Articles Discussing General Workplace Issues in California.

California law provides robust protections for employees’ political activity, including anti-discrimination and retaliation protections. California law also provides employees broad protections for lawful off-duty conduct. California employers are required to provide employees with time off to vote and post a notice explaining those rights. For the upcoming election, this notice

The California Governor recently signed Senate Bill (SB) 988, which establishes the Freelance Worker Protection Act (Act) which imposes minimum requirements relating to contracts between a hiring party and a freelance worker.

Under the new law, “freelance worker” is defined as a person or organization composed of no more than

On September 28, 2024, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 1100 into law making it an unlawful employment practice to include statements about the need for a driver’s license in job advertisements, postings, applications,  and similar employment material. In California, driver’s licenses have increasingly become a condition of employment. The

According to the California legislature, audio recordings, video recordings, and still images can be compelling evidence of the truth.  However, the proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI), specifically, generative AI, has made it drastically easier to create fake content that is almost impossible to distinguish from authentic content.  To address this

On September 22, 2024, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 3234 into law which imposes more transparency requirements for employers that audit their child labor practices.  The bill will take effect on January 1, 2025.

Under AB 3234, any employer that has voluntarily subjected its business to a

Join us for a complimentary webinar during which CDF partners will discuss the new iteration of California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) and related legal developments while providing attendees with strategic guidance on leveraging these reforms to avoid and defend PAGA litigation.  

Data privacy and security risk and compliance issues relating to exchanges of personal information during merger, acquisition, and similar transactions can sometimes be overlooked. In 2023, we summarized an enforcement action resulting in a $400,000 settlement following a data breach that affected personal information obtained during a transaction.

California aims

As kids head back to school, California employees with children may need time off for various reasons from school-related activities to kids who are sick. Here are reminders of the California leave entitlements for parents and caregivers.

School Activity Leave

Under California Labor Code Section 230.8, employers with 25 or

At the end of its recent session, the California Legislature passed SB 399, the “California Worker Freedom from Employer Intimidation Act.” SB 399 prohibits employers from taking adverse employment actions against employees who decline to attend an employer-sponsored (“captive audience”) meeting, or participate in employer driven communications, where the purpose is to relate the employer’s opinion about religious or political matters.

On August 7, 2024, the City of Los Angeles unveiled its “Model Contract” under the Freelance Workers Protections Ordinance (FWPO). This ordinance, which took effect on July 1, 2023, was designed to bolster protections for freelance workers in Los Angeles.

Ensure Compliance with California Labor Code Section 2775 et seq.

Starting after Labor Day, employers with jobs located in the unincorporated areas of the County of Los Angeles, including work-from-home and hybrid positions, must comply with the County’s fair chance hiring ordinance.  The ordinance, which imposes obligations well beyond existing federal and state law, and which extends to con

Earlier this week, California passed bill AB 3234 with ease in both the State Assembly (77-0) and the Senate (36-0). Governor Gavin Newsom is expected to sign the bill.

AB 3234 requires employers who have voluntarily subjected their businesses to social compliance audits to post a clear and obvious link to a report that details the findings of their most recent social compliance audit on the website for their business. The report would need to include:

when the audit was conducted (year, month, day, and time, and whether the audit was conducted during the morning or evening shift);
whether the business engages in child labor;
a copy of the business’s written policies and procedures regarding child employees;
whether the business exposes children to any hazardous or unsafe workplace situations that could affect their physical or mental health and development; and
whether children work within or outside regular school hours or during night hours.
The bill defines “social compliance audits” as inspections of any production house, factory, farm or packaging facility of a business to verify that it complies with both social and ethical responsibilities as well as health and safety regulations regarding child labor.

In Stone v. Alameda Health System, the California Supreme Court considered whether all public entities that are not specifically governmental in nature are exempt from the obligations in the Labor Code such as meal and rest breaks and overtime, and whether penalties available under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA)