As California employers head into another year of compliance planning, the Golden State legislature has not slowed down. From higher wage thresholds and expanded pay-equity rules to sweeping changes affecting AI use, layoffs, and worker mobility, the coming year brings a slate of employment law updates that HR, legal, and business leaders may want to
The California Supreme Court and the Legislature ushered in 2024 with two significant changes that may appear unrelated but that may impact California employers. We consider each in turn.
With the festive season upon us, California employers can look forward to hanging lights, holiday cheer, and, of course, the new employment laws and compliance challenges taking effect in the New Year. Instead of interrupting your favorite holiday tradition to trek through California’s new legislation (likely without appropriate cold-weather clothing in true California fashion), this
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.
“Hot Labor Summer” – so dubbed due to strikes by the Writers Guild, Screen Actors Guild, Southern California Hotel Workers, health care workers from multiple unions, and United Auto Workers – is not over. On Oct. 7, 2023, Gov. Newsom signed AB 1 (known as the Legislature Employer-Employee Relations Act), which gives California legislative staff
On July 14, 2023, a new attempt to regulate the fast-food industry in California was delayed after its proponents pulled the bill from a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Assembly Bill 1228 (AB 1228), introduced in February 2023 by Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena), is the newest effort in a series of bills that seek to regulate wages
California generally takes an unfavorable view of noncompete provisions, treating them as unenforceable in all but a few limited circumstances, as those familiar with California employment law know. See, e.g., Business and Professions Code 16600 and Edwards v. Arthur Andersen LLP (2008) 44 Cal.4th 937.
Now, if recently introduced legislation finds support, those exceptions may
The city of Los Angeles’s recently passed Fair Workweek Ordinance (the Ordinance) takes effect April 1, 2023. The ordinance aims to ensure Los Angeles retail employees have more predictable work schedules by requiring employers to provide advance notice of those schedules, imposing constraints on how employers can schedule their employees, and holding employers financially responsible
Employers seeking to challenge California’s stringent independent contractor misclassification laws may have found an opening. On March 17, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that plaintiffs could proceed in their lawsuit on claims that California’s Assembly Bill 5, as amended (A.B. 5), violates the Equal Protection Clause. See Olson v. California, No. 21-55757
Under AB 2188, beginning Jan. 1, 2024, California employers will be prohibited from discriminating against employees for off-duty cannabis use.
Continue Reading California Will Soon Protect Employees’ Off-Duty Cannabis Use