Seyfarth Synopsis: Back from Spring Break, and Back to Work: Our List of L&E Bills to Watch in the remainder of the 2017-2018 California Legislative Session.
California Legislators were, as always, very busy in the first few months of the 2017-18 Legislative Session, introducing well over 2000 bills by the February 17th bill introduction deadline. But, in comparison to prior
Continue Reading 2017 California Labor and Employment Legislative Update: What to Watch
Readers interested in developments concerning California’s unique Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) may want to delve into a short thought piece (actually advice to the California Legislature) on a recently-proposed bill that would amend PAGA. To read that post, also available on Seyfarth’s Wage & Hour Litigation Blog, please click here or at the end of the synopsis.
Seyfarth Synopsis:
Continue Reading A Cautionary Comment on PAGA (or Plaintiffs’ Attorneys Getting Around) Legislative Intent
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
Seyfarth Synopsis: New legislation effective 2017 will expand California workers’ compensation coverage by requiring coverage for certain high-level individuals unless they affirmatively opt out and waive coverage, thereby reversing the prior rule by which those individuals, to get coverage, had to opt in.
As a general rule, California employers must provide employees with workers’ compensation insurance coverage for work-related and
Continue Reading New Year, New Workers’ Comp “Opt Out” Rule For Execs
Seyfarth Synopsis: Travel time pay is a nebulous area of the law that can leave many employers stalled on the starting blocks. Here are some guidelines to help ensure that employees get paid for all hours worked, including any compensable travel time.
Ready. Set. Not so fast.
It makes common sense to most people that commute time—the time an employee
Continue Reading The Fast, the Furious, the Fundamentals: Travel Pay in California
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: 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: Employers in California: be aware and prepare for new laws increasing minimum wages and mandating overtime pay for agricultural employees; expanding the California Fair Pay Act to race and ethnicity and to address prior salary consideration; imposing new restrictions on background checks and gig economy workers; and more. Small employers will be relieved the Governor vetoed expanded unpaid
Continue Reading 2016 California Labor and Employment Legislation Update: It’s Final!
Seyfarth Synopsis: On September 25 (yes, a Sunday), Governor Brown signed into law Senate Bill 1241. SB 1241, effective January 1, 2017, adds Section 925 to the Labor Code to restrain the ability of employers to require employees to litigate or arbitrate employment disputes (1) outside of California or (2) under the laws of another state. The only exception
Continue Reading SB 1241—What Happens in California Stays in California (Sorry, Vegas)
Authored by Christopher A. Crosman.
We are excited to announce the 16th edition of Seyfarth Shaw’s publication Litigating California Wage & Hour and Labor Code Class Actions. As in previous editions, this publication reviews the most commonly filed wage and hour and Labor Code class and representative claims and the development of the law over the last several
Continue Reading The 16th Edition of Litigating California Wage & Hour and Labor Code Class Actions Is Here!