As the 2021 legislative season came to a close, Governor Gavin Newsom signed numerous bills into law. From arbitration to workplace safety, these laws will impact employers across the state.  We have summarized the most important ones for you here:

Arbitration

Arbitration fees will now need to be paid upon receipt of invoice unless the arbitration agreement expressly establishes a payment schedule. The new law

From various employment law implications to managing employees working remotely, employers are faced with unprecedented challenges amid the COVID-19 crisis. As Proskauer’s Coronavirus Resource Center continues to supply advisable tips for clients worldwide, Anthony Oncidi, Cole Lewis and Nayirie Mehdikhani step in with advice for California-based employers as they devise their contingency plans.

Read their advice in the Daily Journal now.

This morning, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an Executive Order that allows a California employer that is conducting layoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic to use the newly-created “unforeseen business circumstances” exception to the state’s WARN Act requirements.

More specifically, the order indicates that:

  • Mass layoffs, relocations or closures fall under the newly-created “unforeseen business circumstances” exception to the law, but California employers must still

By Anthony J. Oncidi and Nayirie Kuyumjian

The California Chamber of Commerce has just identified a new raft of recently introduced “job killer” bills that have been proposed in the California Legislature.

This year’s list of 27 proposed laws includes measures that would impose additional penalties for an employer’s failure to pay wages; increase the personal income tax for the highest earners in California; ban

By Anthony J. Oncidi and Nayirie Kuyumjian

On Monday, the Ninth Circuit issued a significant opinion, Rizo v. Yovino, 2018 WL 1702982 (9th Cir. April 9, 2018), authored by the late “liberal lion” Judge Stephen Reinhardt, holding that an employer’s consideration of prior salary information cannot serve as a justification for sex-based wage differentials under the federal Equal Pay