On June 19, 2020, the City of Oakland, California, published a notice poster for employers to provide to their employees regarding Oakland’s Emergency Paid Sick Leave Ordinance.
Articles Discussing General Workplace Issues in California.
California Voters to Consider Repealing Proposition 209 in November
On June 25th the California State Senate passed a resolution to place a proposition on the November ballot to repeal Proposition 209 and amend the state constitution. Proposition 209 passed in 1996 and amended the state constitution to prohibit state governmental institutions from considering race, gender, or ethnicity, specifically in
The California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”) Headed to the November 2020 Ballot
As we recently reported, the privacy-right activist group that sponsored the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) – Californians for Consumer Privacy – is pushing for an even more stringent privacy bill, the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”). The CRPA has now qualified for the November 3, 2020 ballot, gathering more than 600,000
San Francisco Passes Reemployment Ordinance
On June 23, 2020, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed an emergency ordinance temporarily creating a right to reemployment for certain employees laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ordinance, titled “Back to Work” emergency ordinance, requires that as certain employers reopen, they must first seek to rehire
New California Workplace Safety Standards for Nighttime Agricultural Workers
California has adopted the first nighttime work safety standards in the nation which apply to agricultural workers who harvest, operate vehicles, and other tasks between sunset and sunrise.
The new safety standards are being implemented to address potential workplace hazards caused by poor visibility and require employers to, at a
San Diego County Climate Changes Again on Mandatory Temperature Checks
San Diego County employers that scrambled to find thermometers to comply with the county’s prior health order learned on June 16, 2020 that their efforts were not in vain. One week after the county amended its order to omit onsite temperature checks from its employee health screening requirements, it
CA Court Addresses Compensability of Commute Time for Service Technicians Carrying Employer Tools and Supplies
This week, a California court issued its opinion in Oliver v. Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA, Inc., holding that service technicians using their personal vehicles to carry supplies and tools to and from customer locations
New Guidance Clarifies Uniform California Rule for Treatment of Disabled Customers Who Cannot Wear Face Coverings
The California Department of Public Health’s newly issued “Guidance for the Use of Face Coverings” replaces a patchwork of county and municipal standards with a statewide standard mandating face coverings in businesses and other public places.
California Issues Statewide Guidance for Mandatory Cloth Face Coverings
On June 18, 2020, the California Department of Public Health issued a statewide “Guidance for the Use of Face Coverings.” Although the guidance is not an executive order and does not refer to any authorizing legal authority, Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted, “NEW: Californians are now REQUIRED to wear face coverings
What California Employers Should Know About Face Coverings
On June 18th the California Department of Public Health issued guidance broadly mandating that individuals in California wear face coverings in most circumstances. This new state guidance follows face-covering mandates previously issued by many California cities and counties.
The state guidance specifies that individuals engaged in work whether at the
L.A. Gets It Right: The Right To Cure
You might not believe your ears at first, as Bruce Sarchet and Michael Lotito of Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI) heap praise on the City of Los Angeles for adopting a worker “right to recall” ordinance. Regular listeners of WPI’s podcasts know that more traditionally its members are expressing
California Employers Face Different Recording and Reporting Requirements for COVID-19 Cases
Requirements for recording and reporting of occupational injuries and illnesses are unique in California, with the state having more stringent obligations than federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) around both reporting of “serious injuries” and what constitutes a work-related injury or illness. To complicate the matter further for California
Temperature Check Requirements for the New Phase of Reopening in San Diego
As San Diego County, California employers scrambled to find thermometers to comply with the county health order temperature check requirement, the county did an about-face on its employee health screening directives. On June 9, 2020, the County of San Diego amended its Health Order to do away with its
Update on Arbitration Agreements in California: U.S. Supreme Court Denies Certiorari in OTO, LLC v. Kho
On June 8, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the employer’s petition for certiorari in OTO, LLC v. Kho.
As background, in 2019, the California Supreme Court ruled in OTO that the arbitration agreement at issue was not enforceable because the agreement was both procedurally and substantively unconscionable. The procedural
Bereavement Leave, the Next Potential Mandated Leave in California
California is known for having a multitude of leaves available to employees from sick leave to organ donation leave. Despite this, California has not mandated employers provide bereavement leave for employees. Many businesses do include unpaid leave for employees to attend funerals and other related services, but such leave is