Labor & Employment Law Blog

Employers who are faced with sexual harassment or sexual abuse claims by a current or former employee now have another problem to consider – are the settlement payment and related attorney’s fees incurred in settling the claim deductible?  Unfortunately, the answer to that question may now be no.

Recently, both the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) have issued news releases encouraging taxpayers to plan ahead and to withhold the correct amount of taxes from their paychecks in 2018 to account for recent changes in federal tax law.

Last year, California passed AB 450, the Immigrant Worker Protection Act.  Among other provisions, AB 450 requires employers to post a notice, within 72 hours of receiving a Notice of Inspection for I-9 Forms by an immigration agency.  The California Labor Commissioner published a template notice in early February.

Effective January 1, 2018, benefits under Paid Family Leave (“PFL”) and State Disability Insurance (“SDI”) increased for all income levels and the seven-day waiting period for PFL was eliminated.

Beginning January 1, 2018, California employers are required to display the “Transgender Rights in the Workplace” poster created by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”).  Employers must place the poster in a prominent and accessible location in the workplace.

The DFEH published on its website the mandatory poster, which is available in English ...

A California jury returned a verdict in favor of Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. last week, finding that the discount retailer’s practice of printing employee paystubs on cash register receipts did not violate California law requiring employers to provide accurate wage statements to employees.  Guillen v. Dollar Tree Stores Inc., case number 2:15-cv-03813, (U.S. District Court for the Central District of ...

What kinds of provisions in arbitration agreements will cause the courts to invalidate them?  The Court of Appeal in the recent case of Baxter v. Genworth North America Corporation analyzed and rejected several of them, in upholding the denial of a motion to compel arbitration of an employee’s wrongful termination and discrimination claims.  Baxter v. Genworth North America (October 26, 2017 ...

When can an employer be liable for failing to prevent a sexual assault or rape of an employee?  The California Court of Appeal in the recent case of M.F. v. Pacific Pearl Hotel Management, LLC (D070150, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT, DIVISION ONE, 10/26/17), helped provide some answers to this question.

The plaintiff in the case worked as a housekeeper in a five-building hotel property.  One morning, the hotel’s ...

On October 12, 2017, Governor Jerry Brown signed the New Parent Leave Act ("NPLA") (SB 63) into law, expanding access to job-protected leave for employees of companies with 20 to 49 employees.

Effective January 1, 2018, SB 63 will allow employees who work for an employer that directly employs 20 to 49 employees within 75 miles, to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave during a 12-month period to bond ...

On October 5, 2017, Governor Jerry Brown approved AB 450, which imposes several new legal requirements on California employers during immigration worksite enforcement actions.   The California Legislature enacted AB 450 in response to the apparent signals from the federal government that all unauthorized immigrants are enforcement priorities for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”).