Insight & Commentary on California Workplace Law Issues & Developments
Local employment ordinances are not unusual in California and exist from San Diego to San Jose. However, San Francisco is unusual in that it has far more comprehensive employment law ordinances than other localities.
Here are some highlights of San Francisco’s employment requirements for employers.
Minimum Wage
Effective July 1, 2022, the minimum wage…
The underlying action, Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services, was a class action brought by former and current employees, alleging violations of meal period violations. The plaintiffs sought not only premium wages for the violations but also waiting time penalties and penalties for failure to provide accurate wage statements. The results of the trial court…
As we head into the summer months, employers with outdoor worksites in California may wish to review their Heat Illness Prevention Plans (HIPP) and obligations under Cal/OSHA’s outdoor heat illness prevention standard.
Covered Employers
As the name of the standard implies, Cal/OSHA’s outdoor heat illness prevention standard applies to all employers with an outdoor…
Last November, the City of West Hollywood passed an ordinance implementing a new citywide minimum wage and leave requirement. It went into effect on January 1, 2022, for hotel employers and on July 1, 2022, for all other employers.
In response to public feedback on the ordinance, the City Council approved amendments on May…
Over the last 12 months, many employees have started to return to work at a worksite other than their home, even though some remain remote or partially remote. Employers may need a refresher on commute time for employees.
Under the California Wage Orders, hours worked are defined as the time during which an employee is…
In 2017, California started its stair-step climb to a $15.00 minimum wage, allowing smaller businesses with 25 employees or less to raise their minimum wage on a delayed schedule from larger businesses. All employers regardless of size were scheduled to be at the same minimum wage of $15.00 per hour effective January 1, 2023.
However,…
In a recent decision, the California Court of Appeal held that the doctrine of exclusive concurrent jurisdiction applies to a Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) representative action in Shaw v. The Superior Court of Contra Costa County. The decision is good news for employers facing overlapping PAGA complaints.
Underlying Facts
On July 21, 2022,…
At the end of April, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board voted to approve the Third Readoption of the Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). The revised version of the ETS took effect on May 6, 2022.
As promised when passed, Cal/OSHA has released updated guidance to assist with this version of the ETS that…
Under California law, employees normally accrue daily overtime for hours worked over 8 hours in a day. Alternative workweek schedules (AWS) permit workplaces to adopt different schedules longer than 8 hours without accruing overtime. This may be needed due to health and safety concerns or industry practices that mandate longer shifts. It may also be…
Early in the 2022 Legislative Session, Assembly Bill (AB) 2932 was introduced and was known as the four-day workweek bill. It sought to change when an employee would be paid one and one-half times their regular rate of pay by redefining the workweek.
Under current California law, overtime may be earned at one- and one-half…
