An amendment to the California Farm Labor Contractor Act requires that farm labor contractors participate in at least one hour of sexual harassment prevention training each year. In addition, the amendment requires that an applicant for licensure as a farm labor contractor execute a written statement attesting that the contractor’s members of management have been trained in the prevention of sexual harassment.

The new law, which becomes effective January 1, 2015, also gives the California Labor Commissioner enhanced legal authority to revoke, suspend, or refuse to renew a farm labor contractor’s license if the licensee has been found by a court or an administrative agency to have committed sexual harassment of an employee, or has employed a supervisory employee whom he or she knew or should have known has been found by a court or an administrative agency, within the preceding three years, to have committed sexual harassment of an employee. Continue Reading New California Law Requires Sexual Harassment Prevention Training for Farm Labor Contractors

California has become the third state in the country, after New York and Oregon, to ban sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace directed toward unpaid interns.

The new law (AB 1443) extends workplace harassment and discrimination protections under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) to unpaid interns, volunteers, and individuals in apprenticeship training programs. It will go into effect January 1, 2015. Continue Reading California Law Protects Unpaid Interns and Volunteers from Harassment and Discrimination

An amendment to the California data breach notification statute requires companies that experience a data breach to include information in the notification that if identity theft prevention and mitigation services are provided, they must be provided for at least 12 months to affected persons at no cost if the breach exposed or may have exposed certain personal information. This is the first time any state has imposed such mandates. The new law, AB 1710, signed by Governor Jerry Brown on September 30, 2014, also expands the application of safeguard requirements for personal information and further prohibits certain uses and disclosures of Social Security numbers. The new law becomes effective January 1, 2015.

New Identity Theft, Credit Monitoring Notification Mandates

Currently, California and 46 other states require entities that own or license certain personal information to notify individuals whose personal information has been involved in a data breach. No state has broadly required entities with a breach notification obligation to provide credit monitoring services or “identity theft prevention and mitigation services” to affected persons. Of course, many companies have provided such services, and State Attorneys General have urged businesses to extend such services. Continue Reading California Becomes First State to Require Credit Monitoring Services Information Following a Data Breach

San Francisco Bay employers with 50 or more full-time employees within the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (“Air District”) were required to register and offer commuter benefits to their employees as of yesterday. Violators are subject to civil penalties for the enforcement of air pollution control laws under the California Health and Safety Code, including penalties up to $10,000 per day. Employers may register online at https://commuterbenefits.511.org/.

Commuter benefits are intended to encourage employees to take transit, vanpool, carpool, bicycle and walk, rather than drive alone to work.  Continue Reading The San Francisco Bay Area Commuter Benefits Program Starts Today!

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

The spotlight continues to shine on Silicon Valley, but this time it’s not the technology that’s attracting attention. Instead, headlines have shifted to employee diversity. Media outlets and civil rights activists are demanding the release of employee demographic information, and tech companies have become prime targets. Are you prepared to answer when they come knocking on your door?

Join us for an interactive workshop  where we will discuss this diversity dilemma and prepare attendees to respond to inquiries. We will explore tactics used to obtain your data, what the numbers say about your business and best practices for fielding requests.

Co-hosted by Juniper Networks and Jackson Lewis P.C., this program is a must for Silicon Valley professionals in legal, compliance, human resources, diversity, marketing and other business roles.

Questions? Please contact:

Christina Jackson jackson@juniper.net (Sunnyvale)

Rachel De Dora Rachel.DeDora@jacksonlewis.com (San Francisco)

 

 

Dates/Times:

Wednesday, October 15, 2014 Registration and breakfast: 8:30 a.m. Program: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Thursday, October 16, 2014 Registration and breakfast: 8:30 a.m. Program: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Locations:

Juniper Networks Global Headquarters (October 15) 1133 Innovation Way, Building A Sunnyvale, CA 94089 Click here to register

Offices of Jackson Lewis P.C. (October 16) 50 California St. 9th Floor San Francisco, CA 941111 Click here to register
Fee: Complimentary
Credits: Pending approval of 2.50 HRCI recertification credit hours toward PHR and SPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute and 2.50 California MCLE credits.

