On April 12, 2012, a unanimous California Supreme Court ruled in Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court that employers are not required to police their employees and ensure that employees actually take their 30-minute meal breaks. The Court also ruled that employers are not required to provide 10-minute…
As discussed in a prior post on this blog, the California Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2011 (AB 469) took effect on January 1, 2012. This new law requires California employers to provide all newly hired non-exempt California employees with a written notice at the time of hire that…
As a result of its decision in AT&T Mobility (which I blogged about here), on October 31, 2011 the U.S. Supreme Court reversed and remanded the California Supreme Court’s ruling in Sonic Calabasas v. Moreno (which I blogged about here). Now, as a result, the Sonic Calabasas decision is no longer…
On October 10, 2011, Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill 22 (“AB 22”) which limits the ability of California employers to rely on an applicant’s or employee’s credit report or other credit history when making employment decisions. This represents a major change in California employment law. What is A.B….
On October 9, 2011, Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill 469 (“AB 469”) which will require private employers in California to provide written notice to most new hires of critical employment information, including the employer’s legal name, physical address, payroll dates, and workers’ compensation carrier, as well the wage…
On October 6, 2011, Governor Brown signed Senate Bill 299 (“SB 299”) which will require all California employers with more than 5 employees to continue group health insurance coverage for up to 4 months for employees on pregnancy disability leave (“PDL”). This represents a major change in California…
On August 18, 2011, in response to a growing number of disputes between employers and employees concerning employees’ use of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media, the NLRB clarified its rules for determining (1) when employees are engaging in protected activity, and (2) when employers are using…
On October 4, 2011, the California Supreme Court announced that it would hear oral argument in the long-awaited and much-anticipated meal and rest break case, Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court [i] on November 8, 2011. The Issue in Brinker The fundamental question before the California Supreme Court in…
According to a new decision by the California Court of Appeal, restaurants and other employers who call mandatory employee meetings and require off-duty employees to attend are required to pay off-duty employees only 2 hours of reporting time pay. Background California employers are required to pay “reporting time”…
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision in AT&T Mobility LLC. v. Concepcion that the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) preempts state laws that condition the enforceability of an entire class of arbitration agreements on whether or not they allow for classwide arbitration. The issue in the…