Arias v. Raimondo, 2017 WL 2676771 (9th Cir. 2017)

José Arnulfo Arias worked as a milker for Angelo Dairy. The dairy did not complete and file a Form I-9 when it hired Arias. According to the appellate court, “[i]nstead of complying with federal law, the Angelos wielded it as a weapon to confine Arias in their employ” by threatening to report Arias to the

Mendoza v. Nordstrom, Inc., 2 Cal. 5th 1074 (2017)

In response to three questions asked of it by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the California Supreme Court opined as follows:

  1. A day of rest is guaranteed for each workweek. Periods of more than six consecutive days of work that stretch across more than one workweek are not per se

San Francisco has become the latest jurisdiction to pass a law restricting employers from inquiring about prior salary history during the hiring process.  The ordinance, which will go into effect on July 1, 2018, will restrict employers from: (i) considering or relying on an applicant’s salary history as a factor in determining whether to make an offer of employment or what salary to offer; (ii)

Despite California’s prohibition against non-compete agreements, a federal court in the Eastern District of California recently ruled that a California resident may be subject to the non-compete covenant in his employment agreement due to a provision in the agreement identifying Indiana as the parties’ choice of forum and that state’s law as the parties’ choice of law.  The lawsuit, Scales v. Badger Daylighting Corp. (Case

As we previously blogged, Assembly Bill 2337 (approved by the Governor last fall) will go into effect on July 1, 2017, and California employers will be required to give written notice of workplace rights that must be provided to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The Labor Commissioner has just posted a form that employers may elect to use to comply with

In May 2017, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) approved new regulations regarding transgender identity and expression in the workplace. The regulations become effective July 1, 2017.

The new rules further expand the Fair Employment and Housing Act’s (FEHA) role in preventing discrimination in employment and housing on the basis of gender identity. In addition, the regulations describe some new policies that

Last month the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) announced the release of a new guide for California employers on the steps they should take to prevent and correct workplace harassment. The nine page document provides employers with a helpful FAQ-style guide to maintaining an effective anti-harassment program, appropriately responding to employee complaints, and conducting fair investigations.

The DFEH also issued a revised poster

According to reporting from the California Chamber of Commerce, several recently introduced bills have passed the California State Senate or Assembly and now move on to a vote in the second house. These bills include:

  • Assembly Bill 1209 – requires California employers with more than 250 employees to collect data on the mean and median salaries paid to men and women under the same

The City of San Francisco recently published new FAQs addressing provisions of its Paid Parental Leave Ordinance (the “Ordinance”).  The Ordinance, which went into effect on January 1, 2017 for employers with 50 or more employees, will begin to apply to employers with 35 or more and 20 or more employees on July 1, 2017 and January 1, 2018, respectively.  It provides supplemental

The California Labor Commissioner’s Office recently issued new guidance regarding the application and administration of the state’s paid sick leave law.  The new guidance addresses the interplay between the law and grandfathered employer part time off (“PTO”) plans, as well as the interaction between employers’ disciplinary policies on employees’ use of paid sick leave.

Grandfathered PTO Plans

As for PTO plans that employers had in