California - Cal/OSHA

Ambiguity in settlement agreements can sabotage finality and certainty as a recent California decision shows. Where a settlement agreement is silent regarding litigation costs, an employee may obtain mandatory costs as the prevailing party under state law as the settlement proceeds constituted the r

California lawmakers are considering a bill (SB 1299) sponsored by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United to address workplace violence against healthcare workers. The bill was prompted in large part by two recent attacks on nurses in Los Angeles-area hospitals, in which one nurse

California’s now familiar one-hour-of-pay premiums for missed meal and rest periods will gain more “heat” on January 1, 2014, when a one-hour-of-pay premium will be required for each day an employer fails to provide “recovery periods” to avoid heat-related illness for employees who work outside. The

A new California law makes it easier for the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (“Cal/OSHA”) to classify workplace safety violations as “serious” for purposes of issuing citations and proposed penalties to employers. Assembly Bill 2774, signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in