Website accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act have been a subject of much litigation for private entities.  Recent changes applying to public entities may give a clearer roadmap for private businesses on the issue of website and application accessibility. On April 8, 2024, the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, signed the final rule under Title II of the ADA, which establishes specific requirements and provides clarifications regarding ADA compliance on web-based public-facing platforms.  These updates incl ..read more

In a win for California employers, the California Court of Appeal held that stock options are not wages. A stock option is a contractual right to buy company stock at a certain price regardless of whether the stock price increases. If the value of the stock increases, the option is more attractive since the person can buy the stock at lower price and immediately sell the stock at a higher price. For example, if an employee receives a stock option at $1 and the price increases to $2, and the employee exercises the option by buying the stock, the employee essentially doubled their earnings (by ..read more

Has the rest of the country finally caught up to California in its antipathy for non-compete agreements? Interested to learn what the Federal Trade Commission’s April 23, 2024 announcement of a final rule — which bans virtually all preexisting and future noncompete agreements — means for your organization (outside of California)? Join our colleagues Glenn Grindlinger and Steven Ludwig for a one-hour webinar breaking down key considerations, including:  Status of the rule, effective date and court challenges Who is covered — employees, contractors, volunteers, etc.? W ..read more

A quick reminder for national Fast Food restaurants, the California minimum wage is going up to $20 per hour as of April 1, 2024. As we wrote in our Alert back in October 2023, AB 1228 created a Fast Food Council in California, which is now part of the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR). The Council now has members and had its first meeting in March. Details about its members and that first meeting can be found here. The DIR also published some helpful FAQs to answer some harder questions about whether AB 1228 applies to your business, as either a franchise owner, unit within a “grocery ..read more

Hospitality employers in California beware.  Effective July 1, 2024, California’s Junk Fee Ban (SB 478) will go into effect, making it unlawful to advertise, display or offer a price for a good or service that does not include all mandatory fees or charges.   This bill is intended to address the often perceived as bait-and-switch practice of using junk fees (aka hidden fees, surprise fees, or drip fees) to keep prices low on a website or menu, and then add a “Resort Fee” or “Service Charge” or “Surcharge” at the end of the purchase.  This practice leads to a larger cost for the ..read more

Nearly all employers in the state of California must prepare a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (“WVPP” or “Plan”) by July 1, 2024 and Cal/OSHA just published the highly anticipated model Workplace Violence Prevention Plan as well as an employer fact sheet.  The model Workplace Violence Prevention Plan published by Cal/OSHA includes all the required information necessary for compliance but it should be tailored and customized to fit the needs of your specific industry and workplace.  The model Plan is intended to” help employers develop a separate, stand-alone Plan. It was written ..read more

Oops we did it again…For your reading pleasure, we have compiled a monster chart of California’s state and local paid sick leave laws and their various nuances. With the new 2024 changes to state paid sick leave laws we shared here, employers should review their policies if they have not yet done so ..read more

The allure of doing business in California is undeniable. It is the world’s fifth largest economy (moving toward fourth) and a market of more than 39 million people. For employers, however, California presents unique challenges because its laws differ significantly from federal laws and those of other states. California employment laws are the most far-reaching in the nation, usually providing workers significantly greater levels of protection than those offered by other states or by federal laws. These differences can create traps for the unwary employer. To help all employers doing business ..read more

An important new discovery tool – demands for disclosure — are available for use in California state court employment lawsuits filed from January 1, 2024, and later.  The demands significantly impact how employers and their counsel should prepare to defend California cases.  When served, the new demands require parties to disclose to one another all witnesses, documents and electronically stored information (ESI) that are “relevant to the subject matter of the action,” a requirement that is equally broad and burdensome in scope.  Employers and their counsel can be required to ma ..read more

After four long years of litigation, AB 51, intended to prohibit mandatory arbitration agreements, has been permanently enjoined. California companies may rejoice in a rare win allowing enforceable arbitration agreements to be a condition of employment, so long as the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) governs the agreement. Most arbitration agreements contain this provision, but employers should check to confirm their agreements contain an FAA provision before making them mandatory. The biggest hurdle to mandatory arbitration agreements is now out of the way. The courts still will analyze arbit ..read more