Executive Summary: After a years-long battle, the California Supreme Court finally issued a ruling defining what it means for an employer to provide a rest break to non-exempt employees under California law: rest breaks cannot be “on-duty” or “on-call,” as employers must relieve their employees of all duties and relinquish any control over how employees spend their break time. This includes a prohibition against requiring employees to keep work cell phones, pagers, and walkie talkies on during breaks, but it may also prohibit other policies such as requiring employees to stay on the premises during breaks or single/limited staffing models.
Articles about California Labor And Employment Law.
California Supreme Court: On-Call Rest Breaks Are Not Permissible
Today the California Supreme Court issued a surprising and unfortunate decision in Augustus v. ABM Security Services, Inc., holding that employers cannot require employees to remain “on-call” during rest breaks, even though these short breaks are part of the employees’ paid hours worked. The Court held that the same standard that applies to off-duty meal breaks applies to paid rest break time. More specifically, California law requires that during unpaid, off-duty meal breaks, employees must be relieved of all duties and free from employer control as to how they spend their time. The Court today held that this is also true for paid rest break time and that an employer does not comply with this standard if it requires employees to remain “on-call,” i.e. viligant and available for possible interruption during rest breaks. This ruling results in the potential reinstatement of a $90 million verdict against the security company, whose security guards remained on-call during rest breaks and carried radios or other communication devices in the event they needed to return to work. Even though the record showed that breaks were rarely interrupted and that this on-call requirement was tied to the nature of the work as a security guard, the Court held that the on-call requirement invalidated the rest breaks.
Are You Ready? City of Santa Monica’s Sick Leave Provisions Become Effective January 1, 2017
Are you sick of sick leave yet?
Los Angeles’ “Ban the Box” Ordinance Signed Into Law
On December 9, 2016, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti signed the “Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring,” the “Ban the Box” ordinance that bars certain City of Los Angeles employers from asking job applicants about their criminal history. Ban the Box goes into effect January 1, 2017, and Los Angeles becomes the fifteenth locality in the nation to adopt it. The ordinance will be codified as Article 9 to Chapter 18 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code and can be found here.
Are You Ready for California’s Workplace Violence Prevention in Health Care Rule?
By April 1, 2017, all employers in California operating in the following areas will be required to comply with Section 3342, the Workplace Violence Prevention in Health Care rule: health care facilities; home health care programs; drug treatment programs; emergency medical services; and outpatient medical services to correctional and detention settings. This rule is far more expansive than Federal OSHA’s guidelines for the Prevention of Workplace Violence in Health Care settings.
“Opportunity to Work” Ordinance Imposes New Burdens on San Jose Employers
On November 8, 2016, San Jose residents passed Measure E, known as the “Opportunity to Work” Ordinance. The Ordinance, which becomes effective on March 13, 2017, requires employers with 36 or more employees to offer additional work hours to existing part-time employees before hiring new employees (whether part-time, temporary, and/or through a staffing agency) or contractors, even when the hiring need is occasioned by the departure of an existing employee. One of the expressed intentions of the Ordinance is to prevent employers from hiring part-time workers in an effort to avoid providing health care and other employment-related benefits. However, the practical effects of this Ordinance will be to reduce employment opportunities for companies and industries that may be seasonal, and reduce flexibility of employers to meet customer demands.
City of Los Angeles Passes Ban-the-Box Law
Executive Summary: The City of Los Angeles recently enacted its own Ban-the-Box law, designed to prevent employers with at least 10 employees from inquiring into or requiring an applicant to disclose their criminal history until a conditional offer of employment has been made. The law is expected to go into effect on January 22, 2017.
What Can We Expect From California’s Upcoming 2017-2018 Legislative Session?
With the dust still settling from last month’s unprecedented presidential election, California’s politicians have not stood still. In partisan terms, the election results in California could not be more different from that of the rest of the United States. Hillary Clinton received the votes of 62% of California’s voters; President-elect Donald Trump received 32%, with a 4.3 million-vote margin for Clinton in the Golden State. The most recently reported national percentages were 48% for Clinton, 46% for Trump, with a 2.6 million vote margin for Clinton.
Los Angeles Enacts ‘Ban the Box’ Legislation
Los Angeles is the latest in a growing list of jurisdictions to adopt an ordinance restricting employers from asking a job applicant about his or her criminal history during the application process. Under the Ordinance, private employers with at least 10 employees will be barred from inquiring about a job applicant’s criminal history until a conditional offer of employment has been made.
Cal/OSHA Amendment Significantly Expands its Definition of “Repeat” Violations
Effective January 1, 2017, Cal/OSHA will be utilizing a broader definition of “Repeat” violation under California’s Health and Safety Code. This is significant for California employers because if Cal/OSHA finds a Repeat violation, the employer could initially be subject to a penalty of up to $70,000, and up to $124,709 or more when Cal/OSHA updates its penalties as required by federal OSHA.
Cal/OSHA Adopts First in the Nation Standard on Workplace Violence Prevention for Healthcare Employers
National research indicates that health care workers are at a substantially higher risk of workplace violence than the average worker in another industry.
California Employers Issuing W-2 or 1099 Must Revise Earned Income Tax Credit Notice
For several years, California employers have been required to notify employees regarding the federal Earned Income Tax Credit. Beginning January 1, 2017, new California law (AB 1847) requires those same employers to also notify employees that they may be eligible for the California Earned Income Tax Credit (“EITC”).
City of Los Angeles Mayor to Sign Long-Awaited and Onerous “Ban the Box” Law
In the next week, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is expected to sign the Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring (Initiative), which will prohibit most private sector employers from inquiring into a job applicant’s criminal history until after making a conditional offer of employment. Los Angeles’ new “ban-the-box” law follows on the heels of similar legislation enacted in New York City and Austin, Texas, and continues the nationwide ban-the-box trend.1 The Initiative will go into effect in less than one month, on January 1, 2017.
An Early Holiday Boost to Low-Wage Silicon Valley Workers?: San José Passes “Opportunity to Work” Ordinance and Accelerates The City’s Minimum Wage Increase
The New Year will bring significant changes to the local employment laws affecting Silicon Valley-area employers, with measures aimed at reducing the expansion of the part-time workforce and increasing the minimum wage.
California Supreme Court Denies Review of Castro-Ramirez Decision — California Employers Must Consider Leave Accommodation for Employees Caring for Disabled Family Members
We previously reported that the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District held that an employer’s denial of accommodation to a nondisabled employee may serve as evidence of association discrimination under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. Castro Ramirez v. Dependable Highway Express, Inc. (2016) 2 Cal. App. 5th 1028. In Castro Ramirez, the employee alleged that he was terminated from employment after he made complaints about changes to his work schedule which impacted his ability to be at home during his disabled son’s dialysis treatments. On the surface, this seemed like a claim for reasonable accommodation (i.e., a modified work schedule) by a non-disabled employee and we all know that only disabled folks are entitled to receive reasonable accommodations. Easy decision, right? Wrong.