California - Wage & Hour

In Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, LLC, the California Supreme Court concluded that when an employer fails to provide an employee with a compliant rest or meal break, the employee is entitled to a premium payment of one hour of pay at the employee’s “regular rate of pay,” as opposed to an hour of pa

California employers should be familiar with Labor Code section 226.7, which requires the payment of a one-hour premium to non-exempt employees who do not receive compliant rest breaks and meal periods.

By: California Employers Should Prepare for July 1 Minimum Wage Increases In Certain Cities and Counties The current minimum wage is $14 per hour in California for all employers with 26 or more employees. For employers who have less than 26 employees, the state minimum wage is $13 per hour. Californ

On May 28, 2021, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a significant ruling in Magadia v. Wal-Mart Associates, Inc., on both California’s wage statement laws and standing to pursue claims under the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA) in federal court.

On June 8, 2021, the Sonoma County, California Board of Supervisors enacted an urgency ordinance that extends and amends – in part retroactively to January 1, 2021 – its emergency paid sick leave (EPSL) ordinance. New “End” Date : The ordinance was set to expire on July 1, 2021. Now,

The trend over the last 20 years has been for California's prevailing wage law to spread to areas previously unimagined. This spread has been due to inexact drafting of the law, constant tinkering by the legislature, and expansive readings of this arcane statute by the courts and agencies charged

The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) recently updated its “Guide to COVID-19 Related Frequently Asked Questions [FAQs]” to include wage and hour issues and vaccinations.

While the Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in Bernstein v. Virgin America, Inc., et al. , ___ F.3d ____, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 5197 (9th Cir. Feb. 23, 2021), gave some wins to the airlines, air carriers employing California-based flight crewmembers must, as a practical matter, now abide by the state’s

Non-exempt employees must be paid for all of their work time.

State legislatures continue to pass laws designed to enhance pay equity and transparency, with the laws of California and Colorado effective in 2021. The California law requires employee pay data reporting by race and gender, and the Colorado law requires robust pay and promotional transparency.

On Thursday, February 25, 2021, the California Supreme Court in Kennedy Donohue v. AMN Services, LLC , effectively ended the usage of time-punch rounding policies in the context of employee meal periods. This decision will have a major impact for any employers utilizing time-punch rounding applicati

On February 25, 2021, the California Supreme Court overturned an appellate court’s conclusion that employers could follow precedent and round meal and rest periods when applying a neutral rounding technique. Donohue v. AMN Services, LLC, S253677. The California Supreme Court held that rounding time

On February 23, 2021, the City Council of Irvine, California, passed a hero pay ordinance entitling retail grocery store and drug store workers premium pay for hours worked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

By: “Hero Pay” Ordinances Are Making a Wave Through Southern California Cities throughout Southern California, including Long Beach, Santa Monica, and Los Angeles, have been contemplating ordinances requiring “Hero Pay” for certain essential workers for some time. Last week, the City of Long Beach b

On February 1, 2021, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) posted a User Guide, Excel template, and .CSV example to facilitate the submission of the newly required pay data report (Pay Data Report) by March 31, 2021 and annually thereafter. The DFEH also added and updated

By: DFEH Issues New Guidance On California’s Pay Data Reporting Act A few weeks ago CDF Labor Law blogged about California’s Pay Data Reporting Act, which requires private employers with 100 or more employees that also file an annual EEO-1 report with the EEOC to submit a “pay data report” to

By: Ninth Circuit Green-Light’s FMCSA Decision to Preempt California Break Rules The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) determination that federal law preempts California’s meal and rest break requirements as to drivers of propert

In one of the year’s most anticipated court decisions for the trucking industry, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 2785, et al. v. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration , No. 19-70413 (January 15, 2021), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a Federal Motor Carrier

It was quite a week for the gig economy in California. This is the second of a two-part update; last week we reported on a union- and driver-led California Supreme Court challenge to Proposition 22, the November 2020 voter initiative that allows app-based hiring entities to classify certain workers

Under California law, an employee is exempt from California’s overtime requirements and other wage and hour laws if the person is employed in an administrative capacity. To meet this exemption, California’s wage orders and the California Labor Code provide that an employee must perform certain job d