In the midst of the winter COVID-19 surge, Governor Newsom and California legislative leaders have agreed to fast-track a plan to provide emergency COVID-19 relief. As part of that package, another allotment of Paid Sick Leave for COVID-19 will once again be available to California workers. Continue Reading COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Returning to California Workplaces
As Lizbeth West and James Kachmar wrote in previous blogs, here and here, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the stay of OSHA’s vaccine-or-test mandate that applies to employers with more than 100 employees. Challengers of the mandate sought immediate review by the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court held oral arguments in the matter on an expedited basis on January 7, 2022, and just published an opinion today lambasting OSHA’s vaccine mandate and staying its enforcement. Continue Reading The U.S. Supreme Court Stays Enforcement of OSHA’s Nationwide Vaccine Mandate Because It Exceeds OSHA’s Authority
Effective January 1, 2022, California’s minimum wage rate increased to $15.00 per hour (from $14.00) for employers with 26 or more employees and $14.00 per hour (from $13.00) for employers with 25 or fewer employees. The minimum wage will reach $15.00 per hour for employers with 25 or fewer employees on January 1, 2023. Continue Reading New Year, New Minimum Wage
Earlier this week, Beth West wrote a blog update about the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals vacating the stay of OSHA’s vaccine or test mandate that applies to employers with more than 100 employees (Click here to read). Ms. West noted that the challengers to the mandate would seek immediate review by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Appellants in those cases filed their appeals of the 6th Circuit’s ruling and filed applications to again stay the OSHA vaccine or test mandate. Continue Reading US Supreme Court Will Hear OSHA Vaccine or Test Mandate Challenge on Expedited Basis
A blog we published here on May 28, 2020, correctly noted that California’s workers-compensation laws may immunize employers from most civil lawsuits alleging that employees became infected with the coronavirus on the job. That blog also correctly emphasized that other types of lawsuits may spread from lax pandemic protocols. This week the California Court of Appeal issued a unanimous three-judge decision outlining a potential path for workers and their families to get around workers-compensation immunity and maintain a possible new strain of civil actions. Continue Reading The Spread of Employee Lawsuits Related to COVID-19 May Be Widening, But Treatments and Cures May Exist
