This post was also written by Seth C. Carmack.

On April 12, 2012, the California Supreme  Court issued its long-awaited decision in Brinker Restaurant Corporation v. Superior Ct. (Hohnbaum), No. S166350. The decision clarified several important issues regarding California employers’ obligations in connection with meal and rest breaks for non-exempt employees. It also offered guidance regarding the certification of meal and rest period wage and hour class actions.Continue Reading Back from the Brink: California Employers Finally Get Clarity on Meal/Rest Breaks

California’s new Wage Theft Protection Act of 2011 (Labor Code Section 2810.5, effective January 1, 2012), requires employers to provide most new non-overtime-exempt employees with a written notice that contains specified information regarding, among others, wage rate, payday, employer name and address, workers’ compensation insurance carrier information, and other information added by the Labor Commissioner as it may deem necessary
Continue Reading California’s “Wage Theft Protection Act” — Labor Commissioner Tries Again With an Updated Notice Template and FAQs

California’s new Wage Theft Protection Act of 2011 (Labor Code Section 2810.5, effective January 1, 2012), requires employers to provide most new non-overtime-exempt employees with a written notice that contains specified information regarding, among others, wage rate, payday, employer name and address, workers’ compensation insurance carrier information, and other information added by the Labor Commissioner

Last month, California Governor Jerry Brown approved a variety of state legislation affecting employers doing business in California. Discussed here is SB 459, which imposes strict penalties for employers found willfully (intentionally and voluntarily) to have misclassified workers as independent contractors. Known to some as the "Job Killer Act," SB 459 provides for stiff fines

Effective January 1, 2012, private California employers of non-exempt employees not subject to certain collective bargaining agreements will face new reporting and recordkeeping requirements and penalties for violations of California’s aggressively-titled “Wage Theft Prevention Act” signed into law in October 2011. Similar to New York’s law of the same name enacted last year, the Act

Last week, the IRS announced the Voluntary Classification Settlement Program (the “VCSP”), allowing eligible employers to voluntarily resolve U.S. past worker classification issues and reclassify workers as employees for federal employment tax purposes. Reclassifying workers as employees, however, raises many issues other than employment tax issues including, for example: retirement benefit plan issues; health and

In a unanimous opinion, the California Supreme Court has ruled that California’s overtime laws apply to workers from out of state who perform work in California for a California-based employer. Sullivan v. Oracle Corp., No. 06-56649 (9th Cir. June 30, 2011). Answering certified questions from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit,

In AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, U.S., No. 09-893, 4/27/11, an ideologically divided U.S. Supreme Court held that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) trumped California law to uphold class action waivers in arbitration. 

According to the majority opinion authored by Justice Antonin Scalia, a blanket prohibition on arbitration provisions requiring individual arbitration in favor of

This post was also written by Lucas Liben and George M. Linge.

This may be one of the abiding truths of the 21st Century: the pervasiveness of modern communication technology has revolutionized how business is conducted, law is practiced, and life is lived. Nevertheless, courts remain protective of communications between an attorney and