The Court of Appeal for this district recently held that an employee is obliged to arbitrate any disputes with the employer once the employer declares that continued employment manifests assent to such a requirement, even if the employee declines to sign an arbitration agreement. Policy Announcement An employee brought her action against her employer on…
Continue reading ›The new calendar year brings in new employment laws that both employees and employers should consider. Notably, the changes are geared towards providing more protections for employees in the workplace and some are in response to recent high profile sexual harassment incidents in the entertainment industry. Please note that the information provided here is for…
Continue reading ›The California Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in the matter of Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles earlier this year establishing a new and employee-friendly test in determining whether an employee has been misclassified as an independent contractor. In particular, the Court embraced a standard presuming that all workers are…
Continue reading ›From Metnews.com: Off-clock time which employees are expected to put in regularly, for such purposes as locking up, cannot be disregarded under California wage-and-hour laws, which do not incorporate the de minimis doctrine found in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the Supreme Court said yesterday in response to a question certified by the Ninth…
Continue reading ›The Court of Appeal for this district yesterday affirmed an order to an African American medical doctor, who was fired from his post as provost of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, a predominantly African American university, and sued for racial and age discrimination in addition to retaliation and whistle-blowing, to pay $94,017.50…
Continue reading ›Employers with 25 or more employees must now start paying minimum wages at the rate of $12.00 per hour starting July 1, 2017. This also means that overtime exempt employees must also be paid fixed salaries of at least two times the applicable minimum wage rate for full-time employment (2 X $12.00 X 40 =…
Continue reading ›Beware of Becoming Enslaved by a Severance Agreement! Many hardworking employees who dedicate their lives and sacrifice their own health and family for the good of their corporate employers will sooner or later find a pink slip in their inbox, usually right before the holidays. Whether it’s due to “downsizing” or for whatever pretextual reason…
Continue reading ›The Entrepreneur Parole Rule Lets Foreigners Buy their Way Into the USA Starting July 17, 2017 The US Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has finalized new regulations creating the Entrpreneur Parole Rule, which takes effect on July 17, 2017. The DHS believes that this final rule will encourage foreign entrepreneurs to create and develop start-up…
Continue reading ›The California Supreme Court Recently Held That Employees Cannot Be “On-call” Or “On-duty” During Their Rest Breaks On December 22, 2016, the California Supreme Court ruled that employers may not require their employees to remain “on duty” or “on call” during rest breaks. In Augustus v. ABM Security Services, Inc., the plaintiffs were required to…
Continue reading ›Get Ready for the new 2017 California Employment Laws! Governor Brown has just signed several important measures that bring new changes to California’s employment laws, most of which will take effect on January 1, 2017. Here are some of the highlights: 1) Increased Paid Family Leave and State Disability Benefits: Effective January 1, 2018, state…
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