Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Legislature has passed a series of employment-related bills for Governor Newsom to consider. He has until September 30 to approve or veto these bills, most of which relate to leaves of absence and COVID relief.
Monday, August 31st (or, really, the wee hours of September 1) marked the Legislature’s last day to pass bills to Governor
Continue Reading California Employment Legislative Update: Time for Governor Newsom to Get to Work
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
Seyfarth Synopsis: Last week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the San Jose City Council enacted emergency ordinances to expand paid sick leave beyond that provided under the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act. While San Francisco’s Public Health Emergency Leave ordinance awaits Mayor London Breed’s signature, Mayor Sam Liccardo has signed the San Jose COVID-19 Paid Sick
Continue Reading San Francisco, San Jose Extend Required Paid Sick Leave
Seyfarth Synopsis: When faced with wildfires or natural disasters, California employers must keep calm, carry on, and continue to meet their obligations under California law.
Be Prepared.
All employers, not just those in California, must have an Emergency Action Plan (“EAP”) and Fire Prevention Plan (“FPP’).
California regulations state that an EAP should include (1) procedures for emergency evacuation, (2)
Continue Reading When Disaster Strikes: How Employers Should Respond to Wildfires
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
Continue Reading San Francisco-Peculiarities: Fog Lifts on City’s New Paid Sick Leave Rules
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: On October 1, 2017, after more than a year of waiting, the Berkeley, CA paid sick leave ordinance goes into effect. The ordinance provides extraordinarily generous paid sick leave benefits to employees beyond those provided by the California statewide paid sick leave law.
A little over a year ago, on August 31, 2016, the City of Berkeley, California
Continue Reading Another Case of Paid Sick Leave: BERKELEY Symptoms Begin Soon
Seyfarth Synopsis: As if high rent and California’s peculiar laws were not enough to worry about, San Francisco employers must also comply with City-specific ordinances. Trailblazing City requirements often exceed state laws and have sometimes been harbingers of state-level enactments. One might say that San Francisco, with its distinctive laws, is to California what California is to the rest of
Continue Reading San Francisco-Peculiarities: The City’s Ultra-Unique Employment Landscape
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
Seyfarth Synopsis: We’ve regularly reported on California’s peculiar paid sick leave laws. Not counting industry-specific paid sick laws (e.g., the Long Beach and Los Angeles ordinances regulating hotel employers), there are now six California city ordinances mandating paid sick leave.[1] This week’s focus is on changes to the San Diego law, effective September 2, 2016.
The San Diego ordinance,
Continue Reading San Diego Implementing Ordinance Ameliorates Its Paid Sick Leave Law