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).

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. 

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). 

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 May 12, 2020, the Oakland City Council approved an ordinance establishing emergency paid sick leave for Oakland employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Oakland now joins several other jurisdictions in California in taking action to supplement the emergency sick leave already provided by the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

The City of Long Beach, California enacted a new supplemental paid sick leave ordinance on May 19, 2020, which is effective immediately.  The ordinance applies to employers with 500 or more employees nationally and excludes those who are required to provide paid sick leave benefits under the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act. 

On May 19, 2020, the United States District Court for the Central District of California rejected a challenge to a provision of Assembly Bill 5 (“AB 5”) applicable to construction trucking companies. (Western States Trucking Ass’n v. Becerra, et al., 5:19-CV-02447-CAS (KKx) (5-18-2020)).

To assist employees in making informed healthcare decisions and employers in providing employees with the required notice of their rights, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has issued revised model COBRA notices reflecting COBRA’s interaction with Medicare.  

We recently discussed San Francisco’s efforts to stay On The Cutting Edge Of The Cutting Edge with regard to Paid Sick Leave, but now both San Francisco and San Jose have passed new employee leave ordinances setting the bar even higher.