In September 2020, Governor Newsom signed AB 1867 into law, which created Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (“SPSL”) rights for millions of California employees who were not eligible for such leave under the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”). We blogged about AB 1867 here. Since AB 1867…
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…
On November 30, 2020, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal-OSHA) adopted a set of COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (“ETS”), which became effective immediately. The ETS require employers to take various actions to protect their workplaces from COVID-19. You can read our previous blog post about the…
Back in 2012, Google (in classic Google fashion) sought to identify a formula for creating the most successful workplace team. They called this experiment “Project Aristotle,” named after the philosopher credited with the remarkable notion that “there exists a whole that is greater than the sum of its…
California employers face even more liability now for misclassifying workers as “independent contractors.” That’s because the California Supreme Court recently ruled in Vasquez v. Jan-Pro Franchising, Inc. that the test for determining whether a worker qualifies as an employee or independent contractor – known as the “ABC Test”…
A recent article by Howard Schneider and Jonnelle Marte, published by Reuters, takes a closer look at how the COVID-19 pandemic is changing the economy and workforce of the United States. Many of the changes we all assumed would be temporary have become indefinite or permanent, and that…
On December 1, 2020, the six-member board overseeing California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (“Cal-OSHA”) approved emergency COVID-19 safety regulations governing most employers and places of employment in California, with three exceptions: (1) places of employment with one employee who does not have contact with other persons;…
PAGA + COVID = More Business Closures and Bankruptcies As readers of this blog know, California’s unique and complex employment laws can, if violated, trigger an avalanche of back-due wages, penalties, liquidated damages, attorneys’ fees, and interest. As a result, well-counseled California employers – and particularly California small…
The ongoing global pandemic has invaded nearly every aspect of our lives. Perhaps most notable is the way in which COVID-19 has reshaped the working world. No matter what your industry, chances are it looks starkly different now as compared to the pre-COVID era. Forbes contributor Susan Galer…
We recently blogged about SB 1159 here, which expanded protections for employees potentially exposed to COVID-19 in the workplace. On September 17, 2020, Governor Newsom also signed into law AB 685, which provides additional requirements for employers to report cases of COVID-19. AB 685 will not take effect…