In 1872, California bucked the common law and the views of many other states by declaring noncompete agreements unenforceable except in narrow and limited circumstances. The crackdown has continued ever since, including two bills enacted in recent months. One of these bills, SB 699, is covered in a September 2023 GT Alert. On Oct.
Proposition 22 continues its journey through the California courts. As background, in 2018 the California Supreme Court adopted a new test to determine whether a worker was an employee or independent contractor in its Dynamex holding. Under the test, a worker is determined to be an employee unless: (a) the worker is free from the
With substantial union backing, California’s controversial Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act, A.B. 257 or the FAST Act, moved through California’s Legislature with relative ease.
As the president of the Service Employees International Union, Mary Kay Henry, told Bloomberg News, the bill effectively offers “another form of collective bargaining” for fast food workers.
Beginning January 1, 2021, California private employers with at least 100 hundred employees and who are required to file annual, federal EEO-1 information will now be required to file a pay data report with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”) on or before March 31, 2021 and each year thereafter. These new
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Nov. 16 aggressive new measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 in light of sharp increases in new cases statewide. Effective Nov. 17, 2020, 28 counties will move back to the most restrictive Tier 1.
Continue reading the full GT Alert, “California Pulls ‘Emergency Brake’ on Economic Reopening
Tuesdays have gained special importance for many California employers during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s when the California Department of Health (CDPH) announces, via a noon press conference on its YouTube channel, counties’ movement – forward or backward – through the state’s four-tiered Blueprint for a Safer Economy. Local ordinances permitting, businesses in counties that move
As summarized in a previous GT blog post, California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy established criteria for easing and tightening restrictions on the activities of California residents and businesses based on counties’ Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection rates. When the system took effect initially on Aug. 31, the state assigned each county one of four color-coded tiers – Widespread (purple), Substantial (red), Moderate (orange), or Minimal (yellow) – based on two factors: average daily case rate and test positivity rate. To move into a less restrictive tier, a county must meet the criteria for the less restrictive tier for the previous two weeks.
Effective Oct. 6, a third criterion took effect. The California Health Equity Metric is intended to reduce disparities of COVID-19 transmission in disadvantaged communities hardest-hit by the virus and is reportedly the first of its kind at the state level in the nation. The metric has two components.
Continue Reading The Carrot and the Stick: California Becomes First State in the Nation to Condition Business Reopening on Reduced COVID-19 Transmission in Disadvantaged Communities
Among the longer-term considerations for employer layoff and furlough decisions is the impact on a single employer pension, profit sharing, or 401(k) plan.
In general, a 401(k) plan can sustain a partial termination when 20% of the participants in a given year are involuntarily terminated. 26 U.S.C. §411(d); Rev. Proc. 2007-43. Partial termination is a
Work stoppages and disruption of operations are consequences of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This GT Alert provides an overview of federal law regarding employee protections associated with work stoppages that protest safety in the workplace.
Read the full GT Alert here: “Handling Employee Concerns and Protests During the Pandemic: Federal Law on