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
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Court of Appeal, on rehearing, has superseded a 2016 decision that employers must reasonably accommodate work restrictions because of the disabilities of the employee’s associates. The superseding opinion recognizes that employers have no established duty to provide accommodations because of the disability of an employee’s associates.
Seyfarth’s One Minute Memo readers will recall that we reported, back
Continue Reading Something We Said? Court Backs Off Accommodation Duty For Associational Disability
Seyfarth Synopsis: In what many employers will see as a “break” from workplace reality, the Supreme Court, in Augustus v. ABM Security Services, Inc., announced that certain “on call” rest periods do not comply with the California Labor Code and Wage Orders. The decision presents significant practical challenges for employers in industries where employees must respond to exigent
Continue Reading No Break for California Employers This Holiday Season
(with apologies to the song artist)
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Ninth Circuit has suggested it might upset longstanding “on call” practices by making California employers liable for “reporting time” pay to employees who phone in ahead of their schedule, only to find that they are not needed for the day.
On October 5, 2016, a Ninth Circuit panel indicated
Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Poised to Say “Call Me, Maybe”
Seyfarth Synopsis: Does carrying a pager nullify a rest break? What about the possibility of being tapped on the shoulder by your boss? Or being called on your cell phone? The California Supreme Court considered these and other scenarios during an hour-long oral argument on September 29, as it asked, What does it mean to not “work” during a rest
Continue Reading The $90 Million Question: Can You Rest While On Call?
Seyfarth Synopsis: A court has temporarily suspended the deadline for employers to elect the statutory “safe harbor” for purposes of complying with recent legislation that makes it even more difficult for employers that pay with a piece rate rather than an hourly rate for any portion of an employee’s work.
As we previously reported, the California Legislature’s enactment
Continue Reading Court Enjoins Enforcement of “Safe Harbor” Deadline for Piece Rate Law
Seyfarth Synopsis: Hernandez v. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc., a case stemming from a phishing scam, emphasizes the need for California employers to implement comprehensive data protection and data breach notification policies and practices for personal employee information under the CDPA.
A story of a company suffering a data breach tops newspaper headlines almost daily. So how can you stay
Continue Reading Phishing: Data Breach Is “Chalkdust Torture”
Seyfarth Synopsis: Limitation on an actor’s ability to work in certain films struck down as an unlawful restraint of trade.
California, mecca of the film and media production industries in the U.S., is notorious for outlawing non-compete agreements. It is one of the few states that generally prohibits the unlawful restraint of one’s profession or business, with limited exceptions.
Continue Reading California Court Gives Two Thumbs Down and Voids Non-Compete in Actor’s Agreement
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
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark marriage-equality decision this summer (Obergefell v. Hodges, discussed in here), we now have full equality between same-sex and opposite-sex spouses under federal and state law. That decision affects healthcare benefits for employers with California employees, as summarized below:
Defining the Term “Spouse”
Since federal law does not define spouse for health
Continue Reading Health Care Coverage for California Employers After Obergefell v. Hodges