Archive for Compensation and Benefits

California Supreme Court to Employers: Ignorance of the Law is Not a Defense

When an employer fails to pay an employee at least the minimum wage for all hours worked, current California law allows the employee to sue the employer and collect the minimum wages owed plus an additional amount known as “liquidated damages” equal to the amount of minimum wages…

NY Becomes First State to Mandate Paid Leave for Prenatal Care

On January 1, 2025, all private sector employers in New York will be required to offer 20 hours of paid leave every 52 weeks for employees to attend healthcare appointments during or related to their pregnancy.  All employees are eligible for this new benefit, even part-time and recently…

New IRS Ruling Gives Employers and Employees More Benefits Flexibility

A recent IRS private letter ruling will potentially allow employees more flexibility to determine how employer 401K contributions are paid out to them.

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,…

CA Supreme Court: Meal/Rest Period “Premium Pay” Is Wages

On May 22, 2022, the California Supreme Court held in Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services, Inc. that premium payments owed by an employer to a non-exempt employee for missed meal/rest periods are “wages” and not penalties.  Thus, when those premium payments are owed but not timely paid, the…

Employers with 50+ Employees: It’s Time to Register with CalSavers

As of July 2019, more than half of Californians aged 25-64 had no retirement savings.  In an effort to make saving for retirement more accessible, and therefore encourage more people to save, the State of California enacted legislation that requires employers with 5 or more California-based employees (including…

San Francisco Hazard Pay Ordinance Expires Today

San Francisco’s emergency COVID-Related Hazard Pay Ordinance (the “Ordinance”), which became effective on March 22, 2021, required certain large San Francisco employers (primarily grocery stores and drug stores with 500 or more employees worldwide) to pay employees an additional $5.00 per hour in hazard pay on top of…

How the New “American Rescue Plan Act” Impacts Employers and Employees

Now that President Biden has signed the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”) into law, we’ve had the chance to review the massive legislation.  And we’ve discovered some little-known provisions in the law that directly impact employers and employees.  Here’s a quick summary of those provisions: Incentives for Employers…

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…

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…