Labor & Employment Law Blog

With the local minimum wage in several California cities increasing on July 1^st, employers should take time to verify that they are meeting the minimum wage requirements of the cities in which they operate and prepare for any increases.

On June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down a landmark opinion for the LGBTQ community and civil rights, holding employees are protected from discrimination based on sexual orientation or transgender status under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”).  Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia (17–1618, June 15, 2020).

Beginning July 1, 2020, California’s family temporary disability insurance program, also known as the paid family leave program (“PFL”), will provide partial wage replacement benefits for up to eight weeks in any 12-month period, which is an increase from the maximum of six weeks presently available.  The benefits are available for employee who take time off to bond with a minor child within one year of the birth or placement of the child in connection with foster care or adoption.  For purposes of new child bonding, California touts the expanded leave benefit as providing each family with a total of four months of PFL – two months per parent.

In December 2018, California announced the start of its CalSavers retirement savings program.  The program is available to California employees whose employers do not offer a workplace retirement plan, to self-employed individuals, and to others who want to increase their retirement savings.  Through this program, employees working for a participating employer may automatically contribute a portion of their pay to a Roth (post tax) Individual Retirement Account.  Individuals who do not work for a participating employer but want to save under CalSavers can set up recurring contributions. 

In Fleming Distribution Co. v. Younan (Cal. Ct. App., May 15, 2020, No. A157038) 2020 WL 2511680, the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District held that an employer waived its right to compel arbitration of a dispute with a former employee over unpaid commissions by delaying the filing of a motion to compel arbitration and actively participating in an administrative proceeding before the Labor Commissioner.

The Wage and Hour Division of the United States Department of Labor (the “DOL”) withdrew Sections 779.317 and 779.320 from the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) which categorically excluded certain businesses from the retail sales exemption for payment of overtime compensation under Section 7(i). 

In our April 8, 2020 blog post we relayed information about the California Judicial Council’s issuance of Emergency Rules that, among other things, suspended statutes of limitations on civil cases in California until 90 days after Governor Newsom lifted the state of emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic (“Emergency Rule 9”). 

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti recently signed into law Ordinance No. 186602 and Ordinance No. 186603, which give certain laid-off workers a right of recall (i.e. hire priority).  The ordinances take effect on June 14, 2020, and apply to employees working within the City of Los Angeles. 

On Friday, May 29, 2020, the California Department of Public Health approved Los Angeles County’s variance request to move further into Stage Two of the California Resiliency Roadmap, allowing Los Angeles County restaurants to provide in-person dining service and hair salons and barbershops to reopen.

On Tuesday, May 26, 2020, the Los Angeles County Health Officer issued an Order moving the County into Stage 2 of Governor Newsom’s 4 Stage California Pandemic Resilience Roadmap. The Order is effective immediately and until further notice within all cities and unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, except for the cities of Long Beach and Pasadena, which have their own public health officers and orders that businesses in those cities must comply with.  Long Beach and Pasadena released their own revised orders, which closely track the Los Angeles County Health Officer Order, and are respectively available here and here.