Insight & Commentary on California Workplace Law Issues & Developments
California employment laws are exhaustive and comprehensive compliance may serve to be challenging for employers, especially when taking into account the patchwork of local ordinances pertaining to minimum wage, paid sick leave, and more.
At the minimum, employers doing business in the City of San Diego (City) should be aware of and in compliance with…
Recently, the 9th Circuit applied, in an unpublished opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court’s broad definition of minister for purposes of the “ministerial exception.” Under the ministerial exception, religious institutions have a First Amendment right “to decide for themselves, free from state interference, matters of church government as well as those of faith and doctrine.”…
On November 15, 2021, the city council of West Hollywood passed a comprehensive ordinance that implements the highest minimum wage in the country and new leave requirements for employees in the city.
Most requirements under the ordinance take effect for hotel employers, defined as owning, controlling, or operating a hotel in the city or owns,…
On August 12, 2021, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SDPH) issued a revised order mandating that the following businesses require both patrons, aged 12 and older, and staff to provide proof of full vaccination:
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San Francisco’s Measure L, which passed with the overwhelming support of the voters, will be effective in 2022 for businesses operating in the City of San Francisco. Measure L, titled the “Overpaid Executive Gross Receipts Tax,” imposes an additional tax on gross receipts or payroll expenses of any business in which the CEO (or…
On August 2nd, seven Bay Area counties and the city of Berkeley joined the ranks of Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Yolo counties in issuing local ordinances that reinstitute indoor masking mandates. The orders require all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, to wear face coverings when indoors in public settings, with limited exceptions,…
On June 17th the Cal/OSHA Standards Board passed amended COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards, which were intended to bring consistency between the California Department of Public Health mask guidance and Cal-OSHA’s workplace requirements.
However, since the passage of the amendments, several counties, including Los Angeles County, have seen a rise in COVID-19 cases. In…
On May 18, 2021, Santa Clara County ordered businesses to track employee’s COVID-19 vaccination status. This Order departed largely from the prior County Orders as well as the California Blueprint for a Safer Economy. However, in conjunction with the California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Occupational Safety and Health (commonly known as Cal/OSHA),…
California passed an expanded COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave statute (SPSL) in March, that included coverage for employees to get vaccinated. More recently, the County of Los Angeles passed an urgency ordinance on May 18th that mandates additional paid leave for some employees in unincorporated areas of the county to be vaccinated.
Covered Employers…
Santa Clara County wasted no time in altering its public health regulations in response to the county’s graduation to the ‘yellow tier’ of California’s Blueprint For a Safer Economy on May 18, 2021. Within hours, the County announced a new Public Health Order that went into effect on May 19, 2021.
The Order retires several…
