It just wouldn’t be Fall without the passage of a flurry of new laws, shaking up the employment landscape in California. As of the close of the legislative session on August 31, several “job killer” bills (so called by the California Chamber of Commerce as reported here and here) passed the state legislature and are awaiting action by Governor Gavin Newsom.
While Governor Newsom
Amid a recent surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalization rates in Los Angeles, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (“AMPTP”) announced an extension of and modifications to the existing Return-to-Work Agreement between the Directors Guild of America, the AMPTP, IATSE, SAG-AFTRA, and other industry stakeholders. The prior iteration of the Agreement had been set to expire on July 15, 2022.
Initially implemented in
On July 7, 2022, Mayor Eric Garcetti signed the “Healthcare Workers Minimum Wage Ordinance” (“Ordinance”) which, effective August 13, 2022, increases the minimum wage to $25 per hour for healthcare workers employed at privately-owned healthcare facilities within the City of Los Angeles. Beginning January 1, 2024, the minimum wage will increase annually based on the cost of living.
The purpose of the bill
Last week, the California Supreme Court agreed to decide two unique questions with far-reaching implications for employer liability: (1) may an employer be held liable to an employee’s spouse when an employee contracts COVID-19 in the workplace and then infects their spouse at home, and (2) does an employer have a duty of care to its employees’ households to prevent the spread of COVID-19?
The
In Michelle Roman v. Hertz Local Edition Corp., a United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of California granted summary judgment in favor of Hertz, and against former employee Michelle Roman, whose employment was terminated after she contracted COVID. Roman claimed that her job should have been protected by the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) while she suffered from mild symptoms
California’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board has voted for the third time to readopt and revise the Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (“ETS”), which lay out guidelines for testing, masking, and other COVID-19 prevention measures for employers to follow with respect to their employees and workspaces. The most recent ETS took effect on May 6. Most of the changes will have little impact on
We invite you to review our newly-posted March 2022 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include:
National Fed’n of Indep. Bus. v. OSHA, 595 U.S. ___, 142 S. Ct. 661 (2022)
The United States Secretary of Labor, acting through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, enacted a vaccine mandate that would have required employers with at least 100 employees to require their employees (approximately 84 million workers) to receive a COVID-19 vaccination or to obtain a medical test each week
On February 10, 2022, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks introduced Assembly Bill 1993 (“AB 1993”), which would impose COVID-19 vaccination requirements on virtually all employees and independent contractors working in California, regardless of employer/company size.
AB 1993 would mandate that all employers require all of their employees and independent contractors to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19. An individual would be considered “vaccinated against COVID-19” if
As we reported yesterday, California’s legislature enacted Assembly Bill 84 on Monday; the state’s Senate enacted the law’s counterpart the same day, Senate Bill 114. The new statute sought to reestablish statewide supplemental COVID-19 sick leave requirements, and imposes significant obligations on employers. Earlier today, Gov. Newsom signed the bill into law.
The new sick leave requirements will be set forth in Labor