On May 23, 2022, the Supreme Court of California held that premium pay for missed meal and rest periods constitutes “wages” under California labor law and that employers may be held liable for the failure to properly report and timely pay out such wages.
On November 15, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an order concerning the California Trucking Association’s (CTA) challenge to California’s independent contractor law, Assembly Bill (AB) 5. The Supreme Court‘s order invited the United States Solicitor General (SG) to file a submission describing the federal government’s position with respect to this case and the question CTA posed to the Court that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) preempts AB 5.
On July 15, 2021, the California Supreme Court issued a decision that will increase dramatically California employers’ potential liability for missed meal, rest, and recovery breaks. In Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, LLC, the court unanimously held that employers must pay premium payments to employees for missed meal, rest, and recovery breaks at the employee’s “regular rate of pay” instead of their base hourly rate, as many employers were doing.
On May 12, 2020, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), better known as Cal/OSHA, issued its COVID-19 Industry Guidance: Office Workspaces, which provides detailed guidance for operating in office workspaces to “support a safe, clean environment for employees” in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On May 12, 2020, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) (better known as Cal/OSHA) issued its COVID-19 Industry Guidance: Dine-In Restaurants, which provides detailed guidance to dine-in restaurants, brewpubs, craft distilleries, breweries, bars, pubs, and wineries that provide sit-down meals on how to support safe and clean work environments for employees and customers.
On May 7, 2020, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), better known as Cal/OSHA, issued its COVID-19 Industry Guidance: Logistics and Warehousing Facilities, which provides detailed guidance to logistics and warehouse facilities on how to support a safe and clean work environment for workers in order to avoid the outbreak and transmittal of COVID-19 in the workplace.
On January 16, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California entered an order granting a preliminary injunction requested by the California Trucking Association (CTA), which was represented by Ogletree Deakins shareholders Robert R. Roginson, Alexander M. Chemers, and Spencer C. Skeen, in a matter challenging Assembly Bill (AB) 5 as to motor carriers operating in California.
On January 13, 2020, U.S. District Court Judge Roger T. Benitez left in place a temporary restraining order (TRO) enjoining the enforcement of California’s Assembly Bill (AB) 5 as to motor carriers operating in California.
In a development sure to be welcomed by employers, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued revised regulations allowing employers to more easily offer perks and benefits to their employees without affecting the employees’ overtime rates. The revised regulations were published on December 16, 2019, in the Federal Register and will be effective on January 15, 2020.
Last year, the Washington Supreme Court considered the following certified question: “Does the Washington Minimum Wage Act require non-agricultural employers to pay their piece-rate employees per hour for time spent performing activities outside of piece-rate work?” On September 5, 2019, the court answered with a resounding no.
On September 18, 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly bill (AB) 5, which codifies last year’s Supreme Court of California decision establishing a new test to determine whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee.
In an order with significant implications for motor carriers, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) concluded that California’s meal and rest break rules are preempted by federal transportation law and may no longer be enforced by the State of California where the driver is subject to federal hours-of-service (HOS) requirements. Specifically, on December 21,
Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Mendoza v. Fonseca McElroy Grinding Co., Inc., et al., No. 17-15221 (January 15, 2019), requested that the California Supreme Court decide the following question: Is operating engineers’ offsite “mobilization work”—including the transportation to and from a public works site of roadwork grinding equipment—performed “in the execution of [a] contract for public work,” Cal. Lab. Code § 1772, such that it entitles workers to “not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages for work of a similar character in the locality in which the public work is performed” pursuant to section 1771 of the California Labor Code?
The Beltway Buzz is a weekly update summarizing labor and employment news from inside the Beltway and clarifying how what’s happening in Washington, D.C. could impact your business.
On January 15, 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) did not apply to wage claims brought by an interstate truck driver, even though the plaintiff was classified as an independent contractor.
In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court of California adopted a new test to determine whether a worker performing services for a company is an employee or an independent contractor under California’s wage orders. The new three-factor test, known as the ABC test, will determine whether a company “employs” a worker under the wage orders, which address certain requirements for minimum wage, overtime, and meal and rest periods, among others.
