California has been working its way up to a $15.00 minimum wage for all employees for several years. As of January 1, 2023, all California employers will be required to pay their employees a minimum wage of $15.00. However, a ballot measure recently filed with the State proposes increasing the minimum wage even further to
Wage and Hour
A Reminder of Minimum Wage Increases Coming in the New Year
Posted in Wage and Hour
California’s drive toward a 15-dollar minimum wage for all employers continues. Effective January 1, 2022, the minimum wage for employers with 25 employees or less will increase to $14.00 per hour, and for employers with 26 or more employees, the minimum wage will increase to $15.00 per hour. Employers must remember this increase also affects…
Getting Ready for the Holidays and Pay
Posted in Wage and Hour
As we approach the holiday season, employers may have uncertainty about handling holiday pay and related issues with holiday closures.
Under California law, hours worked on holidays, Saturdays, and Sundays are treated like hours worked on any other day of the week. In other words, there is no requirement that employers pay an employee a…
Computer Software Employees and Physicians Overtime Exemption Rates for 2022
Posted in Wage and Hour
For an employee to be deemed exempt from overtime regulations under California law, the employee must fit into a category of work that is deemed exempt. The most common exemption is the administrative exemption, which includes workers who are employed in administrative, managerial, executive, or professional capacities. There are detailed requirements as to the amount…
AB 5 Past and Present – What You Need to Know
By Dale R. Kuykendall & Sierra Vierra on
Posted in Wage and Hour
At the end of 2020, it seemed the legislature, the courts, and even California voters wanted to move away from the independent contractor test codified in Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5). However, during 2021, the pendulum seems to have swung back in favor of AB 5 and its guidelines on classifying workers as employees versus…
New Legislation Prevents Food Delivery Platforms From Retaining Amounts Designated as Tips or Gratuity
By Ellen E. Cohen & John Andrew Schaffer on
Posted in Wage and Hour
California’s Governor passed Assembly Bill 286 (AB 286) which amends the Fair Food Delivery Act of 2020. AB 286 makes it unlawful for a food delivery platform to charge a customer any purchase price for food or beverage that exceeds the price posted by the food facility on the food delivery platform’s internet website at…
California Legislation Signed to Extend Exemptions from AB 5 for Certain Industries
Posted in Wage and Hour
Governor Newsom has signed Assembly Bill 1561 (AB 1561) to extend the sunset dates on the exemptions granted to licensed manicurists and construction trucking subcontractors from the provisions of Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5). AB 5 sets forth the test for whether a worker is an independent contractor or employee.
The exemptions will now sunset…
California Extends AB 5 Exemption for Newspaper Distributors and Carriers
By Talya Z. Friedman & Janelle J. Sahouria on
Posted in Wage and Hour
The Governor has signed Assembly Bill 1506 (AB 1506) which extends the existing exemption for three more years for newspaper distributors and carriers from the “ABC Test” under Dynamex and Assembly Bill 5. The bill takes into account the reality that newspaper carriers often work for more than one newspaper, and requiring carriers to be…
California Eliminates Subminimum Wage Certificate Program
By Conor J. Dale & Stephanie Joy M. Tañada on
Posted in Wage and Hour
Current law authorizes employers to pay less than minimum wage for employees with physical or mental disabilities under a subminimum wage certificate program.
California’s Governor has signed Senate Bill 639 (SB 639) which requires the development of a plan to phase out the use of this program. Under SB 639, the program will be phased…
Changes to Wage Law for the Garment Manufacturing Industry
Posted in Wage and Hour
On September 27, 2021, the Governor signed Senate Bill 62 (SB 62), which expands the definition of the garment manufacturing industry for purposes of wage claim enforcement to include brand guarantors. A brand guarantor is a person who contracts for the performance of garment manufacturing.
SB 62 specifies that a garment manufacturer, contractor, or brand…