The Laboring Oar Blog
Visit the Full BlogThe Laboring Oar® is Greenberg Glusker's employment blog that provides the latest employment and labor law trends and updates to help clients remain informed in an ever-changing, dynamic world.

Free-lancing or Fee-lancing? How to Keep Penalty-Free With Your Freelancers Under New California Law
The Freelance Worker Protection Act , which takes effect on January 1, 2025, sets minimum requirements for hiring independent contractors in California. Under the Act, a hiring party engaging a freelance worker for services totaling $250 or more (either at one time or over an aggregated 120-day lookback) must...

Valentine’s Day Reminder – California Employer Edition
Yes, this is a reminder that Valentine’s Day is coming up. In addition to making dinner reservations and buying loved ones flowers, California employers have the added responsibility of complying with the newly enacted Business & Professions Code Section 16600.1 which says, among other things: For current employees, and for...

Employee bonuses in California: An essential guide for HR professionals
Offering bonuses to California employees is more complex than one might think. I presented on the topic of employee bonuses during my August HR Bites series of employment law-related discussions, during which I touched on the role and implementation of signing bonuses, relocation bonuses, retention bonuses, and incentive pay...

Local Minimum Wage Increases Along With Summer Temperatures
Local Minimum Wage Increases Go Into Effect on July 1, 2023 On July 1, 2023, a number of local governments throughout California will raise their minimum wage. In the City of Los Angeles, the new rate is $16.78/hour ($19.73/hour for hotel employees at hotels with 60 or more guest...

Employer Resources for Workplace Mental Health Issues
Both during the height of the Covid pandemic and now in the aftermath, employers are increasingly reaching out to our Employment Group about employees who are demonstrating or reporting mental health problems. While some of these reports come with medically certified diagnoses, many do not, but all require a...

Out With the Old, In With the New: Employment Law Updates in 2023
With 2023 here, it’s time for employers to comply with new California labor laws. Below is a highlight reel of these changes. What’s in a Name? Turns Out, Not Much: The Department of Fair Employment and Housing is Renamed the Civil Rights Department Effective July 1, 2022, the California...

Employers Feel the Heat from Summer Legal Updates — Minimum Wage Increases, Arbitration Enforcement, and New COVID Safety Definitions
Local Minimum Wage Increases Go Into Effect on July 1, 2022 On July 1, 2022, a number of local governments throughout California will raise their minimum wage. In the City of Los Angeles, the new rate is $16.04/hour ($18.17/hour for hotel employees at hotels with 150 or more guest...

“Can I Keep Working from Home?” – Handling Increased Employee Requests to Telework in the Post-Pandemic Return to the Workplace
As mask mandates have been lifted and COVID-19 infection rates go down, many businesses are using this as an opportunity to welcome employees back to their workplaces. It is expected, and we have already seen, that there will be pushback from employees who would like to continue a hybrid...

The Feds Say Me Too! In Limiting the Use of Employment Arbitration Agreements
California courts and legislature have been pummeling employers’ ability to require comprehensive arbitration agreements. Well, the federal government has now joined in. In an astounding rare example of legislative bipartisanship, both Congress and the Senate approved the passing of the federal Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment...

A New Variant of California COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Law Emerges — What Employers Need to Know
On February 9, 2022, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill No. 114, California’s 2022 COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave law. Under the new law, employers with 26 or more employees are obligated to provide up to 80 hours of supplemental paid sick leave for qualifying COVID-19 related reasons (“2022 SPSL&rdquo...

E.L.F. on a Digital Shelf: Employment Law Facts, A Summary of California’s New 2022 Employment Laws
In preparation for 2022, California employers have an abundance of new laws with which to comply. Below are the highlights curated by our Employment Law Group. SB 331: The “ Silenced No More ” Bill, Prohibits Confidentiality of Alleged Unlawful Acts in NDAs and Settlement Agreements SB 331, which takes...

Employers Invited to Comment on Proposed Cal-OSHA COVID-19 Compliance Requirements – October 4, 2021 Deadline
California employers have a chance to participate in their own COVID regulation fate. While California employers are currently subject to a variety of overlapping state, local as well as Cal-OSHA COVID-19 compliance requirements, there has been little clarity and even less autonomy in the development of these requirements. Now...

Have Vaccine ‒ Will Mandate?
The United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) announced on August 23, 2021, that Pfizer is the first COVID-19 vaccine receiving full FDA approval. This is a procedural moment of clarity for which employers across the country and especially in California have been waiting. For several months prior to...

Cal/OSHA Evolves with COVID-19: CALIFORNIA EMPLOYERS MUST ALSO
From January 1, 2021, until January 1, 2023, Cal/OSHA has been empowered to issue citations more quickly for serious violations related to COVID-19. Employers throughout California are starting to feel the sting of the heightened Cal/OSHA regulations related to COVID-19 through employee class actions and Private Attorney General Actions...

New COVID-Related Sick Leave Obligations for California Employers
On March 19, 2021, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 95 (SB95), which adds sections 248.2 and 248.3 to the California Labor Code, extending and expanding COVID-related sick leave obligations for all California employers of 26 or more employees. The law, known as the 2021 COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Law...

Accidental Joint-Employment Relationships: Getting More Than You Bargained For
Whatever your business—design, production, talent management—you likely focus on your actual core strengths and subcontract labor through outside vendors for work like security, janitorial maintenance, website design. While one of the key advantages of such outside vendors is keeping your own employment workforce lean and manageable, an unfortunate and...