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 worker is customarily engaged in an independently…
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…