Advising And Defending Businesses
There is now even greater cause for concern when an OSHA complaint shows up on your desk. Cal/OSHA recently amended its regulations to redefine what constitutes a “repeat violation” and the new amendment takes effect on January 1, 2017. In a nutshell: A...
Californians may have legalized recreational marijuana this past November, but that does not mean employees can start showing up to work high. Employers still have the right to “maintain a drug and alcohol free workplace” under the new law. The first thing...
A decision published by a California court of appeal on December 19, 2018 in Carrington v. Starbucks Corp. again demonstrates how critical it is that employers have a well-written meal period policy in place that conforms to the law. A barista who worked at Starbucks...
The National Labor Relations Board is a federal agency that protects the rights of private sector employees to join together, with or without a union, to improve their wages, hours and working conditions. In December 2019, the Board issued several decisions, and...
In Augustus v. ABM Security Services (ABM Security), a class action filed 11 years ago and certified as a class in 2009, the California Supreme Court ruled that ABM Security unlawfully required the class of security guards to remain on call during rest breaks,...
On May 11, 2016, President Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) into law. The new law creates a right for an “owner of a trade secret” to bring a civil claim in federal court for the misappropriation of such and obtain remedies that...
Assembly Bill 1926, which was approved by Governor Brown on September 28, 2016, amends Labor Code section 1777.5 to require, in most circumstances, that apprentices who are dispatched to Public Works projects to undergo testing, training, an examination, or other...
In Driscoll v. Granite Rock (2016) —Cal.Rptr.3d—, following a bench trial of a certified class action alleging the employer failed to provide concrete mixer drivers off-duty meal periods and pay a meal period premium when the drivers opted to work during a...
A job description that accurately reflects the essential functions of an employee’s position with a company may become the holy grail of personnel documents for an employer in employment litigation. Yet, employers all too often fail to use, or misuse this...
The Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (California’s Paid Sick Leave Law) became effective on July 1, 2015, and requires employers to provide three workdays or 24 hours of paid sick leave per year to each of its employees (with certain conditions and...