Insight & Commentary on California Workplace Law Issues & Developments
As the dust settles after another active California legislative session, employers still have more legislation to be on the lookout for by way of ballot measures. In the midterm elections this year, several cities in California will be voting on regulations that will impact employers.
Over the summer, several California cities considered, and some passed…
At the start of June 2022, the City of Los Angeles approved an ordinance to raise the minimum wage for certain healthcare workers at privately-owned healthcare facilities within the city.
Since June, more cities have passed nearly identical ordinances.
All ordinances apply only to privately owned healthcare facilities including:
…
On June 29, 2022, the Los Angeles City Council approved a new minimum wage ordinance for certain healthcare workers at privately-owned healthcare facilities within the City of Los Angeles. The mayor is anticipated to sign the ordinance, which will become effective 30 days after his signature.
Minimum Wage
On the effective date of the ordinance,…
It may come as a surprise to some, but Cal/OSHA’s workplace violence regulations currently apply only to the Health Care Industry. Cal/OSHA plans to change that.
Right now, for non-healthcare industries, Cal/OSHA regulates workplace violence using the employer’s obligation to regularly identify and evaluate workplace hazards under Section 3203, California’s version of the general…
Despite the Governor’s recent announcement for a tentative reopening of the state by June, California’s legislature has been busy passing COVID-19-related laws. At the end of March, the Governor signed Senate Bill 95, which resurrected and expanded supplemental paid sick leave. And more recently, the Governor signed Senate Bill 93, which implemented a statewide…
On September 29, 2020, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2537, which significantly expands upon employers’ existing baseline obligations for providing a safe and healthful work environment. The new bill creates specific requirements regarding general acute care hospitals’ distribution and supply of personal protective equipment (PPE). Its purpose is to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19.…
On October 5, 2015, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill confirming that employees in the health care industry can waive one of their two meal periods when working a shift of over eight hours in a workday. This law clarifies confusion caused by a recently decided appellate case, Gerard v. Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center, 234 Cal.App.4th 285 (C.A. 4th, 2015) (review granted). The Gerard case is currently under review by the California Supreme Court.
Continue Reading Health Care Workers Allowed to Waive Meal Period
In a recent turn of events, the California Court of Appeal ruled in Gerard v. Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center (Feb. 10, 2015) that healthcare workers cannot waive their second meal period when working shifts in excess of 12-hours despite the Industrial Welfare Commission’s (“IWC”) order to the contrary. The court found that the IWC lacked authority to circumvent the California Labor Code and, therefore, partially invalidated Wage Order No. 5-2001, which governs the healthcare industry.
Continue Reading Wage Order No. 5-2001 Partially Invalidated: Healthcare Workers Cannot Waive Their Second Meal Period When Working More Than 12 Hours
