California - General

On September 17, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill No. 1383, which repealed the current California Family Rights Act (CFRA) and eliminated the California New Parent Leave Act, replacing those statutes with a new CFRA, which can be found at California Government Code Section 12945.2, et

Effective January 1, 2021, SB 1383 expands the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) to cover smaller employers and provide access to leave for additional covered reasons. Current Law

As part of his worker protection package , California Governor Gavin Newsom signed on September 17, 2020, Assembly Bill 685 ( AB 685 ), which authorizes the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (“Cal OSHA” or “division”) to prohibit operations and processes, and prevent entry into workplaces t

On September 17, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 1159, ( SB 1159 ) which modifies and extends the Governor’s Executive Order N-62-20 creating a disputable workers’ compensation presumption that illness or death related to COVID-19 is an occupational injury and ther

On September 17, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 685 into law, enacting California Labor Code Section 6409.6 and amending other state statutes. As explained further below, Section 6409.6 obligates employers to notify employees, the employees’ exclusive representative (such as a

On September 9, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 1867 (AB 1867), which requires private entities with 500 or more employees to provide up to 80 hours of COVID-19-related supplemental paid sick leave (CSPSL) to their California employees.

In response to the ongoing state-imposed closures and limitations of gyms and other fitness establishments based on the COVID-19 pandemic, an organization representing the fitness industry has filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against Governor Gavin N

On September 17, 2020, California doubled down on its efforts to keep non-remote employees safe from COVID-19 exposure. Governor Newsom signed AB 685, new legislation that allows the state to track COVID-19 cases in the workplace more closely. AB 685 expands Cal/OSHA’s authority to issue Orders Proh

Today, Governor Newsom signed two pieces of COVID-related legislation—AB 685 and SB 1159—into law. AB 685 imposes reporting requirements on employers related to COVID cases in the workplace. SB 1159 expands the

In May, California Governor Newsom signed Executive Order N-62-20, which created a rebuttable presumption that certain employees who test positive for COVID-19 contracted the virus at work for workers’ compensation purposes.

On September 9, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill (AB) 1867, which requires large employers and some health care providers to provide up to 80 hours of paid leave for COVID-19–related reasons. The new law also codifies the governor’s previously issued executive ord

By: CA Amends Prohibition on No-Rehire Provisions in Settlements of Employment Disputes On September 11, 2020, Governor Newsom signed AB 2143 into law. This bill, which takes effect January 1, 2021, makes some modest changes to a law that was enacted last year to generally prohibit the use of no-reh

By: California Passes Law Changing the Test for Independent Contractor Status for Certain Types of Workers As the fallout from the California Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Dynamex Operations West v. Superior Court continues to plague businesses, the California legislature continues to grapple wit

By: California Enacts New Law Requiring Large Employers to Provide Supplemental COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave On Wednesday, Governor Newsom signed AB 1867 into law. This new law is effective immediately (no later than 10 days after enactment) as urgency legislation. The new law essentially seeks to fill

On September 9, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 1867 , a five-part bill that: (1) codifies existing COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave (CPSL) requirements for certain food sector workers, (2) adds CPSL requirements for other employers, (3) creates a small-employer

On August 31, 2020, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 2257. If signed by Governor Newsom, AB 2257 would exempt several categories of workers from the stringent requirements of the ABC Test under Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5), including but not limited to the following:

California’s governor may soon sign into law a one-year delay of the California Consumer Privacy Act’s (CCPA) full application to human resources data. On August 28, 2020, California’s legislature passed A.B. 1281, which extends the exemption for human resources data from most CCPA obligations to Ja

As the world focused its attention on the COVID-19 pandemic, other legal issues took a back seat. In California in the summer of 2020, however, the topic of whether a worker should be classified as an independent contractor or an employee has come to the fore. Several notable developments

On July 7, 2020, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors adopted an emergency ordinance to establish supplemental paid sick leave for COVID-19 related reasons. The ordinance took effect on July 8, 2020, and will remain in effect through December 31, 2020. It applies only to unincorporated areas of

California’s landmark independent contractor law, AB 5, has only been in effect for eight months. But in that time frame, the law remains controversial and makes headlines every week. The law presents compliance challenges for businesses in the Golden State, and things aren’t getting any easier.