Almost exactly one year ago, the California Supreme Court issued its decision in Gustavo Naranjo v Spectrum Security Services, Inc. (“Naranjo”), reviewing a decision by the Second Appellate District (the “Appellate Court”) in 2019. As we discussed in our California Employment News episode at that time (available here on YouTube, or here on our podcast) and here on our blog, the Supreme Court’s decision opened the flood-gates for employees to recover waiting-time and wage statement penalties whenever meal or rest period premiums went unpaid. This ruling immediately hyper-inflating the value of many wage and hour class actions across the state. On remand, the Appellate Court halted this inflation in some instances by clarifying that such penalties are not available to a class of employees where the employer has a good faith dispute that the premiums were due.

Continue Reading Safe Harbor from Class-Based Waiting Time and Wage Statement Penalties for Employers with “Good Faith Disputes” That Meal or Rest Period Premiums Were Owed — the Latest Chapter in the Naranjo Saga

As temperatures rise, California law requires employers with outdoor employees to take steps to protect workers from heat illness. Shauna Correia reviews Cal/OSHA’s ‘Heat Illness Prevention Standards” for outdoor worksites in this episode of California Employment News.

Continue Reading California Employment News: Summer is Coming – is Your Worksite Ready for the Heat?

The California Legislature is considering whether employees who are currently working from home have a right to continue to do so until the employer provides advance written notice of the need to return to the workplace.  Senate Bill (SB) 731, introduced by Senator Ashby, is making its way through the Legislative committee process and was set for hearing on May 18, 2023.

Continue Reading Will Working from Home Become A Statutorily Protected Right?

Employers with remote workforces should take note that they will need to begin physically inspecting new hires’ I-9 documentation again as of August 1, 2023 – and they will need to conduct a physical inspection of employees’ documents that were only virtually inspected during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced earlier this month that employers will have 30 days to reach compliance with Form I-9 requirements after the “COVID-19 flexibilities” sunset on July 31, 2023.

Continue Reading Deadline Approaching: Form I-9 Virtual Inspection of Employment Authorization and Identity Documents will End on July 31, 2023

A new law mandates employers to provide appropriate military leave compensation for San Francisco employees while they are away for military duty. Katie Collins reviews the SF Military Leave Pay Protection Act in this episode of California Employment News.

Listen to this podcast episode here.

Watch this episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel.