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
Bonuses in the Time of COVID: Avoiding California Pitfalls
Seyfarth Synopsis: Employers offering bonuses to workers during the COVID-19 crisis must beware the famous saying that “wisdom comes to us when it can no longer do any good.” Some bonuses trigger special rules that employers must follow to avoid unexpected liabilities in the time of COVID.
Readers of this blog know that California creates peculiar challenges
Continue Reading Bonuses in the Time of COVID: Avoiding California Pitfalls
Regular Rate Refresh: Calculating Overtime for California Employees
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
Overtime! DOL Final Rule Adds More Eligible Receivers
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
“California Dreamin”—Peculiar Laws To Consider When Crossing State Lines
Seyfarth Summary: Like the singers in “California Dreamin,” many out-of-state employers—on a winter’s day and otherwise—might dream of operating in California. California is an attractive market for out-of-state companies. But employers who hire employees in California or send employees to work there face a unique set of challenges. Below are some key areas of employment law these companies should
Continue Reading “California Dreamin”—Peculiar Laws To Consider When Crossing State Lines
New Overtime Law: Agricultural Employees To Reap What They Sow
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
Picking a Fight: How California Makes Employment Law Peculiar
Seyfarth Synopsis: Our mission here at Cal-Pecs is to illuminate how California employment law differs from the law that employers generally experience throughout America. In this back-to-basics piece, we provide some background and a brief catalog of stark contrasts.
In 1846, American settlers in Mexican Alta California staged the Bear Flag Revolt. They declared an independent republic, seeking freedom from
Continue Reading Picking a Fight: How California Makes Employment Law Peculiar
San Jose’s Opportunity to Work Ordinance: New Peculiarity for Employers
Seyfarth Synopsis: On November 8, 2016, San Jose voters approved the most recent local effort to dictate employment scheduling practices. Beginning in March 2017, San Jose employers must offer existing part-time employees additional work hours before hiring any temporary, part-time, or new worker. Violations of the ordinance can trigger city fines and private law suits.
Temporary, part-time, and
Continue Reading San Jose’s Opportunity to Work Ordinance: New Peculiarity for Employers
The California Regular Rate Of Pay: Not So Peculiar
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 detailed information appears here.
In Alvarado, the California Court of
Continue Reading The California Regular Rate Of Pay: Not So Peculiar
Unpaid Internships: Stocking Stuffer for Employers, or a Proverbial Fruitcake?
It’s been said the best things in life are free. In California, where running a business is very expensive, an unpaid internship program might seem a perfect gift. Employers of all sizes and in virtually all industries use internships to train and identify the next generation of superstar employees. Interns frequently bring new ideas to challenging business problems and provide
Continue Reading Unpaid Internships: Stocking Stuffer for Employers, or a Proverbial Fruitcake?