Employers may have legitimate reasons to impose a dress code, set minimum grooming standards, or even mandate uniforms. These interests range from safety to branding, or customer satisfaction. California recently passed a law that affects employers’ discretion to set...

The U.S. Department of Labor recently revised its regulations governing the calculation of the “regular rate of pay.” That is the hourly rate used to calculate the overtime premium due hourly workers. The revised rules are effective January 15, 2020. These amendments...

California’s new independent contractor law, Assembly Bill 5 (“AB 5”), creates a strong legislative preference in favor of employer-employee relationships. As a result, few independent contractor relationships will be lawful after January 1, 2020. Misclassification of...

A raft of new employment laws take effect on January 1, 2020. To help employers prioritize the many required changes to policies, forms, and procedures, we provide a non-exhaustive list of matters requiring employers’ attention by year’s end.  This discussion may not...

The California Legislature enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) in 2018 to give consumers control over the use and sale of their personal information by businesses. The law’s provisions are broad, and may affect how employers collect and store...

This article is Part 2 of a two-part series providing an overview of recent California Supreme Court decisions in employment law. We continue below with brief summaries of the California Supreme Court’s key employment law opinions during the past year.  We also...

This article is Part 1 of a two-part series providing an overview of recent California Supreme Court decisions in employment law. The California Supreme Court issued several decisions during the past year that may affect California employers.  We summarize the most...

News media recently highlighted workplace raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents (ICE).  Employers should know, however, that workplace raids affect far fewer employers and employees than another of ICE’s compliance enforcement methods:  the Form I-9...

Changing laws and new court decisions have made it difficult for employers to understand when it is lawful to rely on salary history to set compensation.  California passed a law in 2017, only to amend it a year later.  A federal appellate court issued a ruling...

Human resources professionals may shudder at the sound of an “audit.”  For starters, it is difficult to make available the time and personnel needed for day-to-day work. And what if the audit uncovers “bad news?” To answer the second question first, it is far better...

Employers must take both preventive and remedial action to stop unlawful discrimination, harassment, and retaliation at work.  An internal investigation is a critical tool to help fulfill these obligations.  The facts underlying workplace complaints are not always...

Some California employers offer, or may be considering, “unlimited” paid time off plans (“unlimited PTO”) in lieu of traditional accrued vacation or PTO.  The perceived benefits to employers of unlimited PTO include reducing the burden of tracking accrual and usage,...