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.
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...
John Hancock, Meet the Digital Age
Best Practices When Obtaining Employee E-Signatures on Arbitration Agreements
Traditionally, a signature affixed to a document indicates that the person who “squiggled” on the document understands and agrees to the terms of the document. However, an electronic signature may not be as easy to authenticate. A California Court of Appeal recently held that an electronic signature did not establish...
Cal/OSHA Issues Updated Sample COVID-19 Safety Plan to Incorporate its Revised Emergency Temporary Standards
As we shared several weeks ago in “ Ready, Set, Re-open! ,” Cal/OSHA recently revised its COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Temporary Standards (“ETS”) which instruct California workplaces how to re-open safely while facing the challenges of the ongoing pandemic. Although the revised ETS no longer mandates physical distancing or masks for...
Do You Know WHO is Changing Their Mask Guidance?
The World Health Organization (“WHO”) and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (“DPH”) have issued new mask guidance in light of the spreading COVID-19 Delta variant, which is more contagious than other strains of the virus. On June 25, 2021, Dr. Mariangela Simao, WHO assistant director-general for...
Ready, Set, Re-open!
Cal/OSHA Finally Unmasks Revised COVID-19 Prevention Standards for California Employers
With the re-opening of California businesses on June 15, 2021, Los Angeles County “retired” its safety protocols for most industries. Unfortunately, while businesses opened their doors to the public, California employers remained confounded regarding their obligations to employees when Cal/OSHA announced it would maintain mask mandates despite contrary guidance...
LA County Issues New Return-to-Work Orders
A Simple 25-Page Order (Plus 32 Different Appendices) Guiding the Reopening of Businesses
This alert is for employers with office worksites in Los Angeles County. Effective May 6, 2021, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has issued its “Blueprint for a Safer Economy,” entitled the “Reopening Safer at Work and in the Community for Control of COVID-19” order. And if you think...
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...
DFEH Issues Pointed Guidance About Making Vaccines Mandatory for Employees
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”) has updated its COVID-19 guidance (effective 3/4/21, replacing its previous version from 7/24/20). Use Caution If You Are Considering Making Vaccines Mandatory The DFEH now says employers may require employees to receive a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved vaccination. We suspect...
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...
Federal EEO-1 Pay Data Reporting Gets Pushed to April 2021, But California Pay Data Reporting is Due March 31, 2021
Federal EEO-1 Reports Employers who are required to file Employer Information Reports (an “EEO-1 Report”) should prepare to submit their 2019 and 2020 data in April 2021. Due to COVID-19, EEO-1 reporting for 2019 was delayed until the same deadline as 2020. The EEOC has not released a specific...
Los Angeles County Has Extended its 2020 COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Requirement, Retroactive to January 1, 2021
While the State of California and the federal government both let their respective laws requiring COVID-19 paid sick leave expire at the end of 2020, Los Angeles County belatedly passed an ordinance that retroactively requires employers in the unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County to provide COVID-19 supplemental paid...
Make Sure You’re in Good Form!
California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”) has issued some new state forms for employers to provide to employees in 2021. Please be sure to update any new-hire or other personnel checklists that you might have.* New DFEH Toolkit for California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”) Leave and Pregnancy...
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