Employers in All States: No More Pre-Dispute Arbitration Employers often include arbitration clauses in employee handbooks and policies. However, arbitration of sexual assault or harassment employee claims cannot be enforced. California has been opposed to secret arbitration of these types of claims and now a federal ban on pre-dispute...
GOOGLE GOT SLAPPED – EMPLOYEE CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENTS ARE TOO BROAD AND EQUATE TO AN ILLEGAL NON-COMPETE High tech and entertainment companies in California are known for requiring that employees sign broad non-disclosure agreements or confidentiality agreements (“NDAs”). A California judge ruled last week that the Google’s NDAs are too broad...
NEW EMPLOYMENT LAWS FOR 2022 It is a new year, with new employment laws. Here’s a synopsis: No More Confidentiality Provisions In Settlement Agreements California law previously prohibited the use of confidentiality provisions in settlement agreements involving claims of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and sex discrimination. Now, the legislature broadened...
Employers Must Pay Employees for Deminimus Startup Time Booting up work computers takes time. The call center representative employees (CCRs) at Nelnet Diversified Solutions LLC (“Nelnet”) had to clock in after their computers were up and running and software was launched, but they were not being paid for that time....
OSHA’s COVID-19 Vaccine-Testing Mandate Back in Effect On December 17, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the nationwide stay on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that had been imposed by the Fifth Circuit, requiring the ETS’s employer vaccination and testing requirements for COVID-19...
Another First Amendment Ruling in Employment Law The case is American Society of Journalists and Authors Inc. v. Bonta, 9th Cir., No. 20-55734 (Oct. 6, 2021), petition for rehearing en banc denied (Nov. 23, 2021). California's "ABC test" for classifying workers as employees or independent contractors, does not violate the...
WHEN IS IT AN UNDUE HARDSHIP FOR AN EMPLOYER TRYING TO WORK THROUGH A COVID-19 VACCINE ACCOMMODATION REQUEST? Employers face medical and sincerely held religious belief objections to COVID-19 vaccinations and anti-discrimination laws (e.g., Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title...
Employers Beware Productivity Quotas and Monitoring Can Cause New Claims Employers who have quotas for employees, run warehouses or distribution centers, or otherwise monitor productivity of employees: new law AB 701 applies to you.[1] Starting on January 1st, employers are prohibited from using quotas or productivity monitoring to interfere with...
UPDATE: Religious Exemptions from COVID-19 Vaccinations On October 25, 2021, the EEOC released an update[1] religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccination. The EEOC notes that requests for accommodation should be handled on a case-by-case basis. And in deciding how to proceed, the employer and employee should consider that: •Even...
GROCER GETS DINGED $1.1 MILLIONS FOR FAILURE TO PROVIDE COVID PAID SICK LEAVE The Labor Commissioner’s Office now twice cited Bodega Latina dba El Super grocery stores in Southern California $1,164,500 for failing to provide or delaying supplemental paid sick leave or other benefits to 240 workers at 38 locations...