The California legislature passed SB 95 on March 19, 2021, and the governor signed the law on March 20th. The new law, which provides supplemental paid sick leave to employees working for employers with 25 or more employees, took effect on April 1, 2021. Here are the key facts you need to know:
This bill provides supplemental sick leave to employees who are unable to work for certain reasons related to COVID. Those reasons are:
The employee is subject…
California May Impose New Childcare Obligations for California Businesses
California Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo recently introduced a bill that would require California-based companies with more than 1,000 employees to provide up to 60-hours of subsidized backup care for children under 14. Under the bill, employees would accrue one hour of backup childcare benefits for every 34 hours worked. The hours would carry over annually, but employers can cap use to 60 hours per calendar year.
It is important to note that the…
The California Supreme Court issued a ruling last week in a case called Donohue v. AMN Services, LLC. The court decided two legal issues regarding meal breaks, and neither decision was favorable for employers.
First, the Court examined whether an employer can round the meal break time punches in order to establish that the employee took a 30-minute meal period. For instance, many employers have a policy of rounding employee clock-in and clock-out times to the nearest tenth of an hour. …
California Supreme Court Determines Dynamex Applies Retroactively
As many of you know, the California Supreme Court decided the Dynamex case in April of 2018. That case determined that the "ABC test" controlled whether a worker was properly classified as an employee or independent contractor. To meet the test, the employer must prove that the worker 1.) is free from the hiring entity's control and direction; 2.) the worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity's business; and 3.) the…
On March 19, 2020, the senate passed, and the president signed into law, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The new law has many provisions that affect you as an employer. The bill provides:
Expanded FMLA Coverage For School Closures—The bill dramatically expands the FMLA on an emergency basis. Under the old law, the FMLA only applied to companies with 50 or more employees. Under the revisions, the FMLA imposes leave requirements on any employer with less than 500 employees. …
In February, the California Supreme Court issued a ruling regarding compensation for off-duty time. The case was brought by a class of Apple employees that claimed they were required to work off the clock. Apple has a policy that, if an employee brings a bag to work, the employee must have a security guard or store manager search the bag prior to leaving at the end of their shift. The employees had to clock-out prior to the search. Employees claimed that it…
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held today that the landmark decision that redefined the analysis surrounding independent contractor classification, Dynamex Ops W. Inc. v. Superior Court, applies retroactively. This means that wage claims alleging that employees were misclassified as independent contractors under Dynamex’s reasoning can seek four years of damages.
The Dynamex decision adopted the “ABC test” for determining whether workers are employees under California wage order laws. The stricter test requires the hiring entity…
The article featured in Location Matters
by Lauren Bushman, Associate at TencerSherman
Employee handbooks are like a good sunscreen, one generally does not realize the importance of protection until they get burned. Employment claims are on the rise and can be detrimental to a restaurateur’s company culture and business success. With the intense nature of the restaurant industry, including high employee turnover, minimal profit margin, and cutthroat competition, restaurateurs cannot afford employee lawsuits. The good news is that the risk of employee lawsuits…
After nearly two decades of litigation, the California Supreme Court pronounced a new standard for determining whether a worker is categorized as an employee or independent contractor. In this decision, delivery drivers who were once categorized as employees and later reclassified as independent contractors filed suit alleging they performed the same tasks despite their classification change.
The new test is a short and sweet 3-prong standard, which makes it drastically more difficult for businesses to classify their works as independent contractors.…
TencerSherman is proud to announce that Sam Sherman was selected for the 2018 San Diego Super Lawyers list.
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