California is the first state to propose restrictions on an employer’s ability to communicate with employees after work hours.  AB 2751, currently making its way through the California legislature, would give employees the “right to disconnect.”  While this right has been adopted in other countries, such as France, Spain, and Mexico, no state in the U.S. has a specific law addressing this issue.  As discussed below, the proposed law would dramatically change the dynamic on overtime work for both exempt and nonexempt employees in California.  Here are five key issues Califor ..read more

Under California’s pay data reporting obligations, employers with 100 or more employees must prepare and file reports by May 8, 2024.  Employers are required to gather and report employee race and ethnicity data, among other items.  However, many employers do not have records detailing employee’s race and ethnicity, so how can this information be gathered?  California’s Civil Rights Department (CRD) explains in their FAQs, how employers may collect this information. Understand the Reporting Categories The initial step for employers is to understand the seven race/ethnicity categ ..read more

Employers of 100 or more employees to report to the California Civil Rights Department (“CRD”) pay and hours-worked data by establishment, pay band, job category, sex, race, and ethnicity.  The pay data reports are due by May 10, 2024.  This requirement applies to employers even if they are based outside of California, but have one employee (or even one employee hired through a labor contractor such as a staffing agency) working in California or assigned to an establishment in California.    By requiring large employers to report pay data annually the Legislature sought to ..read more

In Cornell v. Berkeley Tennis Club, Plaintiff Ketryn Cornell alleged that her obesity should qualify as a disability under California law. Ketryn Cornell began working part-time for the Berkeley Tennis Club as a lifeguard and pool manager in 1997, while attending college at UC Berkeley. She was employed as a night manager and continued to work at the Club after graduating from college in 2001.  In 2011, she took on additional duties and began working as a night manager, day manager, and tennis court washer. She received positive reviews, merit bonuses, and raises throughout this period. T ..read more

As reported previously on this blog, the minimum wage for California’s fast-food operators will increase to $20 per hour on April 1, 2024 under AB 1228.  The new law applies to national fast food chains, which are defined as “limited-service restaurants consisting of more than 60 establishments nationally that share a common brand, or that are characterized by standardized options for decor, marketing, packaging, products, and services, and which are primarily engaged in providing food and beverages for immediate consumption on or off premises where patrons generally order or select items ..read more

With the enactment of Senate Bill 553 and the upcoming implementation of California Labor Code section 6401.9 on July 1, 2024, California employers will be required to implement additional measures for workplace safety. This legislation compels most non-health care related businesses to review and develop certain workplace violence measures by mandating the creation, execution, and ongoing maintenance of a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (WVPP). Below, we outline five critical steps that employers must take to align with these new requirements, emphasizing development, risk assessment, trai ..read more

In legal disputes, five primary challenges can significantly complicate the defense of an employment lawsuit: 1. Failure to document routine employment issues. In any employment litigation, whether it’s wage and hour claims, leave issues, or harassment claims – the amount of documentation an employer has dramatically increases the odds of prevailing in litigation. I would even go as far as to say there is a relationship in place here (similar to Moore’s law in the computing industry) that the likelihood of avoiding a devastating judgment is proportionate to the amount of documentation the empl ..read more

Being named as a defendant in a Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) or class action lawsuit can be overwhelming, especially for a quickly growing company. However, with planning, a company can minimize the impact of the litigation on its existing operations and put forth the best defense. A lawyer who has experience in employment law and class actions should be contacted as soon as possible. There are certain deadlines that begin to run when a lawsuit is filed, and any delay could adversely affect the company’s defense. If the company does not know of an employment lawyer, a good start is to ..read more

In recent developments across the United States, a significant shift is underway regarding the value and necessity of college degrees. At the heart of this transformation are legislative and executive efforts aimed at reevaluating the traditional emphasis on bachelor’s degrees for job eligibility. Amidst these governmental actions to potentially limit employer’s ability to require a bachelor’s degree, a new question is also arising: are college degrees becoming obsolete? With industry giants like Google and Apple moving away from stringent degree requirements, and figures like Gary Vaynerchuk ..read more

An issue that constantly plagues the service industry is what to do about tips and the challenges that come with mandated tip pooling and mandatory service charges. We still routinely counsel restaurant clients on the intricacies regarding tips, mandatory tip pools, and service charges. This simple concept, which should be relatively easy, becomes complex under California law.  Here are five issues employers should understand about tips, tip pools, and service charges in California. 1) Who owns a tip? California law is clear that voluntary tips left for an employee for goods sold or servi ..read more