Insight & Commentary on California Workplace Law Issues & Developments
It is well-known that California law is often more strict than federal law. Just as California handles overtime differently than the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), California law also treats aspects of overtime exemptions differently than the FLSA. One such difference is the Outside Salesperson exemption.
Under the FLSA, an outside sales employee is…
The California Legislature is well into its 2021 Legislative session and February 19 was the last day to introduce new bills. Below is a sampling of some wage and hour bills that employers should have on their radar.
Assembly Bill 1003 – Wage Theft as Grand Theft
AB 1003 would make an employer’s intentional theft…
As California cases of COVID-19 began to rise in early March, several California administrative agencies released information on COVID-19 employment issues, such as administration of paid sick leave, disability benefits, and unemployment insurance. Yet, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH)—the agency charged with enforcement of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA),…
Both the City of San Diego and the California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement have updated their “Frequently Asked Questions” related to the respective local and state sick leave requirements. Click here to read the full article about these specific changes at our Disability, Leave & Health Management blog.
The California Court of Appeal has held that: (1) the use of payroll service provider generated unique employee file numbers on employee wage statements, in lieu of the employer’s internal employee identification number or last four digits of employee social security numbers, is legally permissible under California law; and (2) employers are not required to…
On March 3, 2017, in an unpublished decision in Valdez v. Terminix International Company Limited Partnership, Case No.15-56236, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a District Court order denying defendant Terminix International Company Limited Partnership’s (Terminix) motion to compel arbitration of plaintiff Palcido Valdez’s (Valdez) claim for penalties for violation…
On February 26, 2015, in Franco v. Arakelian Enterprises, Inc., Case No. B232583, the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District held that trial court proceedings on claims pursuant to the California Private Attorney General Act (“PAGA”) (Labor Code § 2698 et seq.) must be stayed pending individual arbitration of the underlying individual wage and hour claims (originally pled as classwide claims) pursuant to an arbitration agreement containing a classwide arbitration waiver.
Continue Reading California Court of Appeal Rules PAGA Claims Must Be Stayed Pending Outcome of Individual Arbitration on Underlying Individual Wage and Hour Claims
The San Diego City Council passed an Earned Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Ordinance (“Ordinance”) for the City of San Diego earlier this year. The Ordinance was planned to take effect in January 2015 and April 2015 for the minimum wage increase and earned sick leave requirements, respectively. For more information on the Ordinance, please click here.
Continue Reading UPDATE: San Diego Earned Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Ordinance Provisions On Hold, To Go To Popular Vote
In special session on July 14, 2014, the San Diego City Council voted 6-3 in favor of enacting the San Diego Earned Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Ordinance. The ordinance seeks to raise the San Diego minimum wage over the next three years, and mandates that employers within San Diego provide a minimum amount of earned paid sick leave, beyond that required by recently enacted California state law AB 1522 [click here for information regarding the requirements of AB 1522].
Although San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer vetoed the ordinance August 8, 2014, the San Diego City Council overrode the veto on August 18.
Continue Reading San Diego Enacts Earned Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Ordinance
While reversing summary judgment in favor of a holding company, in Castaneda v. The Ensign Group B249119 (Cal. Ct. App. Sep. 15, 2014), the California Court of Appeal held that a “corporation with no employees [that] exercises some control over [a] corporation with employees, [] may be the employer of the employees of the corporation it owns.” In doing so, the Court found that there were triable issues of material fact whether the holding company that alleged it had no employees, The Ensign Group, Inc., was the plaintiff’s employer.
Continue Reading California Court of Appeal Holds That A Holding Company With No Employees May Be Vicariously Liable For Alleged Wage and Hour Violations of a Subsidiary
