California - Wage & Hour

In welcome news for many California employers facing class actions based on the state break rules, the California Supreme Court has held that employers need not ensure that their workers take meal periods required by California law, but only that workers are provided the meal periods. The employer’s

After three years, the California Supreme Court has finally issued its much-anticipated decision regarding how employers must manage meal periods and rest breaks. On April 12, 2012, the state's highest court issued its unanimous decision in Brinker Restaurant Corporation v. Superior Court, clarifyin

In a matter of significance for California employers, in See’s Candy Shops, Inc. v. Superior Court of San Diego, the California Supreme Court recently ordered the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, to review a trial court decision holding that rounding employee time entries vio

On January 24, 2012, the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, issued an important decision providing new and needed guidance on the commissioned sales exemption. In Muldrow v. Surrex Solutions Corporation, the court concluded that a class of “senior consulting service managers”

In the waning days of 2011, a unanimous California Supreme Court gave California employers a holiday present in its long-awaited opinion that diminishes the importance of the outmoded analytical tool known as "the administrative/production worker dichotomy" for determining whether employees are prop

In Arnold v. Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company, a California appellate court issued a published decision holding that insurance agents are not employees under the California Labor Code. This appears to be the first time the court has addressed the status of insurance agents.

In a case of first impression, the California Court of Appeal has clarified the scope of an employer’s obligation to pay reporting time and split shift premiums under the California Industrial Welfare Commission’s Wage Order No. 4-2001 (“Wage Order”). The Court ruled that an employee was not

Sidestepping its first opportunity to address California’s overtime exemption for administrative employees, the state Supreme Court has ruled that although the court of appeal misapplied the “administrative/production worker dichotomy,” the case should be remanded for analysis under the applic

In a long-awaited decision, the California Supreme Court unanimously gave California employers a holiday present in an opinion that follows the majority of federal courts in finding that insurance claims adjusters are exempt administrative employees.

The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement has released a form notice that is compliant with the new California Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2011. Effective January 1, 2012, the Act requires employers to provide many new employees with written notice that details their rates of pay, empl

California's Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2011 ("WTPA" or "Act")1 takes effect on the first day of next year – January 1, 2012. The WTPA is one of half a dozen new laws that affect an employer's wage payment obligations. The WTPA amended five existing statutes within the California Labor Code, and

In Aleman v. Airtouch Cellular, a California Court of Appeal ruled on December 21, 2011 that one class representative was not entitled to additional reporting pay or split shift premiums and a second class representative could not pursue such claims because she had signed a release in exchange for e

On December 13, 2011, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reconsidered the case, Sullivan v. Oracle Corp., after the California Supreme Court had decided several certified questions of law. The Ninth Circuit had previously delayed ruling, and instead asked the California Supreme Court to decide three

Nonresidents of California are entitled to overtime pay under California law for work performed in California, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled, following the California Supreme Court’s responses to its questions on state law. Sullivan v. Oracle Corp., 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS

The required compensation levels for employees exempt from overtime under the California computer professional exemption will increase by 2.5 percent from the current levels beginning January 1, 2012, the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) has announced.

San Francisco’s Health Care Security Ordinance has been amended to require more of certain employers with workers in the City and County of San Francisco. The amendments will take effect January 1, 2012.

A federal district court in California recently issued a decision, in Dilts v. Penske Logistics, LLC, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122421 (S.D. Cal. Oct. 19, 2011), holding that motor carriers that transport property are not subject to California's meal and rest break laws because such laws are preempted b

The long awaited oral argument in the seminal meal and rest break decision involving Brinker Restaurant finally occurred today. Before a packed courtroom, lawyers for a hopeful class of waiters and waitresses and the representatives of California employers battled it out before the seven justices of

Under the California Labor Code, certain computer software employees, as well as licensed physicians and surgeons, are exempt from state overtime requirements if they receive a minimum hourly, monthly or yearly rate. The rate is determined annually based upon changes to the California Consumer Price

Nonresidents of California are entitled to overtime pay under state law for work performed in California, the California Supreme Court has held, answering questions about California law at the request of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Sullivan v. Oracle Corp., 51 Cal. 4th 1191 (Cal