On December 13, 2021, the California Department of Public Health (“CDPH”) issued updated guidance requiring Californians to once again to wear masks indoors in “all indoor public settings,” regardless of vaccination status. The mandate will go into effect December 15, 2021, and will run through January 15, 2022. Los Angeles County and several Bay Area counties already require masks in public settings, so this new mandate will mainly affect about 50% of the state population that lives in counties that currently don’t have their own mask mandate.Read more
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Increases in State and Local Minimum Wages and Injunction on Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate
Increase in State Minimum Wage
The California minimum wage will increase effective January 1, 2022. For employers with 25 employees or less, the minimum wage will increase to $14.00 per hour, and for employers with 26 or more employees, the minimum wage will increase to $15.00 per hour.
The minimum wage increase also affects employees who are classified as exempt, who must earn at least twice the state’s minimum wage, AND satisfy the job duties criteria for an exempt position.
Starting January 1, 2022, the minimum salary (gross) that must be paid to exempt employees is as follows:Read more
2022 Employment Law Updates
The California Legislature passed a number of laws that will impact California employers and their business operations in 2022. Below is a list of 17 of the key employment-related bills that have been signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom.Read more
OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard for Employers with 100+ Employees
On November 4, 2021, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a new COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (ETS) covering private sector employers with 100+ employees that requires such employers to ensure their workers are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing. The ETS’s effective date is November 5, 2021. The ETS is already subject to extensive litigation. On November 6, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a temporary stay of the ETS. While the future of the ETS remains uncertain due to pending legal challenges, it may take weeks of planning for employers to comply with the ETS’s deadlines, so prudent employers should continue preparing for the ETS as if it is going to take effect while litigation continues.Read more
9th Circuit Decision on Arbitration Agreements
9th Circuit Decision Makes It Harder for California Employers to Require Employees to Sign Arbitration Agreements as a Condition of Employment
Effective, January 1, 2020, the California legislature had passed a bill, AB 51, making it unlawful for employers to require newly hired employees to sign arbitration agreements as a condition of employment, meaning that it was not a voluntary choice.
Business groups promptly sued to invalidate AB 51. Last year, a federal district judge issued a preliminary injunction barring the state from enforcing the statute, finding that it was pre-empted by the Federal Arbitration Act.Read more
Refresher on Cal/OSHA rules on exclusion from work; extension to I-9 flexibility policy and EEO-1 reporting deadline
Cal/OSHA rules on exclusion from, and return to, work
On August 31, 2021, we provided an update on the new Los Angeles County isolation and quarantine orders. These govern when, and for how long, persons who either have COVID-19 (isolation order) or were in close contact with a COVID-19 case (quarantine order) must stay away from others (i.e., stay at home) and when this period of isolation/quarantine can end. These orders are similar to, but not quite the same as, Cal/OSHA’s regulations (the Emergency Temporary Standards, or ETS), which govern when employees in California who either have COVID-19 or were in close contact with a COVID-19 case must be excluded from the workplace and when this period of exclusion can end.Read more
New Los Angeles County Quarantine and Isolation Orders (Updated 09/03/21)
COVID regulations surrounding quarantine and isolation requirements continue to evolve for Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles County Health Officer has issued two orders, effective August 26, 2021, governing quarantine for those in close contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19 (Quarantine Order) and for those who develop COVID-19 themselves (Isolation Order). The Orders are available here: County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health Order of the Health Officer Emergency Quarantine Order and County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health Order of the Health Officer Emergency Isolation Order. These updates supersede the last quarantine and isolation orders issued in December 2020. Of note, is that employees may leave quarantine and isolation periods sooner than 10 days if they meet the criteria as set out below.*Read more
Is Grandma the CEO of a business when she hires a caregiver? California says yes.
by Renee N. Noy
I was brought into my first caregiver case at the very beginning of my practice. A loving middle-aged daughter came to our office with a labor board complaint in her hand that had been filed against her 80 year old father’s estate. Her very elderly parents had been in need of caregivers for several years. They did not want to move out of their house in which they raised their five children, but they were no longer able to care for themselves. It started with one caregiver they found through a friend’s housekeeper. Then, through the years, as they needed additional hours of help, the caregiver presented a sister, an uncle, a niece, that were all ready to jump into action.Read more