The California Chamber of Commerce and nearly 200 other organizations joined in a January 13 letter to the Governor and the leadership of the state Senate and Assembly, urging them to stave off a growing exodus of businesses by loosening the regulatory yoke on California employers.

  • In the letter, the Chamber encouraged that the Governor “take executive action immediately” to relieve small employers of new regulatory compliance obligations under the California Family Rights Act. As we reported here, on January 1, employers with as few as five employees became subject to CFRA’s extensive leave requirements.  The Chamber noted “small employers should be temporarily spared the cost and burden of new compliance with the extensive leave under CFRA while they are coping with the challenges of the pandemic.”
  • Additionally, the Chamber urged the Governor to eliminate certain mandatory wage payments for employees excluded from the workplace, reasoning that such payments are an onerous burden in light of last year’s SB 1159, which provides employees with paid time off under the workers’ compensation system.
  • After shifting its focus from the Governor, the Chamber encouraged the Legislature to allow for increased scheduling flexibility. Noting the realities of telecommuting—where some employees now have the freedom to choose to work extra hours on one day so they can skip a day or finish early on another—the Chamber pointed to existing state laws that may subject employers to penalties and fines for allowing such a flexible work schedule, which is preferred by both the employee and the employer.
  • Then, addressing PAGA (the much maligned Private Attorneys General Act, or as we refer to it, Prettymuch All Goes to the Attorneys), the Chamber noted the lightning-paced changes businesses have adapted to over the last year, including: reductions in force; work from home transitions; implementing COVID sick pay; and a never-ending stream of federal, state, and local safety regulations. Noting employer fears amid a constant threat of employment litigation, the Chamber asked the Legislature to either temporarily suspend PAGA or reform it to reduce the likelihood of abusive lawsuits brought to “victimize businesses” who are already suffering in the wake of COVID-19 [see our reporting here.]”
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Photo of Tony Oncidi Tony Oncidi

Anthony J. Oncidi is the co-chair of the Labor & Employment Law Department and heads the West Coast Labor & Employment group in the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Tony represents employers and management in all aspects of labor relations and employment law, including…

Anthony J. Oncidi is the co-chair of the Labor & Employment Law Department and heads the West Coast Labor & Employment group in the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Tony represents employers and management in all aspects of labor relations and employment law, including litigation and preventive counseling, wage and hour matters, including class actions, wrongful termination, employee discipline, Title VII and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, executive employment contract disputes, sexual harassment training and investigations, workplace violence, drug testing and privacy issues, Sarbanes-Oxley claims and employee raiding and trade secret protection. A substantial portion of Tony’s practice involves the defense of employers in large class actions, employment discrimination, harassment and wrongful termination litigation in state and federal court as well as arbitration proceedings, including FINRA matters.

Tony is recognized as a leading lawyer by such highly respected publications and organizations as the Los Angeles Daily JournalThe Hollywood Reporter, and Chambers USA, which gives him the highest possible rating (“Band 1”) for Labor & Employment.  According to Chambers USA, clients say Tony is “brilliant at what he does… He is even keeled, has a high emotional IQ, is a great legal writer and orator, and never gives up.” Other clients report:  “Tony has an outstanding reputation” and he is “smart, cost effective and appropriately aggressive.” Tony is hailed as “outstanding,” particularly for his “ability to merge top-shelf lawyerly advice with pragmatic business acumen.” He is highly respected in the industry, with other commentators lauding him as a “phenomenal strategist” and “one of the top employment litigators in the country.”

“Tony is the author of the treatise titled Employment Discrimination Depositions (Juris Pub’g 2020; www.jurispub.com), co-author of Proskauer on Privacy (PLI 2020), and, since 1990, has been a regular columnist for the official publication of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the State Bar of California and the Los Angeles Daily Journal.

Tony has been a featured guest on Fox 11 News and CBS News in Los Angeles. He has been interviewed and quoted by leading national media outlets such as The National Law JournalBloomberg News, The New York Times, and Newsweek and Time magazines. Tony is a frequent speaker on employment law topics for large and small groups of employers and their counsel, including the Society for Human Resource Management (“SHRM”), PIHRA, the National CLE Conference, National Business Institute, the Employment Round Table of Southern California (Board Member), the Council on Education in Management, the Institute for Corporate Counsel, the State Bar of California, the California Continuing Education of the Bar Program and the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills Bar Associations. He has testified as an expert witness regarding wage and hour issues as well as the California Fair Employment and Housing Act and has served as a faculty member of the National Employment Law Institute. He has served as an arbitrator in an employment discrimination matter.

Tony is an appointed Hearing Examiner for the Los Angeles Police Commission Board of Rights and has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law and a guest lecturer at USC Law School and a guest lecturer at UCLA Law School.