Starting January 1, 2020, California employees will be able to seek penalties from their employers directly for late payment of wages. If you are wondering thinking employees were already able to do that, you are partially right. On October 10, 2019, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 673 (“AB 673”),…
AB 51 was signed by Governor Newsom back in October 2019. AB 51 generally prohibited employers from requiring employees, as a condition of employment, to agree to arbitrate any future Labor Code claims and/or Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) claims. AB 51 also made it illegal for…
When an employee separates from a company – whether voluntarily or involuntarily – employers generally don’t want that employee to apply for work again, or to have any chance of dealing with a subsequent lawsuit or claim for “failure to hire.” When paying severance or separation pay, or…
On October 10, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 142 into law, which expands California employers’ obligations to accommodate employees who need to express breastmilk during the workday, most notably by adding a number of new requirements for the lactation space itself. The bill also establishes significant penalties…
On October 10, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 9 into law. AB 9 extends the deadline for employees to file a charge of employment discrimination, harassment, or retaliation with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”) from 1 year to 3 years. The new deadline is…
On September 13, 2019, the California Senate and Assembly unanimously passed AB 25, amending the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). Governor Newsom signed AB 25 into law on October 11, 2019. This amendment places serious obligations on certain employers to protect the private data of employees, and grants…
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…
On September 18, 2019, Governor Newsom signed AB 5 into law and, in the process, fundamentally changed the California economy by making it even harder for a business to qualify a worker as an independent contractor. The Dynamex Decision As readers of this blog know, in May 2018…
As we blogged about previously here, since January 1, 2019 California law has required employers with 5 or more employees to provide at least 2 hours of classroom or other interactive sexual harassment training to all supervisory employees and 1 hour of classroom or other interactive sexual harassment…
On July 3, 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 188 — also known as the CROWN Act — and made California the first state in the country to outlaw discrimination based on “natural hair,” including afros, braids, twists, and locks. CROWN stands for Creating a Respectful and…