Effective January 1, 2020, employees will be able to keep all penalties, in the amount of $100 for the first violation and $200 for each subsequent violation, along with 25 % of the amount unlawfully withheld during their employment. On October 10, 2019, Governor...
Advising And Defending Businesses
Year: 2021
New Law Imposes Obligations on California Employers When Interacting with Federal Immigration Authorities
Beginning January 1, 2018, AB 450 will regulate California employers’ interaction with federal immigration enforcement agents. The bill applies to both public and private employers and regulates access to nonpublic areas and employee records, notice of record...
New Laws Regarding Pre-Employment Inquiries and Hiring in California
Assembly Bill 1008 prohibits public and private employers with five or more employees from making any pre-employment inquiries, including in any employment application, that would disclose an applicant’s criminal history. Only after an employer makes a...
Time to Review and Update Your Company’s Employment Application and Interview Process
Effective January 1, 2018, all employers in California will be prohibited from asking a job applicant about their salary history. Employers may not ask, verbally or in writing, for any salary history information, including compensation and benefits. Only if an...
California Prohibits Certain Mandatory Arbitration Agreements in Employment
On October 10, 2019, the governor signed Assembly Bill No. 51 that will prohibit employers from requiring employees to enter agreements that provide for the resolution of claims related to discrimination and wage and hour matters by a private arbitrator. The new law...
PAGA Actions for Non-Compliant Wage Statements Made Easier for Plaintiffs
On September 26, 2017, the plaintiffs’ bar scored a win against California employers. In Lopez v. Friant & Associates, LLC, a Court of Appeal held that a Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) action for allegedly non-compliant wage statements...
McDonald’s Corp. Not Liable as a “Joint Employer” with Franchises for Wage Claims
On October 1, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Salazar v. McDonald’s Corp. affirmed summary judgment in favor of McDonald’s Corp. in a class action lawsuit brought by former hourly paid employees who alleged that they were denied overtime...
Premium Wages Owed for Missed Meal Periods, but No Additional Remedies
On September 26, 2019, a California court of appeal in Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services, Inc. answered several important questions that arise in class action lawsuits alleging meal period violations under Labor Code section 226.7. The company’s policy required...
Governor Codifies the “ABC Test” for Independent Contractors by Signing AB 5
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...
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...