Today’s New York Times contains an excellent article on the increasing use of so-called “stay or pay” clauses in employment agreements. Once an employee signs a contract with a “stay or pay” clause, if that employee quits before X months/years (each contract is different), the employee will have to repay the employer for the costs… Read More
Posts Categorized In: General Business
Supreme Court: Employers Must Accommodate Employees’ Religious Practices
The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled, in Groff v. DeJoy, that employers have a heightened duty to accommodate their employees’ religious practices.
Employees Now Can Sue Under PAGA for Paid Sick Leave Violations
California’s Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act (known as the “Paid Sick Leave Law” or “PSLL”) requires employers to provide employees, with a few narrow exceptions, three days of paid sick leave each year. The PSLL does not give employees a private right of action, meaning that employees can’t sue their employers directly under the PSLL. … Read More
The Beginning of the End for California’s Independent Contractor Law AB 5?
California’s strict independent contractor law known as AB 5 – which prohibits businesses from classifying a worker as an independent contractor unless they can pass all three prongs of the stringent “ABC Test” – may soon be a thing of the past. On March 17, 2023, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded in Olson… Read More
Federal Court Blocks Implementation of CA’s Anti-Arbitration Statute AB 51
In a rare win for California employers the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that AB 51 could not be enforced in California because it unduly burdened the right to agree to arbitration in violation of the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”). AB 51 is the California statute that, in effect, prevented employers for asking… Read More
Workplace Legal’s Blog Selected to “Top Employment Law Blogs” List
On February 9, 2023, Feedspot announced that Workplace Legal’s blog had been selected as one of the top employment law blogs in California. Feedspot’s ranking of the “70 Best Employment Law Blogs” lists Workplace Legal at #41, ahead of several national employment law firms. We spend a lot of time here at Workplace Legal staying… Read More
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, NerdWallet, the average U.S. household with student… Read More
California Announces New Guidance on Mandatory Payroll Data Reporting
California law requires employers with 100 or more U.S. employees to annually submit data on the pay, hours worked, and demographics of all employees who either work within California or who are assigned to a California establishment, even if they reside or telework from another state. This data must be submitted every year to the… Read More
Scholars Claim Best Work-From-Model is “Organized Hybrid”
In a recent Harvard Business Review article, Stanford Professor of Economics Nicholas Bloom and his co-authors argue that today’s work-from-home push is being hampered by a “major disconnect” between employees and management. That disconnect centers around notions of productivity and attendance. With respect to productivity, for example, managers believe that work from home reduces productivity… Read More
FTC Proposes Nationwide Ban on Non-Compete Clauses
On Thursday, January 5, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a new proposed rule that would ban employers nationwide from using non-compete clauses. These clauses, which are often inserted into employment agreements, typically prohibit the employee from leaving the employer’s business and, for a 1- or 2-year period, working for any other business that competes… Read More