California - General

Each legislative session, there are a number of employment-related bills introduced -- some of which are helpful for California employers (and almost always get killed in committee early on) and others which are bad for California employers. This blog includes a list of notable bills that have been

When it comes to legislation restricting employer use of criminal records, California seems to be leading the charge. In the last six months alone, we have reported on a variety of new laws that apply to California employers that use criminal records in pre-hire and other employment decisions.1 Cont

On March 3, 2013, in an unpublished decision in Valdez v. Terminix International Company Limited Partnership, Case No.15-56236, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a District Court order denying defendant Terminix International Company Limited Partnership’s (Terminix) motion to

Three of the top labor and employment law issues to watch in the beginning of the Trump administration include: (1) the U.S. Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) minimum salary requirements for overtime compensation; (2) mandatory, federal paid maternity leave; and (3) more rigorous state and local laws in

Effective March 1, California’s Equal Restroom Access Act (ERAA) will require some single-occupancy restrooms to have signs indicating they are gender-neutral.

The Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance (“FCIHO”) went into effect on January 22, 2017. The Bureau of Contract Administration (BCA), the Designated Administrative Agency responsible for enforcing the Ordinance, has issued “Rules and Regulations” (“Regulations”) for the FCIHO. The

Executive Summary: In a complete reversal of its earlier decision, a California federal judge held that employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) entered into in accordance with the provisions of the Railway Labor Act (RLA) are exempt from California’s statutory overtime requireme

In another important decision regarding an employer’s obligation to provide rest breaks, the California Supreme Court in Jennifer Augustus et al. v. ABM Security Services, Inc. (2016) 2 Cal.5th 257, dealt with two issues related to employee rest breaks: 1) whether employers are required to permit th

In April 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its long-awaited “Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964” (2012 Guidance). The 2012 Guidance does not prohibit employer

This week, a California Court of Appeal issued its opinion in Vasserman v. Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, rejecting the hospital’s appeal of a trial court order denying its motion to compel the plaintiff to arbitrate wage and hour claims she brought against the hospital. The court acknowledge

In just the last two years, there has been an explosion in the number of claims being brought against California employers under the state’s Private Attorney General Act (PAGA).

By determining that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX” or the “Act”) preempts California’s ethical rules, the Northern District of California ruled that an in-house attorney can rely on privileged communications and confidential information to the extent they are reasonably necessary to assert a claim or

On Friday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Syed v. M-I, LLC, holding, on an issue of first impression, that an employer willfully violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) by including a liability waiver on the background check disclosure and consent form it provided t

Are you sick of sick leave yet?

On December 9, 2016, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti signed the “Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring,” the “Ban the Box” ordinance that bars certain City of Los Angeles employers from asking job applicants about their criminal history. Ban the Box goes into effect January 1, 2017, and Los

By April 1, 2017, all employers in California operating in the following areas will be required to comply with Section 3342, the Workplace Violence Prevention in Health Care rule: health care facilities; home health care programs; drug treatment programs; emergency medical services; and outpatient m

On November 8, 2016, San Jose residents passed Measure E, known as the “Opportunity to Work” Ordinance. The Ordinance, which becomes effective on March 13, 2017, requires employers with 36 or more employees to offer additional work hours to existing part-time employees before hiring new employees (w

Executive Summary: The City of Los Angeles recently enacted its own Ban-the-Box law, designed to prevent employers with at least 10 employees from inquiring into or requiring an applicant to disclose their criminal history until a conditional offer of employment has been made. The law is expected to

Los Angeles is the latest in a growing list of jurisdictions to adopt an ordinance restricting employers from asking a job applicant about his or her criminal history during the application process. Under the Ordinance, private employers with at least 10 employees will be barred from inquiring about

With the dust still settling from last month's unprecedented presidential election, California’s politicians have not stood still. In partisan terms, the election results in California could not be more different from that of the rest of the United States. Hillary Clinton received the votes of 62% o