California - General

The California Supreme Court has upheld the ability of California health care workers who work more than twelve hours a day voluntarily to waive their second meal period, rebuffing plaintiffs’ argument that their voluntary waivers were unenforceable. (Gerard v. Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center (

On November 28, 2018, the California Business & Industrial Alliance (an association that represents the interests of small and mid-sized businesses in California and which was formed for the specific purpose of accomplishing the appeal or reform of the Private Attorney General Act (“PAGA”)) filed a

Voters in Oakland, California recently approved ballot "Measure Z," titled the "Oakland Minimum Wage Charter Amendment." The measure imposes new minimum wages and employment standards for some hotel workers, authorizes the City to administratively enforce its employment standards through investigati

California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed a slew of employment-related bills into law, many of which will take effect on January 1, 2019. These laws will have an immediate impact on the workplace and will require employers in the Golden State to revamp existing practices and procedures.

It is well-established that restrictive covenants are prohibited by statute in California. Since the decision by the California Supreme Court that partial restraints like customer non-solicitation clauses were void under Business and Professions Code Section 16600, the courts have been strictly inte

A California Court of Appeal concluded that what appeared to be a standard nonsolicitation of employees provision was, in fact, an unenforceable noncompete that prevented its former employees from carrying out their chosen profession. The Court of Appeal in AMN Healthcare, Inc. v. Aya Healthcare Ser

California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 1976, expanding California employer obligations respective to employee lactation accommodation.

Bruce Sarchet and Corinn Jackson, with Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute, chat with Betsy Cammarata of the firm’s Knowledge Management team about major upcoming changes to California laws governing employee release and confidentiality agreements. Bruce and Corinn explore three new laws (AB 3109,

Under the Family Medical Leave Act, eligible employees are entitled to take time off for due to a “qualifying exigency” arising from the deployment of the employee’s spouse, parent, or child for active military duty to a foreign country. Examples of “qualifying exigencies” include attendance at mili

Many businesses will temporarily increase staffing levels for the upcoming holiday season, during which an uptick in colds and other illnesses is common. Employers may be concerned that seasonal workers will be absent on multiple occasions during their brief period of employment. Below we briefly hi

The #MeToo movement has sparked new legislation aimed at tackling the problem of sexual harassment, especially in the workplace. California Governor Jerry Brown has signed several of these bills into law, set to take effect on January 1, 2019. Employers should review their policies in preparation fo

On September 27, 2018, California enacted Senate Bill 970 establishing a minimum threshold for human trafficking awareness training and education in the hospitality industry. Under the law, hotels and motels are required to provide 20 minutes of classroom or other interactive training regarding huma

On the last day for Governor Brown to sign or veto bills this legislative session, here is the list of key employment-related bills that have been signed into law, along with a list of bills that were vetoed. All new laws take effect January 1, 2019 unless noted.

In Jones v. Farmers Ins. Exchange (2013) 221 Cal.App.4th 986 (“Jones”), the California Court of Appeal held that “[t]he lack of an adequate class representative … does not justify the denial of the certification motion. Instead, the trial court must allow Plaintiff[[] an opportunity to amend [his] c

California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed Senate Bill 826 into law which requires publicly-held corporations with principal executive offices in California to have a certain number of females on their boards of directors.

Executive Summary: On September 30, 2018, California Governor Edmund J. Brown, Jr. signed into law eight new bills involving gender and sexual harassment training and related issues. The Governor also signed into law two bills amending California’s lactation accommodation requirements. These laws we

California requires an employer to provide employees who works more than five hours with a 30-minute uninterrupted, off-duty meal break (and another meal break if they work more than 10 hours). State law also requires an employer to provide employees with a 10-minute uninterrupted, off-duty break ev

Two new California laws seek to combat human trafficking through required training and mandatory notice postings. These steps are intended to provide education and resources for employees who believe they, or someone they know, are the victims of human trafficking. The new laws apply to various indu

In a last-minute action on the September 30 legislative deadline, California’s Governor vetoed a bill that, among other things, would have imposed restrictions on the use of arbitration agreements for certain employment claims.

Governor Brown has been busy in the last year of his term signing and vetoing many employment-related bills. We are pleased to report that he vetoed California Assembly Bill 3080 (AB 3080). AB 3080 sought to amend the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and the California Labor Code ma