By: Last weekend, California Governor Jerry Brown signed many significant pieces of legislation related to the recent #MeToo movement. The majority of the laws will take effect on January 1, 2019 and will undoubtedly have a large impact...
Publications
U.S. Supreme Court Affirms Enforcement of Class Action Arbitration Waivers in Employment Agreements
In a long-awaited decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis (2018) 584 U.S. ____, the United States Supreme Court held that employer's can enforce arbitration agreements requiring individual arbitration of employment claims. The Court determined that such...
California Supreme Court adopts ABC Test and makes it more difficult to classify workers as Independent Contractors
By: On April 30, 2018, the California Supreme Court in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, made it much more difficult for businesses to properly and legally classify workers as independent contractors as opposed to employees....
Impact of Recent California Supreme Court Case on Piece-Rate or Hourly-Plus-Production Pay
On March 5, 2018, the California Supreme Court issued its decision in Alvarado v. Dart Container Corp. of California, 2018 WL 1146645. The Court's discussion of the proper means of calculating an employee's "regular rate of pay" has raised questions among employers...
Sessions Sues California Over State Laws Protecting Immigrant Workers (AB 450)
By: On March 6, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint against the State of California over three state statutes it claims interfere with its ability to control immigration, thereby allowing California to be a...
New 2018 U.S. Labor Department Guidelines for Unpaid Interns
By: The U.S. Labor Department's new guidelines for unpaid interns seek to make it easier for employers to use unpaid interns. The guidelines consist of a new "primary beneficiary test" using seven factors to determine whether the intern...
McMillin Albany LLC v. Superior Court: California Supreme Court Holds SB 800 is the Exclusive Remedy for Construction Defect Claims in New Residential Construction
By: On January 18, 2018, the California Supreme Court issued an extremely important ruling for the residential construction industry in McMillin Albany LLC v. Superior Court, No. S229762 (Cal. Jan. 18, 2018). The state high court held that...
Don’t Lose Your Lease! (How to Properly Exercise Your Option to Extend)
By: If your lease contains an option to extend the lease term and you intend to extend your lease, then you must properly and timely send your written option exercise notice. If your notice is even one day late, then the landlord may...
A Shield, Not a Sword: Insurance Carriers’ Rights When Intervening on Behalf of a Suspended Corporation
By: Paul T. McBride On November 7, 2017, Judge David Brown of the Sacramento County Superior Court ruled that an intervenor insurance carrier may not file a cross-complaint in a construction defect lawsuit. While this ruling is not binding precedent, if upheld on...
Local Minimum Wages Increasing Throughout California
By: While the California state minimum wage is set to increase on January 1, 2018, many cities and counties throughout the state will increase their minimum wage rates on July 1, 2017. Employers should be well aware of the changes and make...
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