On April 30, 2018, the California Supreme Court issued a long-awaited opinion in which it considered which test should be used to decide whether a worker asserting claims under a California Wage Order is an employee or an independent contractor. The following Seyfarth One Minute Memo summarizes the case and what it means for employers.
Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Supreme
Continue Reading California Supremes Prescribe “ABC” Test for Independent Contractor Status
Seyfarth Synopsis: With the widespread use of direct deposit, the thought of an employee regularly reviewing wage statements may seem inconceivable. Still, employers must ensure that their wage statements strictly comply with California law, as even trivial, inadvertent failures to do so can lead to heavy penalties. We highlight here the information to include on wage statements while pointing
Continue Reading Not As You Wish: Wage Statement Law’s Pit of Despair
Seyfarth Synopsis: 2016 brought a wave of new protections for California employees and scant protection for employers. In this week’s post, we anticipate changes for 2017, in the ever-peculiar world of California employment law.
True to our tradition, we pause at the beginning of the New Year to reflect on last year’s California employment law changes, and consider possible trends.
Continue Reading Charting the Future: What’s Coming in 2017 in California Employment Law?
Seyfarth Synopsis: Governor Jerry Brown recently signed pay equity legislation to build on SB 358, a gender pay equity bill that he signed just last year.
Recent state pay equity initiatives (in Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York) have focused on gender. California is different. Leave it to the state that last year passed the nation’s strictest pay
Continue Reading Pay Equity Extends to Race, Ethnicity, Without Banning Salary Inquiries
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: Changes to the FLSA regulations increasing the minimum weekly salary for exempt employees will impact California employees who currently are being paid less than $47,476 per year. Wise employers will start planning now to make the adjustments required to ensure compliance with both state and federal exemption laws.
If you have white-collar exempt employees in California, you know
Continue Reading Think You Are Exempt? New FLSA Salary Thresholds Affect California Employers, Too.
Seyfarth Synopsis: New FAQs from DLSE offer some guidance on California’s “new and improved” Equal Pay Act. Most helpful is discussion of factors (skill, effort, responsibility) affecting whether work by different employees is “substantially similar” enough to require equal wages.
As Seyfarth has reported previously here, as of January 1, 2016, California has one of the most aggressive pay
Continue Reading New DLSE FAQs: Unequal Guidance On Equal Pay Law
On April 4, 2016, Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 3, increasing the statewide minimum wage to $15.00 per hour. The increase will be phased in over the next six years.
First introduced in the state Senate by Senator Leno on December 1, 2014, SB 3, was subject to contentious debate on both the Assembly and Senate Floors on March
Continue Reading Governor Signs Bill Building Staircase to Minimum Wage Heaven
With March Madness in full swing, we interrupt your crumbling tournament brackets to ensure you’re aware of a truly maddening development. California law now makes individuals potentially liable for employer violations of many often-convoluted wage and hour rules.
That’s right—individuals, not just companies, may be liable for wage and hour violations.
We mentioned this legislation here last Fall,
Continue Reading Who me? Yes, YOU: Personal Liability For Wage Hour Violations
When an employee dies, employers ask, “Who gets the employee’s wages, and how do I pay them without getting into trouble?” While employers might be tempted to consult the California Labor Code (see discussion of payment of wages to a terminated employee here), under certain circumstances, paying wages earned by a deceased employee is governed by the California Probate
Continue Reading Till Death Do You Part—Wages Of The Dearly Departed