Employers often adopt civility policies, including policies that prohibit employees from using threatening or intimidating language, or using abusive or vulgar language towards co-workers or supervisors.  Violations of those policies, warn employers, may result in disciplinary action, including termination of employment. The National Labor Relation Board (the Board) recently found that a Nexteer Automotive Corp. employee who shouted profanity at […]

It is imperative that employers understand and comply with the California minimum wage. Additionally, some cities and counties have enacted local laws that are more restrictive than the California minimum wage. Therefore, it is important to comply with local laws to the extent that the local laws are more protective of employees than California and federal laws.   The California […]

Governor Brown signed the Fair Pay Act Bill, also known as AB 2282, on July 18, 2018. The Fair Pay Act Bill clarifies ambiguities in Labor Code Sections 432.3 and 1197.5, which were created with the passing of AB 168 in 2017.   AB 168 AB 168 was intended to eliminate the gap in pay between male and female workers. […]

In recent years, California employers have been hit with class action lawsuits alleging that their employees were not provided with “suitable seating,” even when seating would only be appropriate for some of the tasks employees perform.   Two examples from the past month alone illustrate the trend. On October 24, 2018, a California judge approved a $2.6 million class action […]

On September 30, 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a series of bills making significant changes to the state’s workplace sexual harassment laws. The purpose of the newly enacted laws is to expand legal protections to victims of workplace harassment and increase the liability of those who have engaged in such conduct. Together, these new bills make up one of […]

A federal appeals court has decided that Amazon warehouse workers in Nevada can move forward with a class action for unpaid wages, based on uncompensated time they spent going through mandatory security screenings at the end of each shift. Under the employer policy at issue in the case, employees were required to undergo a daily security clearance check at the […]

Voluntary Participation in Wellness Activities Is Non-compensable Time FLSA2018-20 discusses whether the FLSA requires compensation for the time an employee spends voluntarily participating in certain wellness activities, biometric screenings, and benefits fairs.   Background   An employer allows its employees to participate in voluntary “biometric screening” both during and outside of regular work hours. The screening tests, among other things, […]

On August 28, 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued six new Opinion Letters addressing various matters under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). According to the DOL’s press release, this new guidance “demonstrates the agency’s continued commitment to providing meaningful compliance assistance to help employees understand their rights and ensure […]

In May 2018, the California Court of Appeal held in Huff v. Securitas Security Services USA, Inc., that an employee who has been affected by at least one Labor Code violation may pursue penalties under the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (“PAGA”) for every Labor Code violation committed by that employer, including violations that have not personally affected the […]

Following the decision by the United States Supreme Court on May 21, 2018 in Epic Systems Corporation v. Lewis (read blog here) that class action waivers in mandatory arbitration agreements do not violate the National Labor Relations Act, more employers may now want to use arbitration agreements with their employees. For those considering arbitration agreements and those with agreements already […]