Executive Summary: On April 19, 2016, the Los Angeles City Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of a proposed ordinance that would permit Los Angeles workers to earn at least six paid sick leave days annually. That is double the mandatory minimum under California’s state-wide paid sick leave law.
Articles about California Labor And Employment Law.
Ninth Circuit Upholds Time Rounding Policy
Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit issued its decision in Corbin v. Time Warner-Advance Newhouse, rejecting an employee’s claim that he was unlawfully denied compensation for hours worked due to his employer’s poilcy of rounding time entries to the nearest quarter hour. The Ninth Circuit further rejected the employee’s claim that the trial court erroneously denied class certification on the rounding claim.
WHAT’S ON YOUR WAGE STATEMENTS?
California has many requirements for the content of an employee wage statement, including this year’s new requirements for employees paid by a piece rate. Employees paid by piece rates must be separately compensated for rest and recovery periods and, where the employee does not earn at least minimum wage in addition to the piece rate, must be separately paid for non-productive time. The amount of time for these periods, the applicable rates of pay, and gross wages for these periods is required to be on the wage statement.
9th Circuit: Claims proceed in California despite French forum selection clause
A federal appeals court has held a forum selection clause in a non-disclosure agreement does not cover trade secret misappropriation and related claims that are not based on the agreement. In re Orange, S.A. v. United States District Court, 2016 U.S. Ap. LEXIS 648 (9th Cir. 2016).
California Teacher Tenure Laws Upheld by Appellate Court
Overturning a trial court ruling, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District held that teacher tenure laws are constitutional in the case of Vergara v. State of California, decided April 14, 2016.
California’s Mandatory Sexual Harassment Training Requirements Amended
New California Fair Employment and Housing Act regulations that went into effect April 1, 2016, requiring employers to have a discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and prevention policy also set new benchmarks for mandatory sexual harassment training procedures.
Bonding by the Bay: San Francisco Mandates Paid Parental Leave
On April 21, 2016, Mayor Ed Lee signed an ordinance making San Francisco the first municipality to require private employers to compensate employees while on parental bonding leave. Under the law, when covered employees use California paid family leave (PFL) benefits for new child bonding – bonding with a minor child during the first year after birth or placement through foster care or adoption – covered employers must pay “supplemental compensation.” The new ordinance, operative on January 1, 2017, continues San Francisco’s legacy of progressive employment standards.1
San Francisco’s Paid Parental Leave Law Could Spark Larger Movement
This month, the City of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors approved a measure mandating that all employers in San Francisco provide six weeks of fully paid leave during a calendar year for new parents. The measure includes paid leave for mothers, fathers, and same-sex couples who either bear or adopt a child.
California Court of Appeal Expands FEHA’s Reasonable Accommodation Requirements to Employees Who are Associated with a Person with Disabilities
In Castro-Ramirez v. Dependable Highway Express, Inc., decided April 4, 2016, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District held California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees who are associated with a person with disabilities.
California and San Francisco Paid Family Leave Update
Earlier this week, California’s Governor signed into law AB 908, which, beginning January 1, 2018, increases the wage replacement rate for employees receiving disability insurance and/or paid family leave benefits through the state. Currently, the maximum wage replacement is about 55% of the employee’s compensation. Effective January 2018, this amount will increase to 60 or 70 percent of the employee’s compensation, depending on the employee’s income level. The new law will also eliminate the 7-day waiting period for receipt of paid family leave benefits. A copy of the new law is available here.
Senate Labor Committee Passes Fair Scheduling Act
Within the last few weeks, California has raised its minimum wage and expanded its paid family leave rights. Another bill expanding employee rights that is pending in the State Legislature is SB 878. This bill is designed to require California grocery, retail, and restaurant employers to provide employees advance notice of their work schedules and to pay its employees “modification pay” for any unilateral changes that the employer makes to the schedule thereafter.
The California Supreme Court Finally Weighs In on Suitable Seating
On April 4, 2016, the California Supreme Court took a stand by issuing a long-awaited opinion in Kirby v. CVS Pharmacy, Inc. The decision clarifies certain ambiguities in an employer’s obligation to provide suitable seating to employees. At issue was a provision in California’s Wage Orders that requires employers to provide all employees “with suitable seats when the nature of the work reasonably permits the use of seats.” The Court held that “nature of the work” refers to the task performed at a given location where the employee is claiming a right to a suitable seat, instead of a holistic approach. The Court also adopted a “totality of the circumstances” test to assess whether a work location “reasonably permits” suitable seating.
California Supreme Court Tells Both Sides to Sit Down
Executive Summary: The California Supreme Court’s recent decision in Kilby v. CVS Pharmacy/Henderson v. JPMorgan Chase has clarified the state’s standards concerning when employers must provide suitable seating to their employees. While the holding will permit employees to sit on the job under certain circumstances based on the nature of work actually performed (rather than an abstract, such as a job description), the state high court validated a reasonable interpretation of the requirement that permits employers to use their business judgment (including customer service considerations) and the physical layout of workspaces when determining whether seating is required.
San Francisco Becomes First U.S. City to Approve Fully Paid Leave for New Parents
On April 5, 2016, San Francisco, California’s Board of Supervisors approved a measure mandating that San Francisco employers provide six weeks of fully paid leave during a calendar year for new parents, including mothers, fathers, and same-sex couples, who either bear or adopt a child. It is another in a long line of employee-friendly laws recently passed both in California and around the country.
San Francisco Passes Fully Paid Parental Leave Ordinance
Today, San Francisco became the first city in the nation to pass an ordinance requiring employers to provide paid parental leave to employees. To be clear, the ordinance does not require employers to provide 100% of the employee’s pay, but rather requires employers to bridge the gap between the employee’s regular compensation and the wage replacement benefit the employee receives from the State EDD under the state’s paid family leave program. Under that program, employees generally receive 55% of their wages for up to six weeks when they take leave to bond with a new child (and/or for other covered reasons).