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Laura Fant is a special employment law counsel in the Labor & Employment Law Department and co-administrative leader of the Counseling, Training & Pay Equity Practice Group. Her practice is dedicated to providing clients with practical solutions to common (and uncommon) employment concerns, with a focus on legal compliance, risk management and mitigation strategies, and workplace culture considerations.

Laura regularly counsels clients across numerous industries on a wide variety of employment matters involving recruitment and hiring, employee leave and reasonable accommodation issues, performance management, and termination of employment . She also advises on preparing, implementing and enforcing employment and separation agreements, employee handbooks and company policies, as well as provides training on topics including discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Laura is a frequent contributor to Proskauer’s Law and the Workplace blog and The Proskauer Brief podcast.

The United States Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has issued a final rule that will permit certain employers to remotely verify I-9 employment authorization documents on a permanent basis beginning August 1, 2023.

Historically, employers, or their “authorized representatives,” were required to review I-9 authorization documents in-person with the employee physically present. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, DHS temporarily permitted employers operating remotely to engage

On February 10, 2022, the Senate passed H. 4445, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (the “Act”), by a voice vote.  The bill had previously passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 335-97. The White House has indicated President Biden will sign the bill.

If enacted, the Act would amend the Federal Arbitration Act to prohibit enforcement

As we have reported before, California is set to become the first state to prohibit employers from discriminating based upon hairstyle. Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law the “CROWN Act” (Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair).

The CROWN Act amends the state’s Education Code and Government Code to define “race or ethnicity” as “inclusive of traits historically associated with

California Governor Jerry Brown has signed into law a statewide salary history inquiry law that will largely restrict employers in the state from seeking and relying upon salary history information from applicants during the hiring process.

The law, which will go into effect on January 1, 2018 and will apply to all private and public sector employers, will prohibit employers from:

  • relying on salary history

Voters in San Diego have approved an ordinance that would immediately raise the city’s minimum wage to $10.50 per hour (up from the current $10 per hour) and boost the wage again in January 2017 to $11.50 per hour.  Increases consistent with the consumer price index would begin on January 1, 2019 and continue annually thereafter.  The increase is currently slated to take effect immediately

The California Assembly has voted to approve A.B. 1732, which would require all single-occupancy restrooms in any business, public accommodation, or government agency to be branded as “all gender” and ban any single-user bathroom from being designated male- or female-only.  The bill also authorizes building inspectors or other local officials responsible for code enforcement to inspect for compliance with this measure.  The bill now

In yet another recent development on the hot topic of paid family leave, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has unanimously approved local legislation requiring businesses to provide employees with up to 6 weeks of fully paid parental leave for the birth or adoption of a child.  With this ordinance, San Francisco becomes the first city in the United States to offer parental leave at