New California law requires annual workplace rights notice The California Labor Commissioner’s Office (LCO) is reminding employers about a new state law, the Workplace Know Your Rights Act, which requires employers to annually provide workers with clear information about their workplace rights. This new law took effect on January 1 and...
CALIFORNIA ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS FOR EMPLOYEES LIMITED (AGAIN) The recent California Court of Appeal decision of Villalobos v. Maersk held that the employer’s referring to arbitration rules in employee handbooks or agreements is insufficient to designate arbitrability questions to the arbitrator. Many agreements state that disputes will be handled under JAMS...
EMPLOYERS MAY BE LIABLE FOR OFF-SITE HARASSMENT Picture this: an employee says they do not wish to see, be near or even on Zoom calls with someone else, whom they dated and there was a break-up. Nothing occurred at the worksite, during work or even about work, but the employer...
NY: Bonuses Owed to Employees After Termination Riley worked at a law firm and had an agreement with the law firm for her to receive a bonus if she exceeded a set amount of actual legal fees generated by her work. The agreement with Riley conditioned payment of the bonus...
Arbitration Agreements/Employee Handbooks – Update Yours A new case (Ford v. The Silver F, Inc.) highlights how California employee handbooks with outdated arbitration language can undermine an employer's ability to require arbitration of employee claims, even when the legal landscape shifted in the employer’s favor in 2022 with the U.S....
2025 IRS Mileage On December 19, 2024, the Internal Revenue Service issued its annual notice[1] of the 2025 standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, moving, and charitable purposes. For employers, that is, the mileage that employers should pay employees for business...
California Limits When Employers Can Require Driver’s Licenses California has another new law. It restricts when employers with five or more employees can say in a job posting or advertisement that a candidate must have a driver’s license. As of January 1, 2025, it is an unlawful employment practice for...
Federal Court Strikes Down FTC's Non-Compete Rule What It Means for Employers In a surprising turn of events, a federal court in Texas has struck down the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) non-compete rule, just days before it was set to take effect on September 4, 2024. This ruling has sent...
CALIFORNIA PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ACT (PAGA) CHANGES Employers: the California Private Attorney General Act (“PAGA”) is being amended to impose new limits on who can bring a PAGA action and the scope of Labor Code violations that a plaintiff employee can pursue; it will also create caps on penalties for...
CALIFORNIA UPDATES: TWO MANDATORY PAMPHLETS REQUIRED FOR NEW HIRES California made updates to two crucial pamphlets that employers are required to provide to new hires. (1) The “TIME of Hire” pamphlet provided by the California Department of Industrial Relations Division of Worker’s Compensation and (2) the “For Your Benefit” pamphlet...