Insight & Commentary on California Workplace Law Issues & Developments
The California Supreme Court recently heard the case of Troester v. Starbucks Corporation which could significantly increase employers’ exposure to claims by hourly paid employees for small pre-shift and post-shift tasks that are currently treated as insignificant and not compensable.
The de minimis doctrine, an established defense under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), permits…
A decision out of the Northern District of California serves as a reminder that service industries need to carefully balance their commitment to client care with wage and hour obligations. A case manager at a large medical facility filed a class action claim under the California Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) against the facility for…
In a recent decision, Judge Philip S. Gutierrez of the United States District Court for the Central District of California clarified an available avenue for employers with collective bargaining agreements (“CBAs”) to combat the growing trend of wage and hour lawsuits in California. In granting defendant Kiewit Infrastructure West Co.’s (“Kiewit”) motion for summary judgment…
California Governor Jerry Brown just announced a compromise that would raise the state minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2022 and head off competing union-backed ballot measures. The proposal raises the current $10 minimum wage every January starting in 2017 until it reaches $15 in 2022.
Employers with fewer than 25 workers have an …
California’s City of Santa Monica’s City Council has adopted an ordinance that enacts minimum wage and paid sick leave requirements for covered employees as well as new regulations pertaining to service charges and surcharges. Ordinance Number 2509 became effective on February 25, 2016, although its provisions will not be implemented until July 1, 2016.
The City Council authorized the City Manager to establish a working group to review and recommend technical adjustments to the adopted Ordinance.
We discuss key provisions below.
Employers with at least 26 covered employees shall pay no less than the following hourly wages:
Employers with up to 25 employees will have an additional year to satisfy each of these pay rates. Therefore, hourly pay increases for smaller employers will start on July 1, 2017, at $10.50 per hour, reaching $15.00 per hour by July 1, 2021.
Continue Reading Santa Monica, California, Joins Patchwork of Minimum Wage and Paid Sick Leave Laws
Employers doing business in California have seen a barrage of class actions and representative claims for various alleged wage and hour Labor Code violations. Some cases are premised solely on “technical” wage statement violations, where the employer may not have even realized the practice was occurring or was unlawful.
Continue Reading Why You Should Take a Closer Look at California’s New Piece-Rate Legislation
On February 26, 2015, in Franco v. Arakelian Enterprises, Inc., Case No. B232583, the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District held that trial court proceedings on claims pursuant to the California Private Attorney General Act (“PAGA”) (Labor Code § 2698 et seq.) must be stayed pending individual arbitration of the underlying individual wage and hour claims (originally pled as classwide claims) pursuant to an arbitration agreement containing a classwide arbitration waiver.
Continue Reading California Court of Appeal Rules PAGA Claims Must Be Stayed Pending Outcome of Individual Arbitration on Underlying Individual Wage and Hour Claims
In November 2014, Oakland voters passed Measure FF, which went into effect on March 2, 2015, and made changes to the City’s minimum wage, paid sick leave laws and hospitality service charges.
Minimum Wage Increase
Effective March 2, 2015, the minimum wage in Oakland was raised from $9.00/hour to $12.25/hour for any employee who performs at least two hours of work within Oakland in a workweek. This law applies to full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees.
Paid Sick Leave
As of March 2, 2015, employers must pay paid sick leave for employees who were employed on or before that date. Employers are permitted to restrict paid sick leave for employees hired after March 2, 2015; employers can opt not to allow these employees to use any accrued paid sick leave until their 90th calendar day of employment.Continue Reading Oakland’s New Law Raises the City’s Minimum Wage, Provides for Paid Sick Leave, and Addresses Hospitality Services Charges
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
On July 9, 2014, a Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that California truck drivers are entitled to meal breaks and rest periods under California state law despite federal deregulation of the trucking industry. Prior to the Court of Appeals ruling in Dilts v. Penske Logistics, Inc. (July 9, 2014), several federal judges in…
