On September 18, 2019, the governor signed Assembly Bill 5, which becomes effective on January 1, 2020. AB 5 codifies and expands on the California Supreme Court’s 2018 Dynamex decision which applied its so-called “ABC test” to determine whether a...
Advising And Defending Businesses
Month: September 2021
AB 685 Requires Employers to Give Prompt Notice of Potential Exposure to COVID-19
On September 17, 2020, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 685 into law. The new law requires an employer that “receives a notice of potential exposure to COVID-19” to provide a written notice within one business day to all its employees, any union...
In a Win for Companies, Supreme Court Holds PAGA Does Not Permit the Recovery of Unpaid Wages
On September 12, 2019, the California Supreme Court in ZB, N.A., and Zions Bancorporation v. Superior Court settled an issue on which several courts of appeal had differed and held that an employee’s claims for unpaid wages are not recoverable under the Private...
California Continues to Prevent the Enforcement of Agreements to Arbitrate Employment Disputes
On August 29, 2019, the California Supreme Court in a 6-1 decision in Oto, LLC v. Kho, refused to compel arbitration of an employee’s wage complaint that had been filed with the California Labor Commissioner. The Oto court found that “the oppressive...
An Employer’s Obligation to Track Time Worked by Remote Employees
The Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor recently issued Field Assistance Bulletin 2020-5 to address the obligations of employers under the Fair Labor Standards Act to keep track of time worked by employees who are working from remote locations. If...
Waiting Time Penalties for Late Payment of Final Check, and Attorneys’ Fees on Appeal
On August 1, 2018, the court of appeal in Nishiki v. Danko Meredith, APC reduced an employee’s Labor Commissioner award for waiting time penalties to $2,250, but awarded an additional amount of $86,160 for attorney fees against the employer. The former employee...
California Supreme Court: “A few extra minutes of work each day can add up.”
On July 26, 2018, the California Supreme Court in Troester v. Starbucks Corp., held that the de minimis doctrine, recognized as a defense to a claim for unpaid wages under federal law, is not applicable to claims for unpaid wages brought under California law. In...
NLRB Permits Employer to Implement Arbitration Agreement in Response to Class Action Lawsuit
On August 14, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board in Cordúa Restaurants, Inc. held that employers are not prohibited by the National Labor Relations Act from informing employees that their failing or refusing to sign a mandatory arbitration agreement will...