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
Posts Categorized In: General Business
Schoolyard Bullying Minus the Schoolyard: How to Mitigate Toxicity in the Virtual Workplace
As an employer, you may think that, during this time of indefinite virtual work, the lack of a shared workspace would mean less bullying amongst your employees. With no common space to congregate, and with less colleague-to-colleague face-to-face time, the sample size for toxic workplace culture would have to decrease, right? Au contraire. In an… 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
You’re Laid Off Due to Coronavirus – Now What?
Rising layoffs, budget cuts, and business closures are just a few of the widespread consequences of COVID-19. If you have been laid off as a result of the pandemic, you’re likely experiencing—among other things—some level of defeat and/or powerlessness. The emotional toll of a layoff can cloud an employee’s ability to pick up and forge… Read More
Unusual Times Call for a New Approach to Company Reorganization
The COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath have created a whole new world of challenges for employers. Many companies are facing the necessity of cost-cutting and the inevitability of reducing their workforce. A recent article in Harvard Business Review suggests an alternative approach to cost-cutting, rather than the typical top-down approach. Authors Patrick Daoust and Paul… Read More
The Essential Ingredient Now for Employers: Compassion
Many Bay Area counties have now extended the COVID-19 shelter-in-place order through May 31st. This new order affects employers and employees in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties, as well as those in the city of Berkeley. The extension of the stay-at-home order will no doubt spark even more… Read More
“Remote Control”: Management Techniques for Virtual Work
The vast majority of companies are not accustomed to 100% remote work. But this is the indefinite reality many companies now face, due to the ongoing global COVID-19 health emergency. This new reality is posing abundant challenges to leaders who aim to continue supporting their teams as best they can. Our blog has previously covered… 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
How Well Does “Workplace Wellness” Really Work?
Employee burnout—which we previously blogged about here—is an “occupational phenomenon” characterized by prolonged workplace stress that affects, according to a Gallup survey, about two thirds of full-time employees. Because it is so commonly experienced by the workforce, and because the World Health Organization (WHO) has now exclusively dubbed it a workplace problem, a growing number… Read More