Earlier today, Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 1522 guaranteeing paid sick leave to most California employees. The new law, which is entitled the “Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014,” goes into effect on July 1, 2015 and covers all employers in California. Here’s a quick summary of the new law’s major provisions: 1. California… Read More
Posts Categorized In: Employment Law Advice & Counsel
Governor Brown Signs AB 2053 Requiring Sexual Harassment Training to Include Material on Bullying
Earlier today, California Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 2053. This new law requires that mandatory sexual harassment training now include information about “abusive conduct” in the workplace. Abusive conduct is defined to include: “Conduct of an employer or employee in the workplace, with malice, that a reasonable person would find hostile, offensive, and unrelated to… Read More
“Wage Theft” a Nationwide Problem?
“Wage theft” occurs when an employer confiscates an employee’s tips or otherwise fails to properly pay an employee. It has long been recognized as a problem in California. That’s why Governor Brown signed one of the nation’s first wage theft laws, AB 469, back in 2011. You can find my prior blog post about that… Read More
Employers Who Require Employees to Use Personal Cell Phones Must Pay a “Reasonable Percentage” of the Employees’ Cell Phone Bills
California Labor Code 2802(a) requires an employer to indemnify an employee for all “necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties, or of his or her obedience to the directions of the employer.” This statute essentially forces employers in California to reimburse employees for… Read More
Obama Extends Family Leave Benefits to Married Gay Couples
Yesterday, the federal government announced several regulatory changes that extend marriage benefits to same-sex couples. This announcement — and the legal changes that come with it — are the result of last year’s historic Supreme Court decision in U.S. v. Windsor striking down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) which previously prohibited… Read More
Delivery Drivers are Employees, Not Independent Contractors
In yet another example of the challenges and difficulties involved in using independent contractors, today the Ninth Circuit ruled in Ruiz v. Affinity Logistics that delivery drivers for Affinity are employees rather than independent contractors. In reaching this decision, the Ninth Circuit reversed the lower court’s ruling which concluded that the drivers were employees. The lower… Read More
I.R.S. Bars Employers From Dumping Employees into Health Exchanges
The Affordable Care Act requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide health coverage for their employees or face stiff fines. To comply with the new law, many employers were canceling their group health plans, dumping their employees into the health exchange (which is Covered California in this state), then reimbursing those employees for… Read More
U.S. Supreme Court Rules FICA Tax Applies to Severance Pay
On March 25, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-0 in United States v. Quality Stores, Inc. that severance payments made to involuntarily terminated employees are taxable “wages” subject to FICA taxes. This decision resolved a split among lower federal courts which left some employers uncertain whether to withhold and pay FICA taxes on severance… Read More
Mayor Lee Signs “Ban the Box” Ordinance
As predicted, on February 17, 2014 San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee signed the San Francisco Supervisors’ “Ban the Box” ordinance. This means that employers, contractors, and affordable housing providers will have very limited use of criminal background checks in vetting employees or tenants in San Francisco. This new law goes into effect on March 19,… Read More
SF Board of Supervisors Unanimously Passes “Ban the Box” Ordinance
On February 11, 2014, the SF Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a new ordinance barring most employers and housing providers from (1) asking applicants to disclose their criminal background in the application process, and (2) using criminal background history or records in the employment or housing selection process. This so-called “Ban the Box” law is… Read More