California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) continues to advance toward the March 31, 2021 pay data collection deadline. When SB 973 was passed in September, DFEH had six months to develop and implement a data collection system that could accomplish the task. It is delivering. DFEH issued its first guidance on November
Susan E. Groff
Susan E. Groff is a Principal in the Los Angeles, California, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. She advises and counsels management on various employment related issues and is Co-Leader of the California Advice and Counsel Resource Group.
Ms. Groff advises employers on complying with federal and California requirements for disability accommodation and protected leaves of absence.
She also counsels employers on a host of other employment issues, including wage and hour laws, harassment and discrimination complaints, workplace investigations, reductions in force, and discipline and termination questions. Ms. Groff further conducts training and seminars on employment related issues, including sexual harassment prevention training.
Furthermore, Ms. Groff has extensive experience exclusively representing employers in labor and employment disputes. She has defended employers in employment litigation, including actions involving sexual harassment, discrimination on the basis of sex, age, race, religion, and disability, wrongful termination, and wage and hour matters, including class actions. Ms. Groff has litigated matters from inception through the appellate stage before California state and federal courts and represents employers in proceedings before state and federal administrative agencies and tribunals.
California Issues Additional Guidance on What Pay Data Reports will Require
The deadline for employers to comply with California’s pay data reporting requirement (Senate Bill 973) and submit pay data to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) is March 31, 2021.
The DFEH has launched an information page that provides needed clarity on certain obligations and has issued additional guidance on the…
Pay Data Reporting: California is the Tip of the Spear
In a continued effort to reduce gender and racial pay gaps, on September 30, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 973, which creates massive pay reporting requirements for employers. In 2021, certain California employers will be required to submit annual information on its employees’ pay data by gender, race, and…
New California Law Significantly Expands Employee Entitlement to Family and Medical Leave
California employers with as few as five employees must provide family and medical leave rights to their employees under a new law signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 17, 2020. The new law significantly expands the state’s existing family and medical leave entitlements and goes into effect on January 1, 2021.
Do Employers Still Need to Provide Time to Vote in California?
As safe in-person voting became an issue in other states, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order requiring each county’s election officials to send vote-by-mail ballots to registered voters for the November election. The Governor also issued an executive order requiring counties to provide early polling locations for at least three days prior to…
California Compliance Deadline for Harassment Prevention Training Still Set for January 1, 2021
In 2018, California law extended anti-harassment training requirements to employers with 5 employees or more and mandated that non-supervisors also receive such training, in addition to supervisors. The original deadline for completion of that training was January 1, 2020. Current California law requires employers with 5 or more employees to provide one (1) hour of…
California Legislature Proposes Bill Mirroring Executive Order Regarding Food Sector Supplemental Paid Sick Leave
On April 16, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-51-20, (“Executive Order”) which provides COVID-19 related paid sick leave for “food sector workers” who work for larger employers in the state. The California legislature is now considering codifying those leave requirements with Senate Bill 729.
Read the full article on the…
Bereavement Leave, the Next Potential Mandated Leave in California
California is known for having a multitude of leaves available to employees from sick leave to organ donation leave. Despite this, California has not mandated employers provide bereavement leave for employees. Many businesses do include unpaid leave for employees to attend funerals and other related services, but such leave is not required under state law.…
California’s Resilience Roadmap and Guidance to Employers for Stage Two Reopening
California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced a plan to allow the limited reopening of some businesses beyond those in the category of essential critical infrastructure. This limited reopening is part of the “Resilience Roadmap” for California, the multi-phase plan to modify the statewide stay-at-home Order, originally issued on March 19, 2020, in response…
Expanded Wage Replacement Entitlements for California Employees Caring for Children During COVID-19 School Closures
Before the COVID-19 crisis, there were limited paid leave entitlements in California for employees requiring time off to deal with childcare and school closures. California Labor Code 230.8 required that employers of 25 or more employees working at the same location were required to provide employees with up to 40 hours of unpaid leave within…