On July 24, 2023, the California Office of Administrative Law approved the California Civil Rights Council’s modifications to regulations pertaining to California’s Fair Chance Act. Under the Fair Chance Act, employers with five or more employees are prohibited from asking an applicant about conviction history before making a job offer and setting forth other
Sayaka Karitani
Computer Software Employees and Physicians Overtime Exemption Rates for 2023
In order 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 executive, administrative, and professional exemption, which includes workers who are employed in administrative, managerial, executive, or professional capacities. There are also…
California Supreme Court Holds No Privity Between Hospital and Staffing Agency to Allow Claim Preclusion
In Grande v. Eisenhower Medical Center, FlexCare, LLC (“FlexCare”), a temporary staffing agency, assigned Plaintiff to work as a nurse at Eisenhower Medical Center (“Eisenhower”). The plaintiff alleged that during her employment at Eisenhower, FlexCare and Eisenhower failed to ensure she received the required meal and rest periods, wages for certain periods she worked,…
Pre-Employment Drug Testing Not Compensable Under California Law Holds Ninth Circuit
In a recent decision by the Ninth Circuit, the Court of Appeals upheld the district court ruling in favor of grocery chain WinCo Holdings, Inc., holding that plaintiffs who were not yet employees when they took drug tests were not entitled to compensation for the time spent being tested.
In Johnson v. WinCo Foods Holdings…
Implementing Alternative Workweek Schedules in California
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…
New Bill May Reduce Delay in Background Checks
Last year, the California Court of Appeal ruled in All of Us or None of Us. v. Hamrick that an individual’s date of birth and driver’s license number could not be used as data identifying a criminal defendant in public records. Based on that decision, many courts around the state redacted birth dates and driver’s…
Statewide Universal Masking Expires February 15th but Employers Need to Consider Local and Cal/OSHA Requirements
In January the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) extended universal masking indoors through February 15, 2022, due to a continued COVID-19 surge. In advance of the expiration, Governor Newsom announced that universal masking would not be extended again. The CDPH also published mask guidance for after February 15th.
Effective February 16,…
California Has Its Own Flavor of WARN Requirements That Employers Should Be Aware Of
Under federal law, there is the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) which sets forth certain requirements for businesses who are closing locations and/or proceeding with large-scale reductions in force. As is typical for the state, California has separate WARN regulations often referred to as Cal-WARN.
Here are some of the important differences between…
California Extends Indoor Masking Requirements & Los Angeles County Mandates Medical-Grade Masks for Workplaces
In mid-December, as COVID-19 cases began to rise, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) reinstituted indoor masking requirements and Cal/OSHA confirmed that requirements applied in the workplace. When issued, the mandate was only supposed to remain in effect until January 15, 2022.
However, with COVID-19 cases still on an uptick, the CDPH has…
California Mandates COVID-19 Booster for Workers in Health Care, Adult Care Facilities and Direct Care by February 1, 2022
Over the summer as California saw a rise in COVID-19 cases, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued orders mandating vaccinations of health care workers and workers in adult care facilities and direct care workers.
With cases again on the rise, the state has issued two, updated mandates that cover: (1) health care…