Category Archives: New and Proposed Laws and Legislation

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California Employment Laws Passed and Pending

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 … Continue Reading

California Creates Unelected Council to Set Minimum Wages/Working Conditions of 500,000 Fast Food Workers

By Tony Oncidi and Ariel Brotman on September 12, 2022 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, California Labor Code, Collective Bargaining, Minimum Wage, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation, Wage and Hour

On September 5, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act or FAST Recovery Act (AB-257). In a breathtaking move, the state government, which is dominated at all levels by union-friendly politicians, will appoint a 10-member Council composed of employees, employers and “union activists” to set the minimum wages and … Continue Reading

Mayor Garcetti Signs “Healthcare Workers Minimum Wage Ordinance” Increasing Minimum Wage to $25

By Tony Oncidi and Ariel Brotman on July 15, 2022 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, COVID-19, Minimum Wage, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation

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 … Continue Reading

Several State “Job Killer” Bills Move One Step Closer to Passage

By Philippe A. Lebel and Michelle Lappen on June 3, 2022 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, California Labor Code, Discrimination, Drug Policies, Drug Testing, Employment Policies, FEHA, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation, News, Payroll, Reporting Requirements, Retaliation, Workers Compensation

As covered previously here, the California Chamber of Commerce (“Chamber”) once again has identified a handful of “job killer” bills making their way through the legislative process. This year’s crop of proposed legislation would, among other things, inflate employer data reporting requirements and further expand the scope of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”). … Continue Reading

Spring Showers Bring Job Killer Bills to California

By Sehreen Ladak and Philippe A. Lebel on April 18, 2022 Posted in Attorney's Fees, California Labor & Employment Law, California Labor Code, Class Actions, Disability, Discrimination, Drug Policies, Drug Testing, Employment Policies, FEHA, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation, Payroll, Reasonable Accommodation, Reporting Requirements, Retaliation, Wage and Hour, Workers Compensation

Pablo Neruda once said “you can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming.” Likewise, California businesses’ protests against oppressive employment legislation don’t seem to stem the tide of the Legislature’s latest batch of anti-employer bills. The California Chamber of Commerce has just identified a host of recently introduced “Job Killer” Bills … Continue Reading

Gone Surfing: Could California Be the First State to Adopt a Four-Day Workweek?

By Philippe A. Lebel and Sehreen Ladak on April 14, 2022 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, California Labor Code, Class Actions, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation, Overtime, Wage and Hour

In recent years, countries such as Iceland and Belgium and some domestic companies have experimented with the concept of four-day workweeks. Now, a new bill proposed by California Assemblymembers Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) and Evan Low (D-San Jose), Assembly Bill 2932 (“AB 2932”), proposes to make a four-day workweek the new normal in California for … Continue Reading

New “Job-Killer” Bill Would Allow Employees to Just Walk Off the Job!

By Tony Oncidi and Dixie Morrison on March 22, 2022 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation

The California Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee recently passed Senate Bill 1044, moving the legislation one step closer to a vote by the full state senate. SB 1044 would permit employees, without notice, to leave their workplace—or not show up to work at all—if they “feel unsafe.” SB 1044 would prohibit employers from … Continue Reading

California May Relax Background Check Process

By Tony Oncidi, Philippe A. Lebel and Morgan Peterson on March 15, 2022 Posted in Background Investigations, California Labor & Employment Law, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation

Many employers undertake routine background checks as part of their hiring process. To be effective, of course, the process has to be completed in a timely manner. Yet, a recent court decision, All of Us or None v. Hamrick, 64 Cal. App. 5th 751 (2021), made that process appreciably more difficult by prohibiting searches of … Continue Reading

New Bill Seeks to Impose Statewide COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement for All Employees and Contractors

By Philippe A. Lebel and Dixie Morrison on March 15, 2022 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, COVID-19, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation

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. … Continue Reading

House Passes Bill Barring “Mandatory Arbitration” in Sexual Assault and Harassment Cases

By Tony Oncidi and Ariel Brotman on February 9, 2022 Posted in #MeToo, Arbitration Agreements, California Labor & Employment Law, Class Actions, Federal Jurisdiction, Harassment, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation, Sexual Harassment

On February 7, 2022, in a 335-97 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill (“Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act”), which would prohibit “mandatory arbitration” in sexual assault and harassment cases arising or accruing on or after the date of enactment. This bill also invalidates joint, class, or … Continue Reading

Governor Newsom Signs A Slew of New Employment Laws for 2022

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 … Continue Reading

Los Angeles City Council Approves Sweeping Vaccine Ordinance for Indoor Establishments

By Tony Oncidi, Philippe A. Lebel and Ariel Brotman on October 7, 2021 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, Coronavirus, COVID-19, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation

Following New York City and San Francisco, Los Angeles is the latest city to require proof of vaccination for individuals entering indoor portions of establishments. This ordinance, which the Los Angeles City Council approved in an 11-to-2 vote, takes effect November 4, 2021. However, beginning October 21, 2021, the ordinance requires businesses and City facilities … Continue Reading

New California Law Imposes Strict Limits on Warehouse Distribution Centers (This Means You, Amazon!)

