Articles Discussing General Workplace Issues in California.

Set to take effect January 1, 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), considered one of the most expansive U.S. privacy laws to date, places limitations on the collection and sale of a consumer’s personal information and provides consumers certain rights with respect to their personal information.

In response to the dangerous levels of air quality last fall after the wildfires in Northern and Southern California, the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) has enacted an emergency regulation addressing hazardous wildfire smoke exposure. In addition, at its last advisory committee meeting, Cal/OSHA discussed multiple possibilities for a permanent regulation. The agency expects to present a 2.0 version of the regulation, which would go into effect after the emergency regulation expires in January 2020, followed by a subsequent version to be released sometime in the future. Employers should stay up to date on these developments as Cal/OSHA’s requirements are becoming more stringent with each iteration.

The California Assembly has passed a bill that would expand the California Family Rights Acts to apply to flight crew employees. Assembly Bill 1748 (AB 1748) has passed through the assembly, and is awaiting the signature of Governor Gavin Newsom.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed AB 5, and the new law will take effect January 2, 2020. As discussed in our September 13 Alert, AB 5 codifies the existing “ABC Test” that was set forth by the California Supreme Court last year in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles to evaluate independent contractors under California’s Wage Orders and applies that same test on a broader scale. The new law will drastically change the independent contractor/employee landscape in California.

AB 1748, a California law affecting California Family Rights Act’s application to airline flight employees has been signed by the governor.

With the future of the EEOC’s pay data collection efforts unclear, California’s effort to legislate its own race- and sex-based pay data reporting requirements likewise has stalled, for now.

On September 18, 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5), a bill that will dramatically alter whether, and under what circumstances, businesses may classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees. Two recent developments may help clarify this expansive bill’s application and scope.

For years now, state laws have required subject organizations to provide notification to affected data subjects and, in some instances, to state agencies, consumer reporting agencies, and the media, when they experience a “breach” of certain categories of information.

On Wednesday, September 17, 2019, California’s Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB 5), limiting when businesses can classify employees as independent contractors. The new law goes into effect on January 1, 2020. For further information, please click this link.

On September 18, 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law sweeping legislation—Assembly Bill 5 (A.B. 5)—that will dramatically reshape the contours of California’s workforce and economy, and potentially reclassify two million independent contractors—roughly 10% of the state’s workforce—as “employees” for purposes of state labor laws. Across the Golden State, employers must now examine their workplaces and determine whether and how to modify their business structure to account for these extensive changes.

Friday, September 13, 2019, was a lucky day for employers. Just hours before California’s 2019 legislative session ended, the California Assembly approved a bill (A.B. 25) that, if enacted, would substantially narrow the application of the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) to employers. Understanding the contours of these limitations is critical for employers as they prepare to comply with the CCPA before it goes into effect on January 1, 2020.

The California Consumer Privacy Act is almost here! The groundbreaking law takes effect January 1, 2020. Covered businesses and their service providers have already started preparing, as the CCPA continues to evolve since it was introduced. California’s legislative session ended on September 13th, with some final modifications to bills that would amend certain aspects of the CCPA. Unanimously approved in final form, they now move on to California Governor Gavin Newsom for consideration and final action on the CCPA.

Friday was the last day for California’s legislature to pass bills and present them to the Governor for signature or veto. The legislature passed a number of employment-related bills this session. A couple of these bills have already been signed into law, but most await approval or veto by Governor Newsom, which will occur between now and October 13, 2019. This post reviews the list of noteworthy, and largely unfavorable, bills that were passed.

Putting an end to employees’ backdoor attempts to recover unpaid wages in Private Attorneys General Act-only actions under California Labor Code Section 558, the California Supreme Court has ruled against allowing such claims. ZB, N.A., et al. v. Superior Court, No. S246711 (Sept. 12, 2019).

This article is an update to prior publications from Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute regarding Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5), passed by the California legislature on September 11, 2019.