Perspectives on Labor, Employment & OSHA

Governor Newsom signed SB 616 on October 4, 2023. SB 616 expands California’s sick pay law in several important ways.

On October 13, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a first-of-its-kind bill related to an industry-wide minimum wage in California. SB 525 impacts the health care industry and sets a minimum wage schedule that employers in the health care industry must follow.

ArentFox Schiff has been awarded 62 top rankings in the 2024 edition of Best Law Firms® which recognizes firms for professional excellence based on consistently positive ratings from clients and peers.

It’s back … like a bad penny or another season of “Bachelor in Paradise.” Last week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) announced the return of its new and expanded “BFI standard” for determining “joint employer” status.

Beginning on November 1, 2023, employees receiving paid benefits under the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave law (PFML) can supplement, or “top off,” the state paid benefit with other accrued paid time off such as vacation, personal, sick time, or a combined PTO (paid time off) benefit.

After an uptick in government I-9 compliance investigations, ArentFox Schiff Partner Berin Romagnolo will host a webinar discussing tips for I-9 & E-Verify compliance.

In August, with its ruling in Wendt Corp.,[1] the National Labor Relations Board overruled a landmark case, Raytheon Network Centric Systems,[2] which gave unionized employers broad latitude to make discretionary changes to employment terms and conditions during a contractual hiatus and negotiations for a first contract.

When an employer “discharges” an employee, California Labor Code section 201(a) provides that “the wages earned and unpaid at the time of discharge are due and payable immediately.”

On September 29, 2023, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued Proposed Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace, which presents a legal analysis of the standards for harassment and employer liability applicable to claims of harassment under the statutes enforced by the EEOC. The proposal is open to public comment until November 1, 2023.

Last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to encourage enhanced law enforcement and greater coordination through agency information sharing.

Last week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) overruled a landmark case that gave unionized employers broad latitude to make discretionary changes to employment terms and conditions during a contractual hiatus or negotiations for a first contract.

On August 30, 2023, the US Department of Labor announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which would increase the white-collar exemption salary threshold for employees to qualify as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Last Friday, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) overturned decades of precedent and continued in its march to ease labor union efforts to organize new workforces. In its decision in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific LLC, 31-CA-238239, the Board overruled 1971’s Linden Lumber.

ArentFox Schiff is pleased to announce that San Francisco Partner Rob Carrol has again been named among the 2023 “Top Labor & Employment Attorneys in California” by Daily Journal, the state’s premier legal publication.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has signed amendments to the Illinois Equal Pay Act (IEPA) that will require most Illinois employers to provide pay scales and benefits in job postings, and amendments to the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act (IDTLSA).

ArentFox Schiff is pleased to announce that 130 attorneys have been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America 2024, with an additional four attorneys highlighted as “Lawyers of the Year” and 69 attorneys listed as “Ones to Watch.”

Increasingly, employers are utilizing automated systems, including artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning, to target job advertisements, recruit applicants, and make hiring decisions.

ArentFox Schiff is pleased to announce the addition of partners Morgan Forsey, Daniel McQueen, and Nora Stilestein to its Labor & Employment practice in the Los Angeles office.

On August 7, 2023, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a proposed rule to implement the Pregnancy Workers Fairness Act, which went into effect on June 27, 2023.

Last week, in a setback for employers, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) adopted a new legal standard to determine whether facially neutral policies, handbook provisions, and work rules are nevertheless unlawful under Section 8(a)(1).

In a much-anticipated decision, the California Supreme Court in Adolph v. Uber Technologies unanimously held that a plaintiff, compelled to arbitrate individual claims under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), does not forfeit standing to litigate non-individual claims in court.

California’s Labor Code section 2802 requires employers to reimburse employees for necessary expenses or losses incurred in the discharge of their duties.

Ruling on a lingering legal issue from the COVID-19 pandemic, the California Supreme Court held that an employer is not liable for cases of “take-home” COVID-19 — that is, where a household member allegedly caught the virus after an employee became infected at work and brought it home.

Signed into law on July 13, 2022, the District of Columbia Cannabis Employment Protections Act, provides major new workplace protections for marijuana users.

Title VII requires employers to accommodate their employees’ religious practices unless it would impose an “undue hardship on the conduct of the employer’s business.”