arbitration agreements

In Win For Employers, California Arbitration Agreements Can Be Mandated as a Condition of Employment (For Now)

Employers generally consider arbitration to be a more favorable forum for deciding disputes than litigating in court, though the costs to arbitrate are expensive.  For one, juries who find against employers tend to be more generous in their awards than arbitrators. Second,  arbitration clauses can include class action waivers, making it hard or impossible for employees to bring class action lawsuits. For these reasons, employers have increasingly required employees to sign mandatory arbitration clauses.Read more

California raise minimum wage

California is Raising the State’s Minimum Wage January 1, 2023

At present, state minimum wage in California is $15 per hour for companies with 26 or more employees and $14 per hour for companies with 25 or fewer employees.

On May 12, 2022, Governor Newsom announced that because inflation is projected to increase by 7.6% for the 2022 fiscal year, California’s minimum wage will increase to $15.50 per hour for all employees, regardless of employer size effective January 1, 2023.

With the minimum wage increasing to $15.50 in 2023, employers should be aware that it will affect the following employees:Read more

Covid regulations for businesses

COVID-19 Regulations For California Businesses Have Not All Gone Away – There is a 3rd Revision to Cal/OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standards

Summary

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) recently approved the third readoption of the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (the “new ETS”). The new ETS took effect on May 7, 2022, and will remain in effect until December 31, 2022, when Cal/OSHA is expected to replace it with a permanent standard. The majority of the new ETS has not changed. However, the new ETS includes changes in line with the state’s recent direction of relaxing restrictions, and is more aligned with California Department of Public Health (CDPH) guidance.Read more