Seyfarth Synopsis: When we think of California employers encountering complex issues during the COVID-19 pandemic, images of retail, service, and other types of businesses come to mind. But one special type of employer needs to be mindful of California law: the family who employs workers to support the household as nannies, chefs, security personnel, personal assistants, and personal caregivers. We
Continue Reading Real Households of California: Issues with Domestic Workers

Seyfarth Synopsis: While paying employees in California is often a challenge, the regular rate of pay presents a minefield of different formulas for employers to navigate. From what amounts to include, to how the calculation should be performed, determining an employee’s overtime pay rate can be a very complicated task. We provide an overview of some regular rate basics
Continue Reading Regular Rate Refresh: Calculating Overtime for California Employees

Seyfarth Synopsis: The United States Department of Labor (DOL) released its final overtime rule on Tuesday, September 24, 2019, increasing the minimum salary level for exempt status to $35,568 per year for a full-time employee under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) effective January 1, 2020. But California employers must meet higher minimum salary requirements and other nuances
Continue Reading Overtime! DOL Final Rule Adds More Eligible Receivers

Seyfarth Synopsis: Agricultural employers have a hard row to hoe with the latest crop of legislation affecting overtime requirements in California. New requirements under Labor Code section 860 took effect when the rooster crowed on January 1, 2019. This law will phase in overtime pay requirements for agricultural employees covered by Wage Order 14.

Under federal law (the FLSA), “agricultural
Continue Reading New Overtime Law: Agricultural Employees To Reap What They Sow

Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Supreme Court, in Dynamex Operations v. Superior Court, has agreed to address the legal standard for determining whether a worker classified as an independent contractor is really an employee. The Supreme Court’s opinion is expected to be significant for anyone thinking of using independent contractors in California.

The Future of Work: A Surging Demand for
Continue Reading California Supreme Court Set to Address Fate of Independent Contracting

Counting money

CASE HAS BEEN OVERTURNED – turn to this post for current information.

We normally write about how California law differs from American law generally. Today, though, we highlight a recent California case that rejected the notion that California law should deviate from analogous federal wage and hour law. That case is Alvarado v. Dart Container Corp. of California. More
Continue Reading The California Regular Rate Of Pay: Not So Peculiar

iStock_000034281440_LargeEarlier this week, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, many employees got the day off from work. It is, after all, one of the ten annual federal holidays. California state employees get additional holidays: Lincoln Day (February 12), Cesar Chavez Day (March 31), Admission Day (September 9), and Good Friday afternoon. And California considers every Sunday a “holiday” for purposes
Continue Reading Holiday Madness: What are the Rules Again?