Category: Compliance
Has the New FTC Non-Compete Ban Been Banned? Employers Consider Options After Legal Challenges to FTC Rule
As was widely published last week, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued its long-awaited Final Rule which prohibits employers from entering into non-compete agreements with employees with limited exceptions. The next day, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, along with several smaller Texas-based organizations, filed a lawsuit in the 5...
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...
Protected Paid Sick Leave Increases to Five Days Per Year Under California State Law
With the stated purpose of encouraging sick employees to stay home to stop the spread of COVID and other contagious diseases in the workplace, California Governor Newsom signed SB 616, expanding the state’s Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2016 to increase the guaranteed number of paid sick days...
California Employers Prohibited from Discriminating Against Applicants and Employees for Off-Duty Cannabis Use
Governor Newsom signed AB 2188, which amends the state’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) to prohibit discrimination based on off-the-job cannabis use. AB 2188 prohibits most employers from discriminating against a person in hiring, termination, or setting conditions of employment if the discrimination is based on either: Cannabis...
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...
Reminder: CalSavers Compliance Deadline on June 30, 2022 for Employers with 5-50 Employees
The deadline for California employers with between 5-50 employees to either register for, or opt out of, the CalSavers Retirement Savings Program is quickly approaching. As we explained in a previous blog post , CalSavers is a new, automatic enrollment payroll deduction IRA program, designed to expand access to...
New COVID Guidelines Unmasked, But Employers Are Still Subject to Cal/OSHA and Local Orders
Yesterday, the California Department of Public Health (“CDPH”) issued a new “ Guidance for the Use of Face Masks .” The new Guidance, which goes into effect at the state level on February 16, 2022, limits the settings in which universal masking will be required and also relaxes mask requirements...
Employers’ Struggles with Religious & Disability Accommodations from COVID-related Policies
The science, guidance, and regulations related to workplace safety policies for the COVID-19 pandemic are constantly changing (goodbye federal vaccine mandate!). As employers struggle to keep up, they are confronted with the decision of what safety policies to adopt, including, for many, whether to require their employees be vaccinated against...
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...
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...
