The pandemic has changed everyone’s lives in so many ways. We likely will not realize all of those changes for a long time. Work life has changed for nearly everyone during this time, and our relationships to work, and how they relate to our personal lives, have been put under the microscope. In a recent… Read More
Posts Tagged With: COVID-19
To (Require) Vaccines or Not To (Require) Vaccines: That Is the Question
California is preparing to reopen, and employers are readying to welcome their workforce back to offices. One of the biggest questions on the minds of many business owners is how to bring their workforce back together in “real time” while still maintaining the safety of all employees, as they are fundamentally obligated under Cal-OSHA to… Read More
Supplemental Paid Sick Leave is Back in California – What Employers Need to Know
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 expired on December 31, 2020, as did… Read More
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 to Offer Paid Sick Leave As we… Read More
Cal-OSHA Provides Additional Guidance for Employers Regarding COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards
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 ETS here. On December 1, 2020, Cal-OSHA… Read More
How COVID-19 is Shaping the U.S. Workforce
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 is having a noticeable impact. The authors… Read More
New Year, New Laws: Coming Soon to a Workplace Near You
The new year is right around the corner, and with it comes a host of new and amended laws for California employers. As we blogged about previously, numerous California employment laws changed in 2020 – COVID-19-related AB 685, AB 1867 and SB 1159, expansions to California’s Family Rights Act in SB 1383, new exemptions relating… Read More
Can employers mandate the vaccine? Yes. Should they? That is a different question.
Employers have had to navigate the ever-changing regulations and laws regarding employment during the COVID-19 pandemic. From ensuring safe workplaces, to complying with reporting regulations, to dealing with leaves of absence, employers have had to stay on top of COVID-19 regulations while continuing to run their businesses. Now, employers are facing yet another challenge –… Read More
California Approves Emergency COVID-19 Regulations
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; (2) employees working from home; and (3)… Read More
California’s New Bankruptcy Law (AB 1885) Impacts Employers and Employees
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 business employers – who get hit with… Read More
