California - General

In Kim v. Reins International California, Inc. (B278642, Cal. Ct. App., December 29, 2017), the State of California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District addressed for the first time the question of whether an employee-plaintiff, who had settled and dismissed his individual claims under

In addition to fueling the filing of more sexual harassment lawsuits across the country, the recent sexual harassment scandals involving high-powered public figures have led to legislative efforts to prevent settlements of sexual harassment suits from being “confidential,” and to disallow individual

As discussed in a prior article, unsuccessful bills proposed in the California legislature in 2017 can carry over into the 2018 session. State lawmakers may revive measures that did not make it through both chambers of the legislature —or reintroduce bills that Governor Brown vetoed.

It’s a new year, and there is a lot of publicity about recreational marijuana now being legal in California. However, many people seem to have the mistaken belief that they cannot be fired or refused a job for smoking marijuana (since it’s legal and all). Wrong. It is important for both employers an

Several of our clients have operations in California and their HR teams are often tasked with supporting facilities and employees that are based in California. Yet another important California difference is what employers must do, and must not do, when faced with a Federal immigration compliance ins

With the turn of the year comes a wave of new California disability and leave laws. Employers should review their existing policies and procedures to determine if they will be compliance with these new laws—many of which will go into effect on January 1:

Bruce Sarchet and Corinn Jackson, both with Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute, review the status of the California Private Attorney Generals Act, which authorizes employees to recover penalties for many Labor Code violations. They discuss how PAGA currently operates, explore open questions concer

While parts of Northern California are still reeling from damaging wildfires there two months ago, multiple fires are currently threatening Santa Barbara/Ventura, Los Angeles and Northern San Diego Counties. Fueled by high winds, the Southern California blazes are far from being contained. Without a

Effective January 1, 2018, Senate Bill 306 amends Labor Code § 98.7 and adds Labor Code §§ 98.74, 1102.61 and 1102.62 to provide the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (“DLSE”) with expanded authority to enforce the retaliation provisions of the Labor Code. Specifically:

The grace period is over. Effective January 1, 2018, the City of Santa Monica’s minimum cap on accrued sick leave for eligible employees will increase from 40 to 72 hours for businesses with 26 or more employees. The accrual-cap for businesses with 25 or fewer employees will increase from 32 to 40 h

A California Court of Appeal dealt another blow to employers in a recent ruling interpreting the state’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). In Lopez v. Friant & Associates, the court considered the proof required for a PAGA plaintiff to succeed on a claim based on underlying violations of Labor C

Bruce Sarchet and Corinn Jackson, both with Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute, explore the nitty-gritty details of California’s new salary history inquiry ban. The new law – which takes effect January 1, 2018 – prohibits employers from relying on, or seeking out, pay history information about job

Effective January 1, 2018, new obligations will be imposed on California employers to shield their employees from immigration enforcement efforts in the workplace. Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 450 along with Senate Bill 54, a “sanctuary state” legislation that limits California state and local law

As discussed in our prior article, Governor Jerry Brown recently signed several significant labor and employment measures into law in California, including a statewide ban-the-box provision1 and an expansion of parental leave requirements to smaller employers.2

On October 5, 2017, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 450 (“AB 450”), imposing new requirements for public and private employers regarding immigration worksite enforcement actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”).1 Generally, unless otherwise required by fed

The flurry of Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) class actions against employers started in or about 2012 and was not limited to California.1 Many of those lawsuits resulted in significant payouts for violations of one or more of the FCRA’s no-harm, hyper-technical requirements. The U.S. Supreme Cou

Executive Summary: California has passed a number of employment laws this year, including the expansion of baby bonding leave to small employers, prohibiting inquiries into an applicant’s salary history, and restricting the use of applicants’ criminal background information. These new laws, which go

The October 15, 2017 deadline has come and gone for Governor Jerry Brown to weigh the bills passed by the California legislature this year. Governor Brown has now signed into law a jaw-dropping number of bills that pertain to labor and employment issues, ranging from teacher retirement funding to ha

Effective January 1, 2018, California will be the next jurisdiction to implement statewide “ban the box” legislation. On October 14, 2017, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 1008, which prohibits pre-offer inquiries regarding applicants’ conviction histories and regulates employers i

On October 12, 2017, Governor Brown approved a new law that will expand parental leave benefits to employers with 20 or more employees. The new law will take effect on January 1, 2018.