By Tony Oncidi and Ariel Brotman on September 24, 2021 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation

A new California law, effective January 1, 2022, closely regulates productivity quotas for warehouse distribution centers. AB 701 applies to employers of 100 or more employees at a single warehouse distribution center or 1,000 or more employees at one or more warehouse distribution centers in the state and purports to address warehouse safety concerns by … Continue Reading

Tax Hikes Proposed to Bail Out California Unemployment Fund

By Tony Oncidi and Ryan McGill on July 12, 2021 Posted in New and Proposed Laws and Legislation

Just as California’s employers and small businesses begin to recover financially from the COVID-19 pandemic, the state legislature is about to spring another tax increase on them. This time the money is needed to bail out the severely underfunded unemployment insurance (UI) fund (a program recently featured in the news for paying as much as … Continue Reading

Board of Directors Quota Law May Be Unconstitutional

By Tony Oncidi on June 23, 2021 Posted in Diversity and Inclusion, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation

Meland v. Weber, ___ F.3d ___, 2021 WL 2521615 (9th Cir. 2021) In 2018, the California Legislature enacted Senate Bill 826, which requires all corporations headquartered in California to have a minimum number of females on their boards of directors; corporations that fail to comply with SB 826 are subject to monetary penalties. One shareholder … Continue Reading

California Mulls More Job Killer Bills, Major Tax Hikes

By Tony Oncidi and Dylan K. Tedford on April 13, 2021 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation, Tax, Wage and Hour

Last week, New York announced new tax increases that will subject certain of its residents to higher personal income tax rates than even Californians pay. Before the pages on that bill had cooled, the California legislature was well on its way to showing it would not relinquish its top-of-the-heap status without a fight by proposing … Continue Reading

Ah, It’s Bill Passing Season in California again – and No Employer is Safe!

By Tony Oncidi and Dylan K. Tedford on March 29, 2021 Posted in Leaves of Absence, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation, Tax

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 … Continue Reading

California Employers May Be Required to Subsidize Backup Childcare

By Tony Oncidi, Kate Gold and Michelle Lappen on February 25, 2021 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, Employee Benefits, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation

Last Thursday, Assembly Bill 1179 was introduced to require California employers with 1,000 or more to provide “backup ” for children under 14. To be eligible for the benefit, employees who work in California would need to have been employed by the company for at least 30 days. If passed and signed into law, this … Continue Reading

Podcast: What the Biden Presidency Could Mean for Employers

By Tony Oncidi on November 13, 2020 Posted in New and Proposed Laws and Legislation, News, U.S. Department of Labor

Following last week’s historic presidential election and a forthcoming transition of power, Proskauer’s Anthony Oncidi and Laura Fant join XpertHR Legal Editor David Weisenfeld for a podcast conversation on the changes employers can expect after President-elect Biden takes office in January. Employers – listen now in order to plan ahead for what could be significant … Continue Reading

California Mandates Diversity Quotas for Corporate Boards

By Tony Oncidi and Philippe A. Lebel on October 5, 2020 Posted in Diversity and Inclusion, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation

On September 30, 2020, Gov. Newsom signed Assembly Bill 979 (“AB 979”) into law. The new statute, which adds section 301.4 to the Corporations Code, is aimed at increasing representation from communities of color and the LGBT community on the boards of publicly traded companies. The law follows in the footsteps of earlier legislation that … Continue Reading

CalChamber Releases its Annual List of “Job Killer” Bills Proposed by the California Legislature

By Tony Oncidi and Cole Lewis on May 18, 2020 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation

The California Chamber of Commerce has just identified 10 recently introduced “job killer” bills that have been proposed by the California legislature. Worth noting are the following: AB 196 (Gonzalez; D-San Diego) Establishes “Conclusive Presumption” of Injury. Conclusively presumes that contraction of COVID-19 by all “essential workers” is a workplace injury, which will greatly increase the … Continue Reading

Two Important Stragglers Among California’s New Labor Laws

By Tony Oncidi and Cole Lewis on October 21, 2019 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation

Last week, we blogged about the avalanche of new labor laws that California employers will face in 2020. Here are two late additions to the list — just in time for Halloween!: AB 61 (Ting, D-San Francisco) grants employers and coworkers the right to petition a court to issue a gun violence restraining order, which prevents an … Continue Reading

Take That, Employers! California is Done (for Now) with this Year’s Legislative Thrashing

By Tony Oncidi, Cole Lewis and Kate Gold on October 14, 2019 Posted in California Labor & Employment Law, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation

Here’s a comprehensive list of the new employment-related statutes enacted and signed into law in the Golden State (effective Jan. 1, 2020 unless otherwise specified): AB 5 (Gonzalez, D-San Diego) makes it extremely difficult for most California employers to hire an independent contractor and would convert such workers into “employees” in the eyes of the … Continue Reading

California Enacts a Raft of New Employment Laws

By Tony Oncidi on October 11, 2019 Posted in #MeToo, Arbitration Agreements, California Labor & Employment Law, Employment Contracts, FEHA, Harassment, New and Proposed Laws and Legislation, Sexual Harassment

On Thursday, October 10, 2019, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law several new measures that employers will need to comply with by January 1, 2020 and that will generally make it easier for employees to sue their employers. Specifically: AB 9 extends the statute of limitations period for employees to file claims of discrimination, harassment and/or retaliation … Continue Reading

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