The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) announced this week that the requirement for public works contractors and subcontractors to submit certified payroll records (CPRs) electronically using the DIR’s electronic certified payroll reporting (eCPR) system will resume on August 1, 2016.
On May 18, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released its long-anticipated revisions to the federal overtime regulations governing the so-called white-collar exemptions to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Most notably, the revisions more than double the minimum salary threshold needed to qualify for the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions. The revised regulations also make other significant changes to the amounts that must be paid, including allowing employers to count nondiscretionary bonuses and commissions to satisfy a portion of the salary threshold, scheduling automatic adjustments to the salary threshold every three years, and increasing the annual salary threshold for the “highly compensated employee” exemption.
For over a year, retail and hospitality employers have been anxiously awaiting the issuance of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) final overtime regulations—regulations which many had predicted would impact retail and hospitality employers more than most. Among their biggest fears was that the DOL would make changes to the duties test, increase the salary minimum to the highest level contemplated, and simultaneously disallow inclusion of bonuses to meet the salary minimum. Luckily, the DOL decided not to include any of those proposed changes in the final regulations. However, the changes that retail and hospitality employers will be required to implement by December 1, 2016 are expected to impact retail and hospitality businesses in a profound and negative way. According to David French, senior vice president for government relations at the National Retail Federation, a major industry group representing retailers and chain restaurants, “DOL’s new overtime rules are a massive failure. They are a failure of the regulatory process. They are a failure to listen. And, most of all, they are a failure to face reality.”
On October 6, 2015, Chief Justice John Roberts of the Supreme Court of the United States summarily denied the emergency stay application filed by the association plaintiffs in Home Care Association of America v. Weil. In the absence of a stay, the new U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) regulations extending the federal minimum wage and overtime requirements for home health care workers employed by third-party employers are expected to go into effect on October 13, 2015.
On August 21, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Home Care Association of America v. Weil reinstated the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) regulations extending the federal minimum wage and overtime requirements for home health care workers employed by third-party employers. The federal appeals court decision overturned a lower court decision that struck down the new regulations just before they were scheduled to go into effect at the beginning of 2015.
The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Home Care Association of America v. Weil reinstated the U.S. Department of Labor’s regulations extending the federal minimum wage and overtime requirements for home health care workers employed by third-party employers. Today’s federal appeals court decision overturns a lower court decision that struck down the new regulation just before it was scheduled to go into effect at the beginning of 2015.
California Governor Brown signed legislation on July 13, 2015 that aims to clarify and improve California’s new paid sick leave law that requires employers to offer employees 3 days or 24 hours of paid sick leave per year as of July 1, 2015. The amendments are effective immediately.
This week, the California Supreme Court agreed to review the decision in Gerard v. Orange Coast Memorial Center, No. G048039 (February 10, 2015), where the California Court of Appeal partially invalidated the Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) wage order provision that allows employees in the health care industry to waive one of two required meal periods on shifts longer than eight hours.
In its recently published decision, the California Court of Appeal held that on-call rest breaks are permissible. In a nutshell, “although on-call hours constitute ‘hours worked,’ remaining available to work is not the same as performing work.” This case provides clarity on employers’ obligations for rest periods in the wake of Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court.
On January 14, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which decided Home Care Association of America v. Weil, vacated the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) regulation narrowing the definition of “companionship services” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In doing so, the court reinstated the…..
On January 8, 2015, the California Supreme Court issued a decision holding that the on-call hours for security guards who work 24-hour shifts constituted compensable hours worked. Further, the court ruled that the guards’ employer could not exclude “sleep time” from the guards’ 24-hour shifts and in doing so rejected the analysis under earlier California
The court in Home Care Association of America v. Weil dealt another setback to the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) regulations affecting home health care businesses. On December 31, 2014, the court issued an order temporarily staying the DOL’s new regulation narrowing…..
Just as many home health care agencies were gearing up for a major change to their businesses, a federal judge in Washington D.C. struck down the new U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) regulation extending the federal overtime and minimum wage requirements to home care workers employed by third-party businesses. The court’s…..
In Godfrey v, Oakland Port Services Corp., which was decided on October 28, 2014, the California Court of Appeal issued a published decision holding that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA) does not preempt California’s meal and rest period requirements. The case is significant because it is…..
