The U.S. Department of Labor issued guidance earlier this year that reminds employers of the current rights of teleworking employees under both the FLSA and FMLA. The Labor & Employment practice group reviews this guidance in this episode of California Employment News.

Continue Reading California Employment News: Department of Labor Guidance on Telework

If you’ve been reading or watching the news in recent months, you have surely seen a large amount of press on various states and municipalities introducing laws to restrict certain rights of those in the LGTBQ+ community. According to a CCN article a few weeks ago, American Civil Liberties Union data reveals that state legislatures across the country have introduced a combined 417 anti-LGBTQ bills in roughly the first quarter of 2023 – a new record and twice the number of such bills introduced in all of last year. (https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/06/us/hrc-lgbtq-emergency-declared/index.html)

Continue Reading HAPPY PRIDE MONTH! Now More Than Ever Is A Good Time To Remind Folks That LGTBQ+ Employees Have Rights Under CA Employment Law

Our prior blog, “New Year, New Minimum Wage,” discussed local minimum wage changes effective January 1st in California and noted certain expected increases in July 1st. The July 1st increases have now been confirmed.

Continue Reading July 1st Brings With it More Increases in California Local Minimum Wages

The recent 9th Circuit opinion in US Chamber of Commerce v. Bonta struck down AB 51, determining that it was preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act. Meagan Bainbridge and Lukas Clary review how this decision impacts the use of mandatory arbitration agreements for California employers in this episode of California Employment News.

Continue Reading California Employment News: The State of Mandatory Arbitration Agreements in California Employment

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