June 2020

As we recently reported, the privacy-right activist group that sponsored the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) – Californians for Consumer Privacy – is pushing for an even more stringent privacy bill, the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”). The CRPA has now qualified for the November 3, 2020 ballot, gathering more than 600,000 valid signatures as…

On June 23, 2020, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed an emergency ordinance temporarily creating a right to reemployment for certain employees laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ordinance, titled “Back to Work” emergency ordinance, requires that as certain employers reopen,  they must first seek to rehire the employee who previously held…

California has adopted the first nighttime work safety standards in the nation which apply to agricultural workers who harvest, operate vehicles, and other tasks between sunset and sunrise.

The new safety standards are being implemented to address potential workplace hazards caused by poor visibility and require employers to, at a minimum, evaluate each outdoor worksite…

As businesses reopen, employers will almost certainly be faced with the potential of a COVID-19 outbreak in the workplace. In addition to the industry-specific guidance for reopening that the State of California has issued, the California Department of Public Health (the Department) recently issued guidance for employers responding to a COVID-19 outbreak in the workplace.…

On June 18th the California Department of Public Health issued guidance broadly mandating that individuals in California wear face coverings in most circumstances.  This new state guidance follows face-covering mandates previously issued by many California cities and counties.

The state guidance specifies that individuals engaged in work whether at the workplace or offsite must…

Requirements for recording and reporting of occupational injuries and illnesses are unique in California, with the state having more stringent obligations than federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) around both reporting of “serious injuries” and what constitutes a work-related injury or illness. To complicate the matter further for California employers, the State of California…

On June 8, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the employer’s petition for certiorari in OTO, LLC v. Kho.

As background, in 2019, the California Supreme Court ruled in OTO that the arbitration agreement at issue was not enforceable because the agreement was both procedurally and substantively unconscionable. The procedural unconscionability finding generally focused…

At the beginning of May, California implemented a staged reopening for businesses closed due to the shelter in place orders resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This plan, referred to as the “Resilience Roadmap” allowed for counties to apply for a variance if certain criteria set by the state public health officer are met. The variances…