Labor & Employment Law Blog

On May 20, 2010, the Department of Labor ("DOL") issued a final rule requiring federal contractors with prime contracts over $100,000 and federal subcontractors with subcontracts over $10,000 to post notices informing employees of certain rights under the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA"). This new requirement takes effect June 21, 2010.

The required notice identifies employees' rights under the ...

Today, by a unanimous decision in Martinez v. Corky N. Combs, the California Supreme Court clarified the standard courts must use to determine who is liable as an "employer" for violations of wage and hour laws embodied in Industrial Welfare Commission ("IWC") Wage Orders, including claims for unpaid or underpaid wages.We think the decision is generally favorable for employers because the Supreme Court expressly rejected on the facts before it a number of theories of liability plaintiffs sometimes assert when attempting to hold liable for wage and hour claims persons or entities other than the obvious "employer."

The Associated Press reports that this morning, House and Senate leaders announced that the Congress has approved legislation that would extend until year end unemployment benefits and COBRA subsidies. The cost to taxpayers is estimated to be $ 47 Billion. We anticipate President Obama will the sign the bill.

On May 17, 2010, in Simpson Strong Tie Co., Inc. v. Pierce Gore, the California Supreme Court held that a manufacturer could not maintain a lawsuit against an attorney based on allegedly defamatory advertisements by the attorney seeking plaintiffs to participate in a potential class action lawsuit against the manufacturer on the ground that those advertisements were protected by California's anti-SLAPP statute.

The California Supreme Court has scheduled for oral argument two cases of potential interest to employers:

On May 25, 2010, the Court will hear oral arguments in Lu v. Hawaiian Gardens Casino. The issue to be decided in that case is whether "Labor Code section 351, which prohibits employers from taking 'any gratuity or part thereof that is paid, given to, or left for an employee by a patron,' create a private right ...

As we previously reported here, in Jaimez v. DAIOHS USA, Inc., a decision we think is wrongly decided in many ways, the California Court of Appeal might have made it significantly easier for plaintiffs to obtain class certification in wage and hour cases.

California contractors were stunned in November 2008 when the Director of the California Department of Industrial Relations ("DIR") issued a determination that a specific contractor, Russ Will Mechanical, should have paid prevailing wages to its workers who fabricated HVAC parts in the company’s permanent off-site fabrication shop for a specific public works project. Russ Will Mechanical filed an ...

Perhaps somewhat lost in the commotion over health care reform legislation is the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act ("HIRE Act"), which provides certain tax incentives to employers that hire and retain recently unemployed or underemployed persons.