California Legislature Expands COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Through September 30, 2021 for Employers with More than 25 Employees: FAQ Guide

On March 19, 2021, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 95, which requires employers in California with more than 25 employees to provide COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave to covered employees.  The bill takes effect on March 29, 2021, at which time the requirements will apply retroactively to January 1, 2021.  California’s previous supplemental paid leave expired on December 31, 2020 and SB 95 broadens the scope in various material ways. (Read More)

Federal Labor Law Front and Center in the U.S. Congress

Federal labor law is in the crosshairs of the U.S. Congress. In recent days, the House of Representatives passed the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act (H.R. 842), which, among other things, would (1) prohibit employers from retaliating against employee unionization efforts, (2) protect workers’ right to strike, and (3) override state “right to work” laws that allow employees to opt out of paying dues in unionized workplaces. (Read More)

At Long Last, Clarity Regarding Subsequent Violations Under PAGA

On the surface, a case just decided by the U.S. Court of Appeal for the 9^th Circuit looks to be one primarily of interest to those in the aviation space. In Bernstein v. Virgin America Inc., a Ninth Circuit panel ruled on February 23 that California wage and hour laws pertaining to meal and rest breaks are not preempted by federal law; namely, the Federal Aviation Act. (Read More)

Attention Employers: California's High Court Has Nixed Rounding Meal Breaks

When is a 30-minute lunch break a 30-minute lunch break?

Certain employers have made it a practice of rounding time—up or down, typically in five- to 15-minute increments—in lieu of recording the actual time that employees spend working or for meal breaks. Until now, California law has generally permitted rounding time, provided certain criteria are met. For instance, an employer’s rounding policy must be fair and neutral on its face and cannot systematically undercompensate employees over a period of time. (Read More)

Can Your Boss Force You to Get a COVID Vaccine Shot?

With the Biden administration all-in on the inoculation of America, meaningful plans for widespread COVID-19 vaccine distribution and availability are taking shape. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna offerings will surely be joined soon by Johnson & Johnson’s single dose vaccine, and FDA approval of the promising Oxford-AstraZeneca product, which may even halt the spread of the novel coronavirus, seems inevitable. (Read More)

New York Amends Its Sick Leave Policy

Last April, New York enacted permanent paid sick leave to most workers starting next year.

Previously, paid sick leave was mandatory in just New York City and Westchester County. Under the new state law, however, all New Yorkers will be eligible for sick time, and companies with 100 or more employees must allow workers to accrue up to 56 hours, up from the 40 hours of paid sick time per year that employers in NYC and Westchester county were required to provide. (Read More)

Courts Find OFCCP's Sole Reliance on Statistical Analysis to Prove Pay Disparity Is Flawed

In two recent cases, courts have rejected conclusions of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) that employers had discriminatorily underpaid its women, Black and Hispanic workers. In the first case, an administrative law judge for the U.S. Department of Labor set forth a ruling on September 22, 2020 that may lead the OFCCP to rethink its statistical analysis approach to workplace wage disparities. (Read More)

DOL Proposes New Rules for Determining Independent Contractor Status

The Fair Labor Standards Act (the “FLSA”) guarantees a minimum wage for employees and the payment of overtime for hours worked over 40 in one week for non-exempt employees. Independent contractors are not employees and thus they are excluded from FLSA coverage. Over the years, different federal agencies and courts have generated similar but different tests for determining independent contractor status, with the result that the same set of facts may yield different and inconsistent results depending upon the agency, court, and test. The trend, however, by both legislatures and courts concerned about the implications of the gig economy, has been to favor employment status and to limit those categories of workers who can be classified as contractors. California’s AB5 law, which dramatically limits who can be classified as a contractor, is a prime example of pro-employee status legislation. (Read More)

California Employers Now Subject to Additional COVID-19-Related Laws Related to Cal/OSHA Reporting and Worker’s Compensation

The addition of even more employee-leaning laws in the Golden State continues. As Michelman & Robinson reported earlier this month, the California legislature passed—and Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law—AB 1867, giving an increased number of employees in California access to paid sick leave as it relates to the novel coronavirus pandemic through the remainder of 2020. Late last week, Governor Newsom placed his signature on two other bills: AB 685, which requires employers to report COVID-19 cases to Cal/OSHA within a prescribed period of time, and SB 1159, a law that makes worker’s compensation benefits more accessible to employees by creating a “disputable presumption” that an illness or death resulting from COVID-19 has arisen out of and in the course and scope of employment. The latter bill is likely to cause worker’s compensation premiums to skyrocket for many employers already trying to manage increased claims following pandemic-related furloughs and layoffs. (Read More)

COVID-19-Related Paid Sick Leave Has Been Expanded in California Yet Again to All Employers with 500+ Employees

A bill has been passed and signed into law this week by Governor Gavin Newsom giving more employees in California access to paid sick leave as it relates to COVID-19.

As previously reported by Michelman & Robinson, ordinances are already on the books requiring certain employers to provide supplemental sick leave to employees within the City of Los Angeles as well as unincorporated L.A. County by virtue of the pandemic. These ordinances are in addition to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which requires most companies employing fewer than 500 workers to make two weeks of paid sick leave available to those affected by the coronavirus. (Read More)