Jackson Lewis’ Heath Havey will be speaking  on “Talent Mobility: Cross-Border Employment Law Issues + Compliance” at the October 1, 2014 Innovative Global Business Strategy: Utilizing Strategic Talent Mobility to Add Value to Your Workforce Conference in San Diego.

Whether you are the CEO, CMO, CHRO, VP of HR, HR practitioner, head of a function or department, a management consultant, in-house mobility manager, realtor relocation director, or an entrepreneur, you likely have dealt with and/or managed people or processes related to international business and going global.

We invite you to participate and join the conversation. We’re pleased to announce that Jackson Lewis has a free passes available on a first-come, firse-served basis and can extend a heavily discounted registration  to interested parties when those passes are claimed. E-mail Rachel De Dora at rachel.dedora@jacksonlewis.com to inquire about a conference pass.

Please visit the conference website for more information: http://www.globalbusinessnews.net/conf.asp?cid=312

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

San Francisco Associate Alison Hong was honored with a 2014 California Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award at a formal reception last Friday, September 12, 2014 as a part of the 87th State Bar Annual Meeting in San Diego, Calif. The award was presented to Alison by State Bar President Luis J. Rodriguez and California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye (pictured below).

Alison_Hong_Recipient

Alison was one of nine recipients honored and the only to receive recognition in the Distinguished Pro Bono Service category, which highlights effort that is innovative, collaborative and went above and beyond the call of duty. Alison’s commitment to pro bono began early in her legal career as Pro Bono Committee Co-Chair of the Korean American Bar Association of Northern California (KABANC). She has organized two pro bono legal clinics per year since 2011 for which she coordinates outreach and publicity, recruits volunteers, prescreens clients, schedules consultations, matches clients with volunteer attorneys who have the appropriate expertise, pairs English speaking attorneys with Korean speaking law students to assist non- and limited-English speaking clients and supervises the clinic overall.

Each of the two clinics held in 2013 served more than 50 participants in the areas of immigration, family law, contract disputes, personal injury, government benefits and other general civil matters. Although difficult to promote the clinic to Korean Americans who live in more rural areas or who do not have access to the Korean language newspaper, Alison was able to reach them by utilizing a network of Korean American churches. As a result of her efforts, a platform has been created on which KABANC members can engage in pro bono and serve a community that previously lacked access to legal services due to geographic and language barriers.

Jackson Lewis congratulates Alison along with all the outstanding recipients of the 2014 President’s Pro Bono Service Awards for helping to close the justice gap through their donation of time and expertise to assist those who would not otherwise have access to legal services.

•Recently Admitted: Thomas Feledy (San Carlos)

•Recently Admitted: Lindsey Martinez (Costa Mesa)

•Solo Practitioner: Keith Hiatt (Sunnyvale)

•Solo Practitioner: Ciarán O’Sullivan (San Francisco)

•Individual from a Law Firm: Charles Crompton (San Francisco)

•Individual from a Law Firm: Michael O’Halloran (San Diego)

•Law Firm Branch Office: Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP (Costa Mesa)

•Law Firm Branch Office: McDermott Will & Emery LLP (Los Angeles)

•Distinguished Pro Bono Service: Alison Hong (San Francisco)

 

 

The California Labor Code’s Section 1102.5(b) whistleblower protections are not limited to the first employee reporting alleged misconduct, the California Court of Appeal has ruled, affirming a judgment in favor of a deputy sheriff on his whistleblower retaliation claim. Hager v. County of Los Angeles, No. B238277 (Cal. Ct. App. Aug. 19, 2014).

The Court further ruled the law applied to reports of misconduct of fellow employees. However, the Court reduced the employee’s back pay and front pay awards as unsupported by the evidence.

For further reading, visit the Jackson Lewis website here.