Laying off employees – also referred to as a reduction in force or a RIF – is one of the most difficult decisions an employer can make. Whether driven by economic conditions, organizational restructuring or pivots in business strategy, RIFs inherently create legal risks and significantly impact workplace morale. Although RIFs come with many challenges … Continue Reading
Among the flurry of Executive Orders signed by President Trump since he took office is an March 14, 2025 Executive Order rescinding 18 prior executive orders and actions, including Executive Order 14026, a Biden-era order increasing the minimum wage for federal contractors to $17.75. Now that Executive Order 14026 has been rescinded, many federal contractors have … Continue Reading
California’s busy legislative year has come to an end, with Governor Gavin Newsom signing several new laws that will impact Golden State employers. Here, we summarize the laws expected to have the greatest impact on California employers in 2025. Unless otherwise noted below, these new laws take effect January 1, 2025.… Continue Reading
In today’s divisive climate, political speech in the workplace is a topic of increasing relevance and complexity. While workplace discrimination based on race, gender, religion, age, or disability has long been prohibited, discrimination on the basis of an employee’s political affiliations or beliefs is a more nuanced, often overlooked challenge since it is not among … Continue Reading
On July 1, 2024, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2288 and Senate Bill 92 significantly reforming California’s Private Attorney General Act (“PAGA”). Twenty years ago, PAGA was enacted as a mechanism to allow California employees to collect penalties for Labor Code violations on behalf of the state. Since then, the statute has been … Continue Reading
As California employers know all too well, the state is notorious for its employee-friendly laws that can be difficult to navigate and create administrative and compliance headaches. Even the most diligent employers can find themselves on the wrong end of the law for minor, inadvertent errors, subjecting them to harsh and expensive penalties. For example, … Continue Reading
On October 14, 2023, California’s active legislative year came to an end, leaving numerous employment law updates in its wake. This year, Governor Gavin Newsom has signed novel laws that create new rights for employees (and requirements for employers) while also amending some current laws, thereby changing existing employer obligations. Here, we summarize the laws … Continue Reading
On October 4, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) No. 616 into law, which expands California’s mandatory paid sick leave from three days (or twenty-four hours) to five days (or forty hours). The increased paid sick leave requirements take effect on January 1, 2024. Background In 2014, California enacted the Healthy Workplaces, … Continue Reading
Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, Generative Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) has taken the world by storm, attracting over 100 million users for both personal and professional use in less than one year. Given the growing popularity of ChatGPT and similar AI tools, it is likely that they will soon infiltrate your workplaces, if … Continue Reading
The metaverse is poised to reshape the way we live and work. Employment law in real life is vexing enough, with US employers required to navigate the complex federal, state and local laws and regulations that impact the employment relationship. Now some employers and businesses are making the leap into the virtual world, where employment … Continue Reading
Many businesses use artificial intelligence (“AI”), algorithms, software, and other forms of technology to make employment-related decisions. Employers now have an array of computer-based tools at their disposal to assist them in hiring employees, monitoring job performance, determining pay or promotions, and establishing the terms and conditions of employment. As such, many employers rely on … Continue Reading
Each year, all private employers that are covered by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and that have 100 or more employees must file EEO-1 Component 1 data, which consists of demographic information – such as race, gender, and ethnicity information – of the employer’s workforce by job category with the U.S. … Continue Reading
UPDATE (10/29/21): On October 28, 2021, the EEOC supplemented its updated guidance on religious accommodation from employer vaccine mandates by making public its own internal accommodation request form. The agency explained: “Although the EEOC’s internal forms typically are not made public, it is included here given the extraordinary circumstances facing employers and employees due to the … Continue Reading
It has been nine months since the first person in the United States received the COVID-19 vaccine, and ever since then, employers have been weighing the pros and cons of whether to require that employees be vaccinated as a condition of employment. On September 9, 2021, President Biden narrowed the options for many employers when … Continue Reading
Workplace romances are a tale as old as time. According to a 2020 study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (“SHRM”) and the University of Chicago’s AmeriSpeak Panel surveying 696 American workers, 27% admitted to having romantic relationships with their work colleagues, and about 27% of those workers indicated that they dated someone … Continue Reading
On May 13, 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) announced that fully vaccinated individuals no longer need to wear a mask or practice social distancing in any setting. Specifically, fully vaccinated people can now: Resume activities without wearing masks or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, … Continue Reading
After postponing the opening of the 2019 EEO-1 Component 1 Data Collection on May 8, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on April 26, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) announced that the 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection is now open.… Continue Reading
On April 9, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2021-2, which provides updated guidance to Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) field staff regarding the practice of seeking liquidated damages in settlements in lieu of litigation. In so doing, the DOL rescinded a Trump-era policy aimed at reducing the imposition … Continue Reading
On March 29, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) announced that data collection for 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 Component 1 filing will open on Monday, April 26, 2021, and that employers will have until Monday, July 19, 2021 to submit their data for those years. Each year, employers with 100 or more employees (and federal … Continue Reading
As we discussed in a previous post, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) published guidance in December 2020 on employer mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies. That guidance explained that subject to a few exceptions, employers can require that employees receive the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of returning to, or remaining in the workplace. However, … Continue Reading
On February 19, 2021, the US Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) withdrew two Trump-era opinion letters. The first, FLSA2019-6, discussed whether a service provider for a virtual marketplace company (“VMC”) is an independent contractor or an employee subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The second, FLSA2019-10, involved the compensability … Continue Reading
A recent decision from a federal appeals court highlights the perils for employers associated with lax recordkeeping of employee work hours and wage information. It is well-established that every employer covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) is required to keep certain records for each covered non-exempt worker (i.e., those that are paid on an hourly … Continue Reading
UPDATE: On January 21, 2021, the defendants filed a motion with the district court for permission to take an interlocutory appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on the following question: “What causal standard is required to establish that a plant closing or mass layoff is “due to any form of natural disaster” under … Continue Reading
On January 6, 2021, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced a final rule clarifying the standard under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) for determining whether a worker is an independent contractor versus an employee. This distinction in critical under the FLSA, as employers must comply with its minimum wage and overtime requirements for employees, … Continue Reading
