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Back in December, Beth West informed our readers that the NLRB had issued new (and more realistic) guidelines for evaluating whether employment policies and rules violate the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). As a reminder, the NLRB issued a new two-prong test for determining if facially neutral employment policies could interfere with the exercise of NLRA rights, evaluating: (1) the nature and extent of the potential impact on NLRA rights, and (2) the legitimate justifications associated with the rule. A full analysis of the case can be found here.

The National Labor Relations Board’s General Counsel recently issued a memorandum (the “Memo”) providing guidance as to how the NLRB will enforce workplace policies, in light of that decision. The Memo evaluates common workplace rules to assess whether or not such rules may be permissible, evaluating the rules under three main categories: (1) lawful to maintain; (2) warrant individualized scrutiny; and (3) unlawful to maintain.
Continue Reading NLRB Provides Guidance Regarding Permissible Policies – Are Your Policies Compliant?

In January, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board (OSHSB) adopted new regulations intended to prevent and reduce workplace injuries suffered by housekeepers in the hotel and hospitality industry. The new regulations, which go into effect on July 1st, require California hotel (and other lodging) employers to adopt a Musculoskeletal Injury Prevention Program (MIPP) to complement the Injury and Illness Prevention Plan (IIPP), which should already be in place. The MIPP must include:
Continue Reading Do You Own a Hotel? – New Regulations Going Into Effect

As any reader of our blog knows, California employers are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of national origin (among other classifications). The Fair Employment and Housing Commission (“FEHC”) recently issued new regulations, which go into effect on July 1, 2018, expanding the definition of “national origin” to include an individual’s or ancestors’ actual or perceived (1) physical, cultural, or linguistic characteristics associated with a national origin group; (2) marriage to persons of a national origin group; (3) tribal affiliation; (4) membership in an organization identified with or seeking to promote the interests of a national origin group; (5) attendance in schools or religious institutions typically used by persons of a national origin group; and (6) name associated with a national origin group. The regulations also provide that “national origin groups” include “ethnic groups, geographic places of origin, and countries that are not presently in existence.”
Continue Reading New California Regulations on National Origin Going Into Effect

Assembly Bill (“AB”) 2069 was introduced by the California Assembly on February 7, 2018. Currently, California employers can deny employment or impose discipline on cannabis users, regardless of whether such use is for medical purposes. AB 2069 would amend the Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) to make it an unlawful practice for an employer to take adverse action against an applicant or employee because of a positive drug test for cannabis (by a medical cannabis card holder) or because of one’s status as a medical cannabis card holder.
Continue Reading Medical Cannabis Users May Soon be Protected Under FEHA – AB 2069

Summary of Program

For decades the California Equal Pay Act has prohibited an employer from paying its employees less than employees of the opposite sex for equal work. On October 6, 2015, Governor Brown signed the California Fair Pay Act (SB 358), which strengthened the Equal Pay Act in a number of ways.  Then, on September 30, 2016, Governor Brown signed two other bills into law – SB 1063 which added race and ethnicity as protected categories under the Fair Pay Act, and AB 1676 – which prohibits employers from justifying a sex-, race-, or ethnicity-based pay differences solely on the grounds of prior salary.  California’s Fair Pay Act is now known as one of the strictest in the nation.Join Weintraub Tobin’s labor and employment attorneys as they discuss California’s Fair Pay Act and what this means for employers.
Continue Reading You Aren’t In Kansas Anymore, Dorothy: A Common Sense Method of Complying with California’s New Fair Pay Act