On March 24, 2020, the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (“OLSE”) issued guidance regarding how employees can use paid sick leave they have accrued pursuant to San Francisco’s local ordinance during the local health emergency San Francisco is experiencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. San Francisco’s Paid Sick Leave Ordinance Under the San… Read More
Posts Categorized In: Compensation and Benefits
The “Families First Coronavirus Response Act” Creates Two New Kinds of Paid Leave
On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) into law. This post is focused on two provisions that will be of particular importance to employers. EMERGENCY EXPANSION OF THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT Under a portion of the FFCRA called The Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act… Read More
McDonald’s Settles Class Action Wage/Hour Case for $26 Million
McDonald’s recently agreed to pay $26 million to settle allegations that it had violated California’s wage and hour laws. The case was pending for 7 years and involved a class of 38,000 cooks and cashiers working at corporate-owned locations throughout California. McDonald’s always denied any violations of the California Labor Code, but McDonald’s nonetheless finally… Read More
California Passes SB 78, a Statewide Version of Obamacare
Effective January 1, 2020, and as a result of the passage of Senate Bill (“SB”) 78, California now has a statewide healthcare mandate that is similar to the federal Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). Like the federal ACA, California’s new mandate requires most California residents to purchase and maintain “minimum essential coverage” for healthcare. Also like… Read More
New Employer Notification Obligations for FSA Accounts
Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed AB 1554 into law, which requires California employers who offer their employees Flexible Spending Accounts (“FSAs”) to provide their workers with two separate notices reminding them that they must use the funds in their FSAs before the end of the plan year or the funds will expire. Currently, federal law… Read More
Attracting and Keeping Millennial Employees
The tech boom seems to have brought about a major shift in what employees and candidates expect from their (prospective) employers. According to a February 2019 CNBC article, this is especially true amongst millennials. On one hand, employers—particularly those within the tech realm—are offering an increasing number of “work perks,” while, on the other hand,… Read More
Heads Up — July 1 Minimum Wage Increases
If you do business in any of the cities below, be sure that as of July 1, 2019, you began paying any minimum wage employees at the current increased rates. If you use a payroll service, they likely notified you and took care of it. But if you handle your own payroll in-house, make sure… Read More
A New Approach to Employee Benefits?
Recruiting and retaining talent is a challenge for every employer, especially in the red-hot economy here in the Bay Area. That’s why many employers are taking a fresh look at their employee benefits and asking, “Are these benefits really adding value?” A recent article in Forbes explains how “forward thinking” employers are embracing a new theory of… Read More
Incentive Compensation Systems Negatively Impact Employee Mental Health?
In a first-of-its-kind academic study that looked at both employee compensation and medical records, researchers at Washington University found that employee health and wellness declines as the employer shifts compensation towards bonuses and other incentive and performance-based compensation systems. In particular, the study showed that, as an employer moves towards a bonus-focused, pay-for-performance model of… Read More
Employee’s “Imprecise” Memory is Sufficient if Employer Fails to Keep Records
In Furry v. East Bay Publishing, the California Court of Appeal held that an employee’s “imprecise” memory is sufficient evidence to support his claim for wages and overtime owed when the employer fails to keep accurate records of the employee’s work hours. The employer in Furry did not keep track of the hours its employees worked…. Read More