Seyfarth Synopsis: A city that knows how to prepare for a natural disaster better than Charlie Mackenzie is now arming its employees to better face any future pandemics or public health crisis. San Francisco voters recently passed Proposition G, which requires employers with 100 or more employees worldwide to provide up to 80 hours of paid public health emergency leave
Continue Reading So I…Passed Public Health Emergency Leave In San FranciscoOh Mylanta! San Francisco Amends Its Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance
Seyfarth Synopsis: Wake up San Francisco! Mayor London Breed has approved amendments that will significantly expand the city’s 2014 Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance (“FFWO”). The amendments will go into effect on July 12, 2022.
Everywhere You Look, Everywhere You Turn, There’s Somebody Who Needs . . . Flexible Working Arrangements
Just like our favorite 90s TV dad, Danny Tanner and
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Turbulence Ahead: FAQs For SFO Healthy Airport Ordinance
Seyfarth Synopsis: Businesses at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) may need to make significant changes to employee health benefits under San Francisco’s Healthy Airport Ordinance by April 1, 2021. These FAQs cover employers’ most-pressing questions regarding the Ordinance and its implications for employers.
The seatbelt sign has been on for San Francisco employers for quite some
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San Francisco-Peculiarities: Fog Lifts on City’s New Paid Sick Leave Rules
Seyfarth Synopsis: June 7, 2018, when the city’s new Paid Sick Leave rules take effect, marks the latest chapter in the City by the Bay’s long history of imposing local employment standards that exceed state requirements. Here’s what you need to know before this latest San Francisco peculiarity begins.
On May 7, 2018, after considering public input on proposed rules
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California Employers: Beware the Background Check Bugaboos
Seyfarth Synopsis: California is rife with regulation of how employers may obtain and consider background check information for use in hiring and personnel decisions. The relatively new California ban-the-box law (effective January 1, 2018) and the older Los Angeles and San Francisco ordinances and amendments to the California Labor Code set strict rules on when and how employers can consider
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Changes to the S.F. Formula Retail Employee Rights Ordinances
By Laura Maechtlen and Jason Allen
As our loyal CalPecs blog readers know, in November 2014, San Francisco passed two ordinances—“Hours and Retention Protections for Formula Retail Employees” and “Fair Scheduling and Treatment of Formula Retail Employees”—colloquially known, together, as the “San Francisco Retail Workers’ Bill of Rights.” (Our most recent update and a recent Management Alert can be found here and here, respectively.) On July 7, 2015, the S.F. Board of Supes proved that the Bill of Rights is a living document by passing an amendment to the SF Workers’ Bill of Rights on the final reading.
Most significantly, the amendment changes the definition of employers covered by the ordinances. The amendment also modifies some of the requirements imposed on employers and clarifies some open enforcement issues. The Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (“OLSE”) has posted information about the amendment here and here, and the text of the amendment here. In short:
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SF Formula Retail Labor Protections Update: OLSE Holds Meeting to Give Overview of Ordinances
Yesterday, we attended a meeting at San Francisco City Hall where the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) gave an overview of the San Francisco Retail Labor Protections ordinances.
As our loyal readers know, we have been writing about the comments and activities surrounding the San Francisco ordinances known as the “Retail Workers’ Bill of Rights” for
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SF Retail Workers’ Bill of Rights Update – Operative Date is July 3, 2015!
By Dana Peterson, Laura Maechtlen, Kristen Verrastro, and Duwayne Carr
As our loyal readers know, we have been writing about the comments and activities surrounding the San Francisco ordinances known as the “Retail Workers’ Bill of Rights” for a few months, with our most recent blog post here and our Management Alert here. As promised, we
Continue Reading SF Retail Workers’ Bill of Rights Update – Operative Date is July 3, 2015!
San Francisco “Retail Workers’ Bill of Rights” Enacted—What Now?
Many know SFO as the code for the San Francisco airport. But to businesses employing workers in the City by the Bay, SFO has come to mean “San Francisco Ordinance.”
In this first of a three-part series on recent action by San Francisco’s labor friendly Board of Supervisors, we review two ordinances (here and here) that together have come to be known as the “Retail Workers’ Bill of Rights.”
Last August, we blogged about the initially proposed version of this legislation. The final version, as amended, was passed on November 25, 2014. Though some troubling provisions (such as giving employees and applicants the right to sue employers for violations) were removed prior to passage, the ordinances still impose burdensome new requirements on Formula Retail Employers.
But wait: I own some martial arts studios. So surely this new law doesn’t apply to me, right?
Well, we hate to be the bearer of bad news, but yes, it absolutely could affect your business.
The ordinances cover employers with 20 or more employees in San Francisco who operate “Formula Retail Establishments.” These are businesses that engage in retail sales or services regulated as “Formula Retail Uses” under the San Francisco Planning Code, with one change: the ordinances apply only to establishments with at least 20 retail sales locations worldwide (the Planning Code definition requires fewer locations).
A “Formula Retail Use” is one that is, basically, standardized in terms of two or more of the following indicators: array of merchandise, façade, décor and color scheme, uniforms, signage, and trademark or service mark.
As outlined in greater detail here, the foregoing definition includes businesses that some may not consider to be “retail,” such as bars, health spas, dry cleaners, massage parlors, movie theatres, banks, credit unions, art studios, pet grooming establishments, and, yes, even martial arts studios. The Planning Code specifically identifies each such entity as a type of businesses considered to be engaging in “Formula Retail Use.”
Yikes, so what do I have to do to comply with these new laws?
We would need more space than we have here to fully explain each new requirement (hence the link to the more fulsome Management Alert). Suffice it here to say that covered employers:
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San Francisco Board of Supervisors Tentatively Passes “Retail Workers Bill Of Rights” – Final Vote Expected On November 25
By Duwayne A. Carr and Laura J. Maechtlen
We previously blogged about pending legislation in San Francisco titled the “Retail Workers Bill of Rights,” a comprehensive set of policies introduced as two separate pieces of legislation (here and here) by San Francisco Supervisors Eric Mar and David Chiu.
We learned that the Board of Supervisors tentatively—and unanimously—passed both pieces of proposed legislation this week. A confirmation vote is scheduled to occur on November 25, 2014, and, if the legislation passes at that time, the ordinances will become law in San Francisco 180 days after the effective date.
While amendments might be considered prior to the final confirmation vote, we summarize the notable aspects of the two pieces of legislation here, in anticipation of that vote. Of particular note to employers, the legislation provides a private right of action. Any person aggrieved by a violation of the ordinance, any entity a member of which is aggrieved by a violation, or any other person or entity acting on behalf of the public, may bring a civil action in court against an employer for violating the ordinance.
Board of Supervisors File No. 140880: Hours and Retention Protections for Formula Retail Employees
This proposed ordinance would apply to Formula Retail employers with 20 or more employees in the City. “Formula Retail” establishments are defined for purposes of the new legislation as businesses with at least 20 retail sales establishments located worldwide.
The proposed ordinance would require employers to:
Continue Reading San Francisco Board of Supervisors Tentatively Passes “Retail Workers Bill Of Rights” – Final Vote Expected On November 25