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 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
2018 California Legislative Update: It’s Spring! What Bills Have Sprung?
Seyfarth Synopsis: Dominating this spring’s planting of proposed employment-related legislation are bills aimed at ending sexual harassment and promoting gender equity. Among the secondary crops are bills regarding accommodation, leave, criminal history, and wage and hour law. It threatens to be another bitter fall harvest for California’s employer community.
California legislators stormed into the second
Need Cool Relief From Summer Heat? Try a Refreshing Handbook Update!
Seyfarth Synopsis: Although there’s no right or wrong time to do a handbook update, we recommend them annually. Might as well take the opportunity when operations are typically slower, summertime, to give your handbook a shine. We’ve highlighted a few areas upon which to focus when you do so.
Ah, the joys of summer. Maybe
The Fault Line Running Under “No Fault” Attendance Policies
Seyfarth Synopsis: Many employers have “no fault” attendance policies in place to manage employee absenteeism. Are these policies putting California employers on shaky ground? Read on….
“No fault” attendance policies are one popular method among employers to, with consistency, counsel, discipline and, in some instances, terminate employees who rack up excessive absences. Under these policies,
San Diego Voters Enact Paid Sick Leave, Higher Minimum Wage
Seyfarth Synopsis: After hitting some major roadblocks, the San Diego Earned Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Ordinance has now been enacted. The Ordinance is to take effect this summer, most likely by the end of July. The Ordinance adds another perplexing piece to California’s paid sick leave patchwork.
After taking a nearly two-year hiatus,
Riding the Paid Sick Leave Wave–Santa Monica Edition
We’ve previously covered California’s sweeping Paid Sick Leave Law that took effect July 1, 2015 here and here. Now Santa Monica – not to be outdone by Bay Area sister municipalities in San Francisco, Oakland, and Emeryville – enacted its own paid sick leave ordinance (“Ordinance”) on January 26, 2016 – just two weeks
Not an April Fool’s Joke! Possible Legislative Clarification to CA Paid Sick Leave Law To Come: Proposed Amendments Introduced
On March 26, 2015, Assembly Member Lorena Gonzalez – the author of California’s Paid Sick Leave law, the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (the “Act”) – introduced amendments to that law. The vehicle for those amendments, Assembly Bill 304, was re-referred to the Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment
CA Paid Sick Leave Update: Labor Commissioner Issues More FAQs
The Labor Commissioner has issued a new and updated set of FAQs interpreting California’s new Paid Sick Leave Law (AB 1522 of 2014).
If you’ve been following along, you know that after passage of the new law last year, the Labor Commissioner issued a template Poster and Wage Theft Prevention Notice for employers to use and post, as well as a first set of FAQs.
The new FAQs obligate employers to inform existing employees of the new sick pay law and changes in policy via the Wage Theft Notice, provide guidance regarding when such notice must be given to existing employees, and provide guidance regarding sick leave eligibility for seasonal or break-in-service employees, as well as part-time and alternative work schedule employees.
Wage Theft Prevention Notices: Employees hired before January 1, 2015 must receive a new Notice that contains the new information regarding paid sick time under amended Labor Code section 2810.5, even if there is no change in employer policy.
Employers must give all employees (not just those hired after January 1, 2015) a new Wage Theft Prevention Notice, announcing any change to paid sick leave, within seven days of the actual change. Although the FAQs are silent on this point, note that Labor Code section 2810.5, which requires Wage Theft Prevention Notices, applies only to non-exempt employees.
The “date of actual change” would depend on when the employer either establishes a paid sick program under the paid sick leave law or changes an existing paid leave program to comply with this law, but would be no later than July 1, 2015. Thus, the last date to provide notice of changes would be no later than July 8, 2015 (seven days after the July 1 sick leave entitlement effective date).
Employers who do not want to issue new Wage Theft Prevention Notices to all current employees may instead inform those employees of the change to paid sick leave by using an alternative method authorized by Labor Code section 2810.5(b)(1) or (b)(2) (e.g., giving notice of change in a pay stub or itemized wage statement). Employers who choose this route should take care to follow the requirements of these alternatives and keep records of having provided those employees with the notice.
Even employers whose existing policy satisfies the minimum requirements of the law must still provide notice—via the new Wage Theft Prevention Notice or an alternative method—regarding the new paid sick leave law. The notice must contain information about the new paid sick leave law and how the employer intends to meet its requirements for the particular employee. For example, a timely writing provided to each employee that refers to or summarizes the existing policy and contains the points of information specified in the revised Wage Theft Prevention Notice would comply with the individual notice requirement.
Continue Reading
Bay Area Voters Impose Local Requirements for Minimum Wage, Sick Leave, and Workplace Flexibility: Part 2 of 2
By Jason Allen
Those who spent some time with us last week already know that Bay Area voters took to the polls with an eye toward employees this year. But it wasn’t just with regard to pay. They also ventured into the oh-so-complicated world of sick leave and flexible schedules.
Sick Leave
As we have