California’s Supreme Court Erases Viking River’s PAGA Victory for Employers

The California Supreme Court recently issued its highly anticipated decision in Adolph v. Uber and answered the key question of whether the California courts would follow the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Viking River.  The California Supreme Court’s answer was a resounding “NO.”  Now, after Adolph v. Uber,…

DHS Ends Temporary I-9 Flexibilities Today

The I-9 “temporary flexibilities” that were born out of the COVID emergency expire today.  Employers now have 30 days from today — or until August 30, 2023 — to get all of their I-9 forms into compliance for those employees (a) who were hired after March 2020, and…

California Courts are Refusing to Follow the U.S. Supreme Court’s Viking River Decision

California Courts are Refusing to Follow the U.S. Supreme Court’s Viking River Decision, which means that U.S. Supreme Court decision may not offer employers a clever PAGA escape hatch after all.

Employers Beware: Don’t Allow Employees to e-Sign Arbitration Agreements

Many (wise) California employers use arbitration agreements requiring employees to submit any future employment-related dispute to mandatory arbitration.  Arbitration is typically favored by employers because it is cheaper, faster, and more private than litigation.  There’s also the perception that arbitrators are more conservative and less emotional than jurors,…

The Beginning of the End for California’s Independent Contractor Law AB 5?

California’s strict independent contractor law known as AB 5 – which prohibits businesses from classifying a worker as an independent contractor unless they can pass all three prongs of the stringent “ABC Test” – may soon be a thing of the past. On March 17, 2023, the Ninth…

NLRB Issues Bombshell Ruling on Contractual Non-Disparagement and Confidentiality Clauses

On February 21, 2023, the now Democratically-controlled National Labor Relations Board ruled in McLaren Macomb that the use of confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses in severance agreements violates the federal National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) because they restrict workers from engaging in “protected activity.” The Board ruled that the…

Federal Court Blocks Implementation of CA’s Anti-Arbitration Statute AB 51

In a rare win for California employers the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that AB 51 could not be enforced in California because it unduly burdened the right to agree to arbitration in violation of the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”). AB 51 is the California statute…

Workplace Legal’s Blog Selected to “Top Employment Law Blogs” List

On February 9, 2023, Feedspot announced that Workplace Legal’s blog had been selected as one of the top employment law blogs in California.  Feedspot’s ranking of the “70 Best Employment Law Blogs” lists Workplace Legal at #41, ahead of several national employment law firms. We spend a lot…

The Best Employee Benefit Employers Don’t Know They Can Offer

Last week, the Federal Reserve reported that American owed $1.76 trillion in student loan debt.  For the class of 2021/2022, which is the most recent data available, 53% of students graduated with student loan debt, and the average loan debt was $22,600. According to popular consumer finance site,…

California Announces New Guidance on Mandatory Payroll Data Reporting

California law requires employers with 100 or more U.S. employees to annually submit data on the pay, hours worked, and demographics of all employees who either work within California or who are assigned to a California establishment, even if they reside or telework from another state. This data…