women and men receive is more serious than traditional data has shown. Using a sophisticated, multi-year analysis that considered...