Articles Discussing General Workplace Issues in California.

The California Labor Commissioner’s Office recently cited a southern California gymnastics club for $ 1.3 million for various wage and hour violations. The Labor Commissioner discovered the violations during a COVID-19 compliance inspection. In addition, OSHA recently announced its National Emphasis Program (NEP) and Updated Interim Enforcement Response Plan for COVID-19, focusing its resources on COVID-19 inspections.

On March 24, 2021, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) announced a new interactive tool for obtaining tailored guidance on job-protected leave for pregnancy-related disability or to bond with a new child. The aptly-named “New-Parents Rights Advisor” is free and accessible online and intended to help employees

While California has announced tentative plans to lift COVID-19 restrictions by June 15, 2021, the difficulties for employers are not over.

On April 6, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced his goal to have California fully reopen for business as of June 15, 2021. In order to meet this goal, the state must meet the following criteria: (1) the state must have sufficient vaccine supply to vaccinate all Californians who are 16 or older, and (2) hospitalization rates in the state must remain low and stable.

Governor Newsom signed AB 95 last week, which is effective on March 29, 2021.  Below are the new law’s basic requirements.

On March 19, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill No. 95 (SB 95) which retroactively extends and expands COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave (CSPSL) through September 30, 2021. SB 95 creates new Labor Code sections 248.2 and 248.3, which require public and private employers with more than 25 employees to provide an addition of up to 80 hours of employer-paid CSPSL to covered employees and in-home supportive service providers on a retroactive basis to January 1, 2021— taking effect March 29, 2021.

As discussed in our March 24, 2021 Alert, California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed Senate Bill No. 95 (SB 95) which retroactively extends and expands COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave (CSPSL) through September 30, 2021. SB 95 creates new Labor Code sections 248.2 and 248.3, which require public and private employers with more than 25 employees to provide an addition of up to 80 hours of employer-paid CSPSL to covered employees and in-home supportive service providers on a retroactive basis to January 1, 2021— taking effect March 29, 2021.

By: New CCPA Regulations Issued by California Attorney General

On March 15, 2021, new regulations published under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) further define how businesses may communicate privacy options on the internet.

The new regulations ban “dark patterns” that delay the process for opting out of the sale of personal information

The DLSE issued the required poster here and FAQs here. Pursuant to AB 95, which is effective on March 29, 2021.  Employers may distribute the poster electronically.  Stay tuned for more details about the new law.

On the anniversary of California’s statewide shelter-in-place orders, Governor Newsom signed legislation bringing back the statewide COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave.

The new statute requires employers to display a required poster issued by the California Labor Commissioner and which the Labor Commissioner issued on March 22, 2021. Like prior required

In 2018, the California legislature passed Assembly Bill 2455 (“AB 2455”), which required the Department of Social Services to provide labor organizations registered home care aids’ contact information to assist with organizing efforts of the home care workforce.

Two industry groups, the Home Care Association of America and the California

On March 19, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 95, which creates new Labor Code section 248.2 and mandates that employers provide employees with supplemental paid sick leave (SPSL) for various COVID-related absences in addition to paid time off benefits employees receive by law or policy,

In a rare victory for employers, a California Court of Appeal in Wilson v. The La Jolla Group, 2021 WL 940283 (3/12/2021) affirmed the trial court’s denial of class certification of independent contractors’ wage and hour claims who alleged they were misclassified. The Court of Appeal, however, reversed the trial court’s denial of class certification as to whether a class could be certified to determine whether the business misclassified the Plaintiffs and violated California’s wage statement requirements, and directed the trial court to review the evidence further. The Wilson Court affirmed long-standing class action principles that certification requires a predominance of common questions of law and fact where liability must be demonstrated by an employer’s uniform policy or consistent practice that violates wage and hour laws. The Court held that Plaintiffs failed to demonstrate predominance due to a wide variety of factual differences among the contractors.

Beginning March 29, 2021, California employers with more than 25 employees nationally will have to pay their California employees with up to 80 hours of COVID-19–related paid leave. On March 19, 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 95, which creates new California Labor Code Sections 248.2 and Section