Labor & Employment Law Blog

As an update to our previous post on the Fast Food Industry Minimum Wage (A.B. 1228:  Implications for Exempt Employees in the Fast Food Industry), on March 26, 2024, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 610 which amends the definition of “fast food restaurant” to exempt restaurants in airports, hotels, theme parks, museums, event centers, and other locations from the Fast Food Council requirements, which took effect April 1, 2024.

Last year, Governor Newsom signed AB 1228, which repealed the FAST Recovery Act but established a modified version of the Fast Food Council (Council) through January 1, 2029. Importantly, the bill set forth minimum wage increases for fast food restaurant employees, with an increase to a minimum wage of $20.00 per hour for such employees effective April 1, 2024. 

As employers of janitorial service providers already know, the Property Services Workers Protection Act (AB 1978), enacted in 2016, established a registration program for janitorial service employers and biennial “in-person” sexual violence and harassment prevention training requirements. This was followed by the passage of AB 547 in 2019, which further clarified the sexual violence and harassment prevention training requirements under AB 1978. This training created obligations for janitorial service providers in addition to the sexual harassment training required by the State of California under AB 1825. 

While legislation regarding sexual violence and harassment prevention training was passed in 2019, the Labor Commissioner’s office did not establish regulations for the training until July 2020.  However, as we know, in-person training was not possible at of that time due to the pandemic, and the training requirement was suspended. 

In a blow to employers, the California Supreme Court unanimously held that a trial court judge cannot strike employee representative claims under the Labor Code’s Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) on the basis that the claims are unwieldy or unmanageable.

On October 4, 2023, Governor Newsom signed SB 616, which expands paid sick leave entitlements for California employees effective January 1, 2024 by amending California Labor Code sections 245.5, 246, and 246.5.

The California Court of Appeal recently held that an employer loses the right to proceed in arbitration by failing to timely pay arbitration fees.  Employers that want to avoid cases being litigated before a jury need to ensure that all arbitrator fees are paid timely.

On July 31, 2023, California’s Director of Finance certified that the state’s minimum wage for all employers will increase to $16 per hour, effective on January 1, 2024. 

This announcement followed the completion of an annual review by the state’s Department of Finance in order to determine if the minimum wage must be increased due to inflation and, if so, to calculate the new minimum wage in accordance with state Labor Code requirements.

Employers have new accommodation obligations under the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”), which became effective June 27, 2023.

The federal PWFA grants covered employees a right to reasonable accommodations related to pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, even if an employee’s condition does not qualify as a “disability” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Covered employers include those with more than 15 employees. Covered employees include those who are pregnant, recovering from childbirth, or have “related conditions.” Employers must adjust their policies, practices, and trainings to fulfill this new law’s mandates and avoid potential liability.

The following cities and counties in California increased their minimum wage rates effective July 1, 2023:

A recent NLRB decision in Lion Elastomers LLC, 372 NLRB 83 (May 1, 2023) restored prior Board law, which had used context-specific approaches to assess whether am employee’s outburst stripped him of protection under the National Labor Relations Act (the “Act”).  The decision by the current, three-member Democratic majority Board, makes it more difficult for employers to discipline or discharge employees who engage in profane, abusive or otherwise inappropriate conduct when done in connection with protected activity under the Act.  The restored law assesses employee conduct by applying highly amorphous setting-specific tests for the following various contexts: