Insight & Commentary on California Workplace Law Issues & Developments
Governor Newsom has signed Senate Bill (SB) 1237, significantly increasing the penalties for employers who repeatedly fail to file California’s required pay data reports.
Under the new law, first-time failures remain subject to penalties of up to $100 per employee. But for subsequent failures, the maximum penalty jumps from $200 to $1,000 per employee—a…
Cal/OSHA, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, effective January 1, 2024, increased penalties for certain violations to adjust for inflation and ensure consistency with California and federal law.
This annual increase is mandated by a statute enacted by California in 2017, which authorizes increases in certain minimum and maximum civil penalties to ensure…
The California Supreme Court issued several important decisions in 2023 about issues such as COVID-19 take-home exposure and arbitrating Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) claims.
Employers should continue to be aware of several cases pending before the state’s high court. Here are the highlights and what these cases could mean for California employers.
PAGA…
In May 2022, the California Supreme Court issued its decision in Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Systems, which considered the issue of whether failing to pay premium wages for meal and rest period violations gave rise to claims for waiting time penalties or violations of wage statement requirements.
The underlying action was a class action…
The California Supreme Court has been busy in 2021 deciding cases that affect employers from how to pay meal and rest period penalties to when the statute of limitations for a failure to promote runs.
While the state’s high court answered some big questions in this last year, they still have several cases pertaining…
In Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, LLC, the California Supreme Court has concluded that an employee’s “regular rate of compensation” for meal and rest period premium pay is synonymous with the employee’s “regular rate of pay” for overtime. Accordingly, employers paying meal and rest period premiums must pay those, not at an employee’s base…
