On September 9, 2020, Governor Newsom signed AB 1867 into law, which, in part, supplements the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) enacted earlier this year. (For background on the FFCRA, see our previous blog posts here, here, and here). Specifically, AB 1867 creates Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (“SPSL”) rights for millions of California… Read More
Posts Categorized In: Employment Law Advice & Counsel
Governor Newsom Signs AB 2257 Granting New and Expanded Exemptions to California’s Independent Contractor Law (AB 5)
As readers of this blog know, one year ago California’s Governor signed AB 5 into law, which mandated the “ABC Test” for determining whether a worker was an employee or an independent contractor. The signing of AB 5 into law was a watershed moment for California businesses and workers because the new “ABC Test” was… Read More
The Skies Just Got Friendlier for Employers
On June 29, 2020, the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of employers in a trio of cases involving flight attendants and pilots who brought various wage and hour claims (both individual and PAGA) against their respective airline employers for non-compliant wage statements and other violations of California’s Labor Code. Each of the cases was… Read More
Litigating From Home: The New Normal Thanks to COVID-19
The 2020 global pandemic has brought many rapid changes to the world – and that includes changes to courtrooms and trial across California. COVID-19 has wrought havoc on our court system here in California, forcing many cases (other than the most urgent and life-threatening) to grind to a halt, for months. Now, both state and… Read More
The DOL Announces New Guidance on COVID-19 Federal Paid Leave Laws
On April 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced that it was ending its temporary period of non-enforcement of the paid leave protections established by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) and issued additional guidance regarding the operation of the paid leave provisions of the new law. The End of Non-Enforcement The… Read More
San Francisco Enacts Paid Leave Law for Employees at Large Companies
On April 17, 2020, Mayor London Breed signed the San Francisco Public Health Emergency Leave Ordinance (“PHELO”), which was previously passed by San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors on April 14, 2020. The PHELO became effective immediately, and San Francisco’s Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (“OLSE”) issued guidelines regarding its provisions the very next day. The… Read More
CA Supreme Court Rules that PAGA Claims Survive Even if Underlying Claims are Settled
California employment law is notoriously volatile. The ever-changing landscape – especially as related to Labor Code violations and cases brought under California’s wide-ranging Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”), which authorizes representative actions for Labor Code violations – can make it challenging for employers to find certainty in how they plan for potential claims and address… Read More
uWait, uWork, iPay
The California Supreme Court recently clarified that California law requires that Apple Inc. pay its workers for all time they spend waiting to be searched before leaving Apple retail stores. In Frlekin v. Apple, Inc., workers at Apple’s retail stores filed a class action lawsuit against Apple Inc. in federal court asserting that they had… Read More
The Federal CARES Act Provides Some Relief for Small Businesses Impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic
On March 27, 2020, Congress voted to enact The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act, which was signed into law by President Trump on the same day. The CARES Act is the most recent in a wave of federal legislation passed in an effort to counter the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic…. Read More
U.S. Department of Labor Issues Guidance on the FFCRA
As we discussed in a previous blog post which you can find here, the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) created two new paid leave entitlements employees working in companies with fewer than 500 employees. We are referring to these new entitlements as Emergency FMLA Leave and Emergency Paid Sick Leave, respectively. Since the… Read More