California employers may finally rejoice: there is now an employer-friendly state court decision, Higgins-Williams v. Sutter Med. Found., 237 Cal. App. 4th 78 (2015). The case takeaway is straightforward: an employee’s claimed inability to work under a supervisor because of the supervisor’s causing the employee anxiety and stress during standard oversight of the employee’s performance, … Continue Reading
On July 13, 2015, Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill 304 – an amendment to California’s recently effective (as of July 1, 2015), statewide sick-leave law, known as the California Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (the Act). The Amendment is effective immediately. It adds significant new compliance options for employers, in addition to clarifying … Continue Reading
The changes to employees’ rights to take leave under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) go into effect July 1, 2015. Your company should be prepared only if it has done the following: Reviewed the changes to the CFRA regulations, which may be found here. Updated your policies and employee handbooks to reflect the legal … Continue Reading
Effective January 1, 2014, California’s Fair Employment & Housing Act (Gov. Code §§12940, et seq.) has been amended to push the boundaries of what counts as employment discrimination. California employers should revise all postings, employee handbooks and training materials to reflect two important changes in the law. … Continue Reading
2013 is shaping up to be the year that that party ended for state evasion of the Federal Arbitration Act. States have traditionally relied on a number of stratagems to avoid the preemptive force of the FAA’s “liberal federal policy favoring arbitration.” (Moses H. Cone Mem’l Hosp. v. Mercury Constr. Corp., 460 U.S. 1, 24 [1983]). One … Continue Reading
California employers, who, only thirteen months ago, thought they no longer had to worry about wage/hour class actions by employees over meal and other rest breaks need to worry again. When the California Supreme Court handed down its blockbuster decision in Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court, 53 Cal.4th 1004 (2012), thirteen months ago, California … Continue Reading
Under California law, employers must provide their employees with wage statements that contain nine specific categories of information. See Cal. Labor Code § 226(a)(1)-(9). Plaintiffs in California wage and hour actions regularly and routinely have included section 226 claims with other wage allegations, claiming non-compliance by employers. And until January 1, 2013, employers have, in some circumstances, … Continue Reading
We’ve opened our new Houston office with an excellent pair of Labor & Employment attorneys, Wanda Holloway and Fazila Issa, as well several other top-notch lawyers. Click here to learn more.… Continue Reading
Our Global Regulatory Enforcement colleagues Lisa B. Kim, Steven Boranian and Joshua B. Marker have written a blog post discussing a proposed amendment to California’s “Shine the Light” law seeks to require companies to disclose more detailed information about their data-sharing practices, while giving consumers the ability to bring class action lawsuits under the legislation. To … Continue Reading
Newly-amended state regulations effective December 30, 2012 have expanded the definition of “disabled by pregnancy.” The amended regulations now also expressly provide that a woman is “disabled by pregnancy” if she suffers from severe “morning sickness” or needs time off for: prenatal or postnatal care; bed rest; gestational diabetes; pregnancy-induced hypertension; preeclampsia, post-partum depression; childbirth; loss … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Paul D. Fogel. On February 7, 2013 the California Supreme Court issued its much-awaited opinion in Harris v. City of Santa Monica, announcing whether and to what extent a “mixed motive” defense is available to an employer under the Fair Employment Housing Act (“FEHA”). Although a mixed bag, the holding … Continue Reading
California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act protects employees from harassment, discrimination, and retaliation by their employers on the basis of several protected categories, including sex and religion. Two amendments clarifying the scope of these protected categories became effective January 1, 2013.… Continue Reading
New California Labor Code Section 980, restricting employer access to employees’ personal social media, goes into effect on January 1, 2013. California will become the third state, behind Maryland and Illinois, to enact a law to restrict employer access to employee and applicant social media. … Continue Reading
An amendment to California Labor Code Section 1198.5 goes into effect on January 1, 2013, relating to employee access to personnel records. At a current or former employee’s request, an employer must make the employee’s file available for inspection and — new for 2013 — provide a copy of an employee’s personnel records to that … Continue Reading
Under California Labor Code 2751 (amended in 2012), effective January 1, 2013, employers must provide all commissioned employees who render services in California with a written contract detailing the method by which the commission shall be computed and paid. This law applies to all employers (both in-state and out-of-state) who pay commissions to employees working … Continue Reading
