Law labor california

Next in our series, “New Year, New Laws for California Employers,” we take a look at new protections given to Religious Dress and Grooming and Breastfeeding under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act.  Prepared by  Mark Terman, partner in the Los Angeles office, this series will take a look at some of the significant new regulations affecting private employers doing business in California.Religious Dress and Grooming ProtectedCalifornia employers should know that the Fair Employment and Housing Act protects the right of individuals to seek, obtain and hold employment without discrimination on account of religions creed, observance and belief. Similarly, employers are required to reasonably accommodate religious belief or observance of an individual unless the accommodation would be an undue hardship to the employer.AB 1964 extends these protections to “religious dress practice” and “religious grooming practice.” Religious … [Read more...] about New Year, New Laws for California Employers – Religious Dress and Grooming Protected and Breastfeeding Further Protected

Several new laws in California are placing new or additional requirements on employers. We have highlighted several of them.Independent ContractorsA new law prohibits the “willful misclassification” of individuals as independent contractors. The law defines willful as “avoiding employee status for an individual by voluntarily and knowingly misclassifying that individual as an independent contractor.” The law also prohibits the deduction of fees or other charges from the compensation paid to misclassified individuals that could not be deducted from regular employees. For example, employers sometimes deduct from independent contractors’ compensation the costs of renting workspace, licensing individuals and providing equipment.The penalty for violating the law ranges from $5,000 to $15,000 per violation, or $10,000 to $25,000 when a repeated pattern or practice of violations is found. In addition, an employer could be forced to post a scarlet letter (notice … [Read more...] about Watch Out for New Employment Laws in California

Companies across the nation are facing 2016 with a mix of enthusiasm and anxiety as they attempt to meet their business and financial goals. For those doing business in California, those benchmarks are only one of the many challenges they face. California employers are confronted with the additional task of effectively navigating a host of new labor and employment laws that will impact the way they compensate and manage their workforce. The following summarizes some of the new California employment laws that went into effect this year:Expansion of Wage Equality Protection. Senate Bill 358, signed into law in October 2015, amends the California Fair Pay Act to expand protections against gender-based wage inequality. Under the law, which went into effect January 1, 2016, an employer may not pay employees less than what it pays employees of the opposite sex for “substantially similar” work, unless the employer can affirmatively demonstrate the difference is based on certain … [Read more...] about New Workplace Laws Confronting California Employers in 2016

Effective January 1, 2018, California will be the next jurisdiction to implement statewide “ban the box” legislation.  On October 14, 2017, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 1008, which prohibits pre-offer inquiries regarding applicants’ conviction histories and regulates employers in their decisions to deny employment to an applicant based on his/her conviction history.  For more details regarding this important law, please see our earlier post. Employers should review their employment applications and hiring processes in light of this upcoming change in the law. … [Read more...] about Governor Brown Has Signed ‘Ban the Box’ Legislation into Law for California

With the onset of a new year, employers must be aware of new laws scheduled to take effect in 2011. Most importantly, employers should be aware that their 2010 California and federal notices posters are now outdated, and certain employers may be required to include additional postings.Specifically, all employers should be aware that there are new 2011 versions of the required federal posters, including but not limited to, "Federal Minimum Wage," "Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law," and "Safety and Health Protection on the Job." Additionally, there are new 2011 versions of California required posters such as "California Minimum Wage," "Your Rights Under USERRA (Veterans Benefits)," and "Notice Employee Polygraph Protection Act" posters, among others. All employers must have these posters displayed at each work site in an area accessible to all employees and applicants. Therefore, it is important to make sure that new 2011 versions are posted immediately. Employers may be required … [Read more...] about New Year, New Posters, New Laws: Labor & Employment Law Updates