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
It’s springtime in California! And even as the swallows return to San Juan Capistrano, the California legislature is busy, busy, busy passing hundreds of new laws because, after all, you can never get too much of a good thing!
Yes, it’s Bill Passing Season in Sacramento, and the California legislature seems as determined as ever to defend the state’s vaunted position as one of the
On Thursday, March 18, the California Legislature passed Senate Bill 95 (“SB 95”) which will provide statewide supplemental paid COVID-19 sick leave, retroactively to January 1, 2021. Governor Newsom signed SB 95 on Friday, March 19. California’s previous supplemental paid COVID-19 sick leave (covered here) expired on December 31, 2020. Since then, California employers have been navigating various evolving local ordinances (covered here)
California’s supplemental paid COVID-19 sick leave (covered here) expired on December 31, 2020. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) also expired on December 31, 2020. Nevertheless, many local jurisdictions have extended emergency paid sick leave to employees affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. An employee may be entitled to use the leave for a variety of reasons—from being subject to quarantine to experiencing symptoms
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the flurry of associated leave issues, Gov. Newsom recently signed Senate Bill 1383 (“SB 1383”) into law, which provides up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave under the California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”) to employers with as few as five employees. Beginning on January 1, 2021, when SB 1383 takes effect, employees of most small employers will be
On September 9, 2020, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1867 (“AB 1867”), which is intended to fill gaps left by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”). The new law requires that private employers with 500 or more employees in the United States provide eligible (non-food sector) employees with up to 80 hours of supplemental paid COVID-19 sick leave (“Supplemental COVID-19 Leave”). AB 1867 also
We invite you to review our newly-posted July 2020 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include:
Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, 591 U.S. ___, 2020 WL 3808420 (2020)
Agnes Morrissey-Berru and Kristen Biel worked as elementary school teachers at, respectively, Our Lady of Guadalupe School and St. James School. Following the termination of her employment, Morrissey-Berru sued her school for age discrimination under the ADEA; following the termination of her employment, Biel alleged her school had discriminated against
On March 27, 2020, the Los Angeles City Council approved a new ordinance that would have required Los Angeles employers to provide up to 80 hours of supplemental sick leave relating to COVID-19. The broadly-worded ordinance provoked opposition from some in the business community. 
Last night, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti signed a Public Order Under City of Los Angeles Emergency Authority (“Emergency Order”) that suspends
This new law expands parental leave protections to those individuals who work for employers with at least 20 employees. Under the new law, employers with at least 20 employees must allow an employee who has more than 12 months of service with the employer to take up to 12 weeks of parental leave to bond with a new child within one year of the child’s