Today, the California Supreme Court issued its opinion in Mendoza v. Nordstrom, clarifying California’s day of rest requirements. These requirements are set forth in Labor Code sections 551 and 552. Section 551 provides that “every person employed in any occupation of labor is entitled to one day’s rest therefrom in seven,” and Section 552 prohibits employers from "causing their employees to work more than six days in seven." However, Section 556 exempts employers from the duty to provide a day of rest “when the total hours of employment do not exceed 30 hours in any week or six hours in any one day thereof.” While these provisions do not appear too complicated or hard to follow at first blush, compliance has been challenged in wage and hour litigation, raising several questions of what these provisions technically mean.
Articles about California Labor And Employment Law.
California Employers Should Reevaluate Their Criminal Background Check Policies Before July 1, 2017
The Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”) finalized new regulations limiting the ability of employers to consider criminal history when making employment decisions.
Refusing Employee’s Attempt to Rescind Resignation Was Not Actionable
In what appears to be an issue previously undecided under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”), the Second District Court of Appeals in California held that an employer’s refusal to allow an at-will employee to rescind her resignation is not a proper basis for a disability discrimination lawsuit.
California’s New Criminal Background Check Regulations to Go Into Effect July 1, 2017
Executive Summary: California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) recently enacted regulations that impose additional burdens on employers’ use of criminal background checks in employment decisions. The new regulations are expected to go into effect on July 1, 2017. The new regulations apply state-wide and, ultimately, will make it difficult for any employer in California to maintain no-hire policies for persons with criminal convictions.
New Regulations Further Limit Use of Criminal History for Employment Decisions
Effective July 1, 2017, new regulations will further limit employers’ ability to consider criminal history when making employment decisions.
Both the City of San Diego and the State of California “Clarify” Their Sick Leave FAQs
As we recently reported regarding the City of Los Angeles, both the City of San Diego and the California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (“DLSE”) have updated their “Frequently Asked Questions” (“FAQs”) related to the respective local and state sick leave requirements. Below are some of the more salient points from each.
Court May Make Reasonable Inferences about Employee’s Exempt, Non-Exempt Activities
A trier of fact can make reasonable inferences about employees’ duties to determine status for overtime pay under California labor law, the California Court of Appeal has ruled, affirming the trial court’s holding. Batze v. Safeway, Inc., No. B258732 (Cal. Ct. App. Apr. 4, 2017).
California OSHA Delays Enforcement of Construction Silica Standard
On April 19, 2017, the Department of Industrial Relations for the State of California issued an important update to Cal/OSHA’s new Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard for Construction. The standard is substantially similar to Federal OSHA’s new rules for silica. The new standard is found under Title 8 section 1532.3 of the California Code of Regulations and like the federal rule was set to go into effect on June 23, 2017.
Employers Being Pulled Into Battle Between California and Federal Government Over Immigration Policy?
It is no secret that California lawmakers and the Trump administration do not agree on immigration policy. With the Trump administration stepping up enforcement efforts against illegal immigration, California is trying to thwart those efforts, including through a new bill that seeks to throw California employers into the crossfire. AB 450 (Chiu) would prohibit California employers from providing federal government enforcement agents access to worksites or to employment records (including I-9 forms) without a judicial warrant or subpoena. The bill would authorize the Labor Commissioner to recover civil penalties of between $10,000-$25,000 for employer violations of these requirements.
In Case You Missed It: Keeping Up with the California Fair Pay Act
As we recently blogged, the California Fair Pay Act (CFPA), barely a year old, was expanded to prohibit pay differences based on race or ethnicity between employees performing substantially similar work. Effective January 2017, California employers are prohibited from paying differently employees who are performing substantially similar work, based on gender, race, or ethnicity.
California Supreme Court Limits Right to Jury Trial on Health Care Whistleblower Claims
Executive Summary: The California Supreme Court recently held that California Health and Safety Code section 1278.5(g), which protects health care workers and medical staff from discrimination and retaliation for reporting unsafe patient care and conditions, does not provide a right to a jury trial. While claims brought directly under Section 1278.5(g) do not entitle the parties to a jury trial on that claim, this does not foreclose a jury trial on a related claim for wrongful termination in violation of public policy.
New Developments: Criminal History Regulations, Arbitration Ruling, and More
In the past several days, there have been a few different employment-related developments in California. In this blog, we highlight the Criminal History Regulations, California Supreme Court’s Arbitration Ruling and Safeway Prevailing in Proving Assistant Managers Are Exempt from Overtime.
The City of Los Angeles Quietly Updates Its Rules and FAQs Regarding the Minimum Wage and Paid Sick Leave Ordinance
The sick leave landscape is constantly evolving, and the City of Angeles is no exception to that rule. This past month the City of Los Angeles Office of Wage Standards (“OWS”) revised its rules and regulations (“Revised Rules”) as well the FAQs regarding its Minimum Wage and Paid Sick Leave Ordinance (the “Ordinance”).
California Seeks to Raise Minimum Salary for White Collar Exemptions
The minimum salary to qualify for a "white collar" overtime exemption in California has been higher than that required under federal law for many years. Because California’s exempt salary threshold is tied to the state minimum wage (an exempt employee generally must earn a salary of at least two times the state minimum wage), it goes up as California’s minimum wage goes up. The current minimum salary for exempt executive, administrative, or professional status in California is $43,680 per year. However, as employers know, last year the federal Department of Labor enacted regulations increasing the minimum salary to qualify for exempt status under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") to $47,476 per year. California employers would have had to comply with the higher salary threshold under the FLSA, except that the regulations were blocked by a Texas court late last year. The Texas court’s ruling is now on appeal, but most believe that the overtime regulations will not be reinstated — at least in current form — under the Trump administration.
California is now seeking to accomplish what the Obama administration could not accomplish at the federal level, by proposing to raise the minimum annual salary to qualify for exempt status in California to $47,472. AB 1565 (Thurmond) is a spot bill that was amended on Tuesday to propose the salary hike. Under the bill, the minimum salary for exempt executive, administrative, or professional workers would be $47,472 or twice the state minimum wage, whichever is greater. As California’s minimum wage continues to rise, a salary of twice the state minimum wage eventually will be a number greater than $47,472. Until that time, $47,472 would be the minimum salary for exempt status in California.
New California Healthcare Workplace Safety Prevention Regulation Effective April 1, 2017
Healthcare employers in California must comply with a host of new workplace safety requirements, effective April 1, 2017, on preventing workplace violence. The new requirements include written workplace violence prevention plans, additional recordkeeping, and preventive training, among